Starting on Monday, July 7, the Open Space and Mountain Parks (OSMP) Department will begin a trail project that will extend the Anemone Trail west of Boulder and also restore native vegetation in the trail area.
The completed trail project will provide about 3.2 miles of designated trail access for pedestrians and equestrians* along the city’s mountain backdrop. It will also revegetate more than nine miles of unsustainable and undesignated trails that crisscross the area surrounding the Anemone Trail.
To protect visitors and help restore native grasses, flowers and other vegetation in the area, the entire Anemone Hill area will be closed beginning Monday. This planned closure was included in the West TSA management plan, which the Boulder City Council approved in 2011. When OSMP completes the Anemone Trail project, which is expected to occur in April 2015, visitors will be required to remain on the newly designated trail.
The Open Space Board of Trustees and community members identified the Anemone Trail project, along with the closure and revegetation of user-created trails, as being a beneficial project during the development of the West Trail Study Area (TSA) management plan. That plan guides recreational uses and related wildlife and ecosystems protections for the City of Boulder’s trail system along the peaks west of Boulder.
* For equestrians, of course, there’s no place to park your trailer within 10 miles of this area, so unless you happen to live right next door to the Anemone area, or unless you want to ride 20 miles each way plus the six miles of new trail, you will be SOL — but then, that’s exactly Council’s wish for you.