The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Stay on trails, avoid disturbing sage grouse
The ski area is still open, and now so is one of the county’s premier mountain biking areas. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Gunnison Field Office opened the Hartman Rocks area to all users this week, motorized and non-motorized.
A BLM statement released on Tuesday, March 31 said as of 2 p.m. that day, roads and trails north of Powerlines Road would be open, but those south of the road would remain closed for protection of Gunnison sage grouse until May 15. BLM outdoor recreation planner Kristi Murphy says female grouse are lekking (conducting mating rituals) around dawn and dusk, and she asks users to refrain from motorized use in that area before 9 a.m.
Closed trails south of Powerlines Road include the Aberdeen Loop, Skull Pass, Bambi’s, Outback, Back-In, 9-0 and Sawtooth. The only trail north of Powerlines Road still closed is Enchanted Forest, which Murphy says is still holding snow in heavily treed areas and will open once snow melts.
Murphy says she was hiking out at Hartman’s on Monday, March 30, shoveling along Alonzo’s and doing some water/snow treatment so the popular recreational area would be ready for Tuesday’s opening.
Murphy asks users to do their best to stay on trails and avoid the urge to ride around snow patches, because doing so causes erosion. She also said a shooting closure is still in effect. “The old shooting area is closed, so do target shooting in the new dispersed shooting area near McCabe’s Lane.”
Murphy credited the city and county, as well as other BLM partners like the nonprofit Gunnison Trails, GOATS (Gunnison Valley OHV Alliance of Trailriders) and the Gunnison Valley Freeride Association for helping with trail maintenance and getting signage in place.
