Bear Canyon Trail re-opens; other Flagstaff Fire closures remain

July 6, 2012 - Bear Canyon Trail re-opens; other Flagstaff Fire closures remain:

Bear Canyon Trail re-opens; other Flagstaff Fire closures remain

Media Contacts:
Eric Stone, Open Space and Mountain Parks, 720-564-2068Sarah Huntley, Media Relations, 303-441-3155www.bouldercolorado.gov

Bear Canyon Trail re-opens; other Flagstaff Fire closures remain

City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks officials today announced the re-opening of the Bear Canyon Trail following last week’s fire closure. Bear Canyon Trail above west of the Mesa Trail will be open, effective immediately, up to where hikers can connect to Green Mountain via the Green-Bear Trail. Travel is limited to on-trail only. Fern Canyon, Green Mountain West Ridge and ShadowCanyon trails remain closed.

Because much of the area that burned is on very steep slopes, contained very large trees, and was largely inaccessible to fire crews, some areas of active fire may continue to smolder for some time. Dangerous conditions continue to exist, especially along the eastern edge of the fire and in Fern and Shadow canyons.

 “We had a spot fire in upper Shadow Canyon,” Stone said, “and smoldering trees can topple over and ignite at any time. Burning logs and debris can roll downhill on such steep slopes and start new fires. So we still have to be somewhat cautious about opening all of the area around the fire even though these areas may not actually have burned.”

Open Space and Fire Department staff will continue to assess the fire potential and risks to the public over the next few weeks. The city will strive to strike a reasonable balance between risk and access to these popular natural areas.

A map of the continued closures is attached to this release.

For information, visit www.osmp.org or call 303-441-3440. 

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