Extensive trail work in 2025 will include major Mount Sanitas repairs

The City of Boulder invites community members to explore how the city is stewarding open space land through its 2025 “Enjoy and Protect” project webpage and project web map. Both highlight major recreation, ecosystem health, wildfire resilience, and agriculture projects taking place across the city’s open space system in 2025.

The project webpage and project web map feature a selection of significant projects from among the 300 projects that City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks undertakes each year to steward the city's public lands. Highlighted projects are organized by strategic focus areas – developed with public input – that reflect the department’s community-driven priorities:

Highlights of work planned in 2025 to help Boulder community members enjoy and protect their open space include:

  • Trail System Enhancements: Key trail work in 2025 includes Mount Sanitas repairs – funded by a $1.1-million federal grant and supported by the Boulder Open Space Conservancy – along with continued construction of the new Shale Trail at Boulder Valley Ranch. The city also will advance reroute work on the Saddle Rock Trail and conduct reroutes of the Hidden Valley and Degge trails to improve visitor experiences, protect nearby resources and help enhance access for visitors experiencing disabilities. Additional repairs are planned for the First/Second Flatiron and Red Rock trails, which will help improve drainage and minimize erosion.
  • Trailhead Improvements: Extensive work at the Marshall Mesa, Chapman Drive and Sawhill Ponds trailheads will include increasing access for visitors experiencing disabilities and installing new trailhead recreation and nature education amenities. Improvements will also support multi-modal access, including better bus parking, improved shuttle access and more bike racks. Additional upgrades are planned at the Flatirons Vista, Foothills and Teller Farm North trailheads in 2025.
  • Wildfire Resilience Efforts: The city will carry out fuel reduction and ecosystem-related projects on open space lands to support citywide wildfire resilience. Work will include forest thinning, weed removals, prescribed burns, and targeted grazing and mowing near neighborhoods. For more information related to wildfire resilience efforts in the city, visit our Be Wildfire Ready webpage.
  • Ecosystem Health Projects: Wetlands and riparian areas at several sites will be restored to support sensitive natural areas and wildlife species, including the northern leopard frog. Seasonal wildlife closures and other protection efforts will help safeguard sensitive natural areas and important wildlife habitats for raptors, owls, bats and grassland birds.
  • Agricultural Restoration: The city aims to restore 1,000 acres of irrigated agricultural areas by improving soil health, suppressing weeds, and increasing the land’s long-term viability. Staff will also continue efforts to address conflicts between prairie dogs and agricultural use, with restoration work planned on several hundred acres. Vegetation reduction along ditch corridors is also planned to help lower wildfire risk and improve ditch water conveyance.

The city encourages community members to visit OSMPTrails.org to view current trail closures that may affect their outdoor experiences. Community members can attend Open Space Board of Trustees (OSBT) meetings to learn more about open space work. They are typically held on the second Wednesday of the month at 6 p.m.

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