{"id":20964,"date":"2020-01-14T15:45:00","date_gmt":"2020-01-14T22:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyhinews.com\/news\/snowmobile-trail-open-in-grand-lake\/"},"modified":"2020-01-14T15:45:00","modified_gmt":"2020-01-14T22:45:00","slug":"snowmobile-trail-open-in-grand-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/local-news\/snowmobile-trail-open-in-grand-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Snowmobile trail open in Grand Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Snowmobilers enter the 2 mile segment of the Grand Lake town trail that runs through Rocky Mountain National Park. On Monday, a representative of the park explained why the trail did not open until Friday.<\/strong>
Amy Golden \/ agolden@skyhinews.com<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Friday\u2019s opening of a popular snowmobile trail has alleviated most of the immediate pressure put on Rocky Mountain National Park by locals who\u2019ve felt left out in the cold by the closure.<\/p>\n

However, as Ranger Jeri Piller addressed Grand Lake trustees on Monday, she offered that it\u2019s only a matter of time before the trail sees a later-than-desired opening, as she defended the park\u2019s trail management decisions and framed this year as a chance to plan for the future.<\/p>\n

The North Supply Access Trail connects Grand Lake to a network of snowmobile trails in Arapaho National Forest. Rocky Mountain National Park manages a 2 mile section of the trail, which cuts through the southwest corner of the park.<\/p>\n

As she addressed town leaders Monday, Piller pushed back on recent criticism levied by a number of Grand Lake locals and businesses who\u2019ve questioned why the trail didn\u2019t open until last week.<\/p>\n

The reality is the trail never opens with two feet of snow, Piller said, admitting that information the park put out about the trail needing 24 inches to open was somewhat inaccurate.<\/p>\n

As she explained, 24 inches is only what the park has identified as the \u201cideal\u201d amount of snow, and with an extended forecast of cold weather, more than a foot of snow cover and other favorable factors, the trail can often open with 16-18 inches of snow.<\/p>\n

Real time trail conditions and public safety are only two of the park\u2019s biggest considerations, Piller said. She emphasized that park staff work the trail daily, constantly reassess its condition and make the call to open based on many different factors, not just snowfall.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really more of a big picture,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019re not standing there with a yard stick.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piller said the park does see damage at lower snow levels, not just on the trail, but when snowmobilers go off trail. With 10 inches of snow on the trail, Piller said, too many drivers want to go off trail in search of deeper powder, which can damage the land, lead to snowmobilers hitting trees and even getting hurt when they have these accidents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we could have opened it, we would have,\u201d Piller said. \u201cWe\u2019re not just being jerks, I promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Friday\u2019s opening with what Piller estimated was 13-16 inches of snow, one snowmobiler wrecked on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Piller acknowledged the importance the trail has on the local economy and its weight with Grand Lake recreationalists. But she said managing the trail that goes over a south-facing hill and through wetlands poses numerous challenges. The park simply can\u2019t allow damage or create dangerous situations in which people can be hurt, Piller said.<\/p>\n

Also, preserving the land not only helps keep Rocky Mountain National Park\u2019s rules on snowmobiles minimal \u2014 unlike other parks where snowmobilers can be required to enlist park guides for their trips \u2014 it\u2019s actually mandated by Congress, according to Piller.<\/p>\n

Striking the balance between preserving the land and providing access will likely require another solution, possibly aside from the North Supply Access Trail, Piller said. She promised there will be winters with low snowfall again.<\/p>\n

As a result, Grand Lake and park officials might have to come to hard decisions about what they can live with, and what they can\u2019t live without, Piller told the trustees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we do have to limit things on these leaner years, what works?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

Opening the trail this winter meant lowering the speed limit from 25 to 15 mph along one problematic section.<\/p>\n

Piller said many snowmobilers enjoy the speed, but that doesn\u2019t help snow stick, and heightened efforts to educate drivers were one suggestion. Others included exploring a temporary snow fence in specific places, limiting the days of trail use and looking for alternate routes.<\/p>\n

In other business:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Grand Lake Board of Trustees discussed tightening some of the town\u2019s restrictions on short-term rentals, and town staff promised to return with more concrete proposals for consideration.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The board appointed Judy Burke to the board, filling the remainder of Phyllis Price\u2019s term, which is up for election in April. Price resigned from the board in November. Mayor Jim Peterson and Trustee Mickey Rourke both spoke highly of Burke, who has a long history of serving the governmental body.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Board members passed a resolution recognizing the town\u2019s completed water tank. Town manager John Crone described the measure as \u201chousekeeping\u201d while he told the board passing the resolution would help satisfy requirements of a state grant the town received to build the tank.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The board voted to update the town\u2019s marketing agreement with the Grand Lake Chamber of Commerce to adjust a few minor items, such as when the chamber will receive payments and how often the chamber has to produce marketing reports.<\/p>\n

via:: Sky-Hi News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Snowmobilers enter the 2 mile segment of the Grand Lake town trail that runs through Rocky Mountain National Park. On Monday, a representative of the park explained why the trail did not open until Friday.Amy Golden \/ agolden@skyhinews.com Friday\u2019s opening of a popular snowmobile trail has alleviated most of the immediate pressure put on Rocky […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-20964","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-17 10:50:13","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20964\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}