A multi-use trail around Boulder, Colorado has finally been officially proposed. It’s nice to know that I’m not the only one with these wild and crazy ideas. At least four years ago, I started talking to people about a trail that encircles Boulder. Why not?
Connect trails for a loop trail.
- The land is there, since Boulder is surrounded by protected open space.
- The need is there, since Boulder may be the outdoor recreation capitol of the world.
- The people are there, since Boulder has a huge community of trail bikers, trail hikers, and trail runners.
- The motivation is there since Boulder was recently voted the most healthy community in America and would love to keep that designation.
- And now, the organization is there…
According to an article in today’s Boulder Daily Camera, numerous groups may be working toward the goal of creating a trail that encircles the People’s Republic of Boulder:
- Boulder’s Open Space and Mountain Parks
- Boulder Area Trails Coalition
- Boulder County
- Colorado Department of Transportation
- City of Boulder and…
Trailsnet!! Okay, trailsnet wasn’t mentioned in the article, but I’d love to get involved in the process because I think it’s a great idea. Of course I think all trails are a good idea. I’m especially sold on the idea of creating trails that are functional (commuter trails), easily accessible, and heavily used. A Boulder loop trail would definitely meet all those criteria.
The article also mentioned Portland, Oregon and Loveland, Colorado as cities that either currently have such a loop trail or are working toward completing one. I’m guessing there are probably other loop trails around communities in existence or being created. I know that Denver has four unofficial loop trails all radiating from Confluence Park and utilizing the Platte River Trail as their common denominator. If you know of any other community loop trails, I’d love to hear about them.
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Hi Trailsnet
Thanks for your support of BATCO and the TAB! We need people like you to help spread the word, and to come to the Boulder City Council meeting on April 17 to speak in favor of it.
For a partial list of other “Trails Around” see the Camera blogpost submitted comment by SFBoulder — there are lots of other trails around other communities, many of which started from ground zero and ended up with nice loops. Here we’re starting from a nice set of trails — about 80% of the TAB is already in place with official trails, and there are some social trails that do part of the rest of the job. All we need is to fill in the gaps with official, high-quality, off-road trails. Join in the conversation!
Author
It’s my pleasure to support a Trail Around Boulder, Suzanne. I truly believe it is not only a worthwhile cause, but also a very attainable/realistic goal. Out of curiosity, how much of the trail would be accessible by/for bicycles?
I will try to make it to the City Council meeting and the next BATCO/TAB gathering at REI. Count me in as TAB’s newest/biggest supporter. Thanks also for the information about the Trails Around list in the BDC blogpost. I’ll look for it and maybe do a trailsnet blogpost about communities that have trails that encircle them.
I just looked and the Camera blogpost is “gone” — so here’s a partial list of Trails Around…. Middlebury, VT, Stevens Point, WI, Fairfield, IA, Flagstaff, AZ, Westborough, MA, and Minnetonka, MN. There are, doubtless, many others.
Next BATCO meeting is April 23. See you there.
Author
My thanks to Peter from Boulder Area Trails… for sending this nice email.
Thanks Kevin! Nice blog. The press & interest this week
has been amazing. I hope to run into you sometime. Do
consider coming to one of our monthly meetings at REI.
Also, I think we’ll have an open house on the TAB sometime
not too long from now.
Cheers,
Peter
President, BATCO
Trailsnet, I am another board member with the Boulder Area Trails Coalition and I wanted to thank you for your support in getting the Trail Around Boulder off the ground. It is key to get as many organizations behind it as possible. As a mountain biker (among other things), I wanted to let you know that approximately 80% of the trail should be accessible to bikers (basically, everything that is not in the West Trail Study Area west of downtown Boulder). In the PDF map that we have available for download at http://www.facebook.com/trailaroundboulder, you can get more specifics and you can see that we have the alternate bike route (on paved bike paths) in this area. Also, just to let you know, we have an active Twitter account at @bouldertrail.
Author
Thanks for the information, David. I have long been a proponent of a trail around Boulder. It makes perfect sense. I’m glad that 80% of the trail will be accessible to bikes. Are there any plans for somehow making a complete circle for bikers, even if it involves (uggg) using some road connections with bike lanes?
If you go to http://www.trailaroundboulder.org and click on the link for “Trail Around Boulder MAP” you can get access to a JPG that shows the combination of existing and proposed trails that would make up the loop trail. Note that along the west side of the loop there is a yellow “Bike Connection” along the Broadway corridor that circumvents the no-bikes-allowed sections of trail in the West Trail Study area. Also, I don’t know if you are actually based in Boulder, but would be interested in coming to our next Boulder Area Trails Coalition meeting on April 24 where we are going to discuss the next steps in the Trail Around Boulder movement? If so, please contact me at djb at alumni dot rice dot edu and I can give you the details.