Mountain bikers in Boulder County, Colorado say they were blindsided by a pilot project to limit bike access to popular trails on an alternating schedule. The County Commission says the goal of the project is to test “alternating usage on select trails to potentially improve safety and enhance the experience for users.” However, many in the cycling community are upset about potential restrictions in an area that already has limited trails that are open to bikes.
“The biggest fear would be just general loss of access,” said Wendy Sweet, Executive Director for the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance. “The mountain bike community was pretty disappointed. We didn’t know there was an issue. We hadn’t been consulted.”
Singletracks has also reached out to another local cycling advocacy group, the Greater Nederland Area Riders, for comment, but has not received a response as of press time.
Pilot project seeks to address user conflicts
The pilot project is designed to “address trail‑use conflicts, improve safety, or enhance visitor experience” at trail systems managed by the Boulder County Parks and Open Space Division. According to survey data collected at various parks within the county, roughly 4% of park visitors reported a conflict with another trail user during their visit. Most of those conflicts were between hikers and bikers.
Betasso Preserve is the only Boulder County park that currently enforces an alternating trail use schedule, a policy which was implemented in 2004, according to Sweet. Though the trails at Betasso are multi-use, bikers are restricted from using the trails on Wednesdays and Sundays. Hikers and equestrians may use the trails any day of the week. Despite the implementation of an alternating use schedule, survey data shows that 5% of Betasso visitors reported a conflict during their visit, which is higher than the 4% average for all Boulder County parks and open spaces.
The county reports that the majority of visitors to popular open spaces with multi-use trails — Betasso Preserve, Hall Ranch, and Heil Valley Ranch — are cyclists.
Overall, visits to Boulder County parks are down significantly from a peak of 2.1 million in 2020. Since 2024, visits continued to decline, from 1.8 million to 1.7 million in 2025.
“This pilot doesn’t seem to have data to support there’s an issue, and is suggesting the narrowest of possible solutions,” said Sweet.
Popular mountain bike trail networks could be included in the test
At this stage, County Commissioners are still collecting feedback for the pilot program and have not announced which trails might be included in the test. However, an online survey asks respondents where they’d like to see alternating usage tested, and the options include Hall Ranch, Heil Valley Ranch, and Walker Ranch. The online survey will be available through May 19.
Many community members reportedly showed up at a recent Town Hall meeting in Nederland to voice their concerns. An upcoming Open House is scheduled for Wednesday, May 13 from 5:30–7p so that residents can learn about the pilot program and share feedback.
The County Commission says the pilot program, if implemented, could potentially run through the end of this year. Once the trial is complete, county staff and commissioners will assess the program’s effectiveness and recommend any permanent changes.
There are alternatives to reducing trail user conflict
Sweet of the Boulder Mountainbike Alliance makes it clear the group does not support the pilot program.
“We don’t believe any additional alternating use is needed within our county,” she said. “We do think that there are specific trails they’re concerned about that happen to be multi-use and bi-directional, and we can use this opportunity to see what other tools we have to maybe redo a trail so it has better sight lines, or make it a loop.”
In addition to one-way trails, land managers have a number of tools at their disposal to reduce trail user conflicts. Tsali Recreation Area in North Carolina alternates the direction of travel for trail user groups based on the day of the week, and all users are free to use the trails every day. Many trail networks feature bike-only trails to limit conflict, though Boulder County has not designated any bike-only trails, according to Sweet. The County has said the pilot program will not create new or parallel trails.
Though the proposed pilot program has the potential to limit bike access, it could have the opposite effect. Sweet estimates that 95% of the attendees at an April open house to discuss the project were mountain bikers. There was a map on the wall showing trails within the county, and attendees were asked to place a sticker showing where they would like to see alternating trail usage tested.
Sweet notes that all of the stickers were placed on the hiking-only trails.
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7 minutes ago
Only limit bikers even though they perform the most trail maintenance and spend the most money. Make it make sense.