Crater Trail Environmental Assessment

The National Park Service (NPS) is making available for public review and comment an Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Crater Trail in Rocky Mountain National Park (park). The severely eroded trail bisects a prehistoric archeological site and is also located within an important bighorn sheep lambing area. The purpose of the proposed project is to protect bighorn sheep range, archeological resources, wilderness values, the Specimen Mountain Research Natural Area, and soil and vegetation resources currently being impacted by the Crater Trail. The NPS is proposing to permanently close the Crater Trail to protect natural and cultural resources in the park. The abandoned trail would be closed to public access and revegetated. The EA also evaluates three other alternatives: no action, reconstructing the trail within the existing alignment, and rerouting the trail to a more sustainable alignment.

The EA is open for public review, with comments accepted through November 22, 2017. The park will host a public meeting on Tuesday, October 24, 2017 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Grand Lake Fire Protection District Station located at 201 W. Portal Road in Grand Lake. There will be a short presentation at 6:15 p.m., and park staff will be available to answer questions until 7:30 p.m. The public is invited to visit at any point during the scheduled time to review materials and provide written comments.

Darla Sidles
Superintendent

Document Content:

Crater Trail EA - 10-10-17.pdf   (8.3 MB, PDF file) Disclaimer: Links within the above document(s) were valid as of the date published. Note: Some of the files may be in PDF format and can be viewed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader software. You may download a free copy of Acrobat Reader from Adobe Systems.