Stagecoach State Park BLM

Connector Trail Proposal

PROJECT PARTNERS

Proposal Goals

The primary goal of this project is to ensure ongoing recreational access to federal public lands and in so doing forge strong partnerships between local area public land managers.

Secondary to restoring public access to public lands will be the improvement of elk winter range in this area, public education through enhanced educational signage, the prevention of illegal trail construction, and fostering of stay the trail principles through responsible trail construction and trail use management.

Proposal History

In August 2017 Stagecoach State Park Staff began researching the possibility of developing a new multi use trail to connect the park with an adjoining federal public land parcel. This almost 1000 acre BLM parcel accessed off of the Elk Run Trail, is a popular big game hunting, hiking and wildlife watching area and also provides through access to the National Forest and Sarvis Creek Wilderness Area.

This BLM parcel was recently closed to public access at its historical access point off of Shoshone Way in the South Shore subdivision at Stagecoach. A field exam completed by the BLM DOI Surveyor determined that there was a 2.40 foot strip of Stagecoach Property Owners Association (SPOA) common space separating the BLM parcel from the county right of way which essentially blocked legal public access.

After conceptual plans were completed, staff from Stagecoach State Park, Area 10 and the Little Snake BLM Field Office met for a site visit on October 30th 2017. As part of this site visit experts from the BLM, including those in hydrology, real-estate, trails construction, wildlife and archeology were present. This BLM team has subsequently begun the NEPA assessment necessary for a proposed project of this scale on federal lands.

Proposal Detail

Parking Area:

As part of this proposal a new parking lot would be constructed on the south shore of the state park at the termination of Arapahoe Road (Coordinates 40.282019N 106.839730W).

This parking area would accommodate parking for up to eight vehicles as well as the necessary trail and State Park signage and would be contained entirely within property owned by the UYWCD and managed by Stagecoach State Park.

It is anticipated that this parking area will eliminate issues of park and/or public land visitors parking on the County Road which is a specific concern of the SPOA board and its members. Illegal parking in the area of the proposed parking lot has also been a management concern of the state park for a long time and will help resolve that issue.

Proposal History

Trail:

The proposed new trail would incorporate a section of the existing Elk Run Trail and then connect to the BLM parcel adjoining the state by a new trail segment.

In total the new trail segment would incorporate approximately 2 miles of new class 3 trail. Class 3 trails have a grade of between 3%-12% and this trail will likely be at the maximum end of the range due to the topography of the area. The trail surface will be native with some use of imported material were needed for stabilization. Every effort will be made to avoid unnecessary disturbance of vegetation or sensitive ecosystems.

The new trail segment would then tie into an existing two track on the BLM parcel. This tie in to an existing trail will maximize the amount of newly accessible trail available to the public for the project investment by increasing it to nearly 4 miles.

Public OutreachIn additional to the internal partnership between Area 10 and Stagecoach State Park staff, CPW staff have been in contact with numerous other stakeholders:

BLM: Little Snake Field Office, Assistant Field Manager, Kathy McKinstry has been the primary contact with our federal project partner.

Routt County Road and Bridge: Assistant Director Mike Mordi has been engaged regards Routt County permits, new signage and winter snow storage.

Upper Yampa Water Conservation District: Park Manager Craig Preston and Senior Ranger Andy Dean have ongoing conversations with UYWCD Staff. Craig presented to the UYWCD Board on November 15th and the UYWCD who have lent their support for the project.

Stagecoach property Owners Association: The SPOA Board was contacted directly and through their property management company and SR Andy Dean will be presenting to the board on November 18th.

Questions ?