| Blue Sky trail users will pay to park |
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Commissioners OK fee to cover maintenance, new facilities
By Jackie Hutchins Improvements to the trailhead and parking area will be completed soon, and the parking area will be opened in early July to visitors. People will be able to access the 16-mile trail as well as a turf game area, shelter, restroom facilities, drinking fountain and information kiosk. The area, off County Road 38E near Inlet Bay at Horsetooth Reservoir, will feature parking spots for 23 vehicles and four horse trailers. The Open Lands Advisory Board recommended the county charge a $6 parking fee, as it does at many other park areas, and that it use a self-service pay vault rather than building a gatehouse and staffing it with an attendant.Gary Buffington, director of the Department of Natural Resources, said most people who use other areas with self-service pay vaults do pay what is due. A ranger will periodically check the area. He said the Blue Sky Trail, which opened in 2006 is popular with hikers. But previous access on the north end is at the Soderberg trailhead and the route took people through the campground at Inlet Bay. “People did not want to walk through a campground,” Buffington said. Access on the south end of the trail is at Devil’s Backbone Open Space in Loveland. No fee is charged to park there. Commissioner Tom Donnelly said he wanted to be sure no fees were being planned there, because a lot of people don’t want to pay to use open space areas. “I might be one of them,” he added. Buffington said there are no plans to charge fees at the Devil’s Backbone area. Fees of $6 are charged at the Soderberg trailhead at Horsetooth Mountain Park, near the new Blue Sky Trailhead. Buffington said the cost to install a self-service pay vault and signs will be about $3,500. Read the full article at |
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