The latest federal numbers on the industry also show that Colorado’s outdoor economy grew by 19.9% last year, the sixth largest increase nationwide.

For the first time since the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis has released data on outdoor recreation, the industry’s sales crossed the $1 trillion mark.

“This is a historic day for the outdoor economy,” Chris Perkins, vice president of programs at the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable, said in a Nov. 17 news conference.

Perkins said ORR, a national coalition that represents more than 110,000 outdoor businesses, had a sense from members’ reports and anecdotes that 2022 was a good year. The federal numbers released last week confirm that, he said.

The recreation covered by the economic review includes bicycling, boating, hiking, fishing, hunting and snow sports. Other outdoor activities focus on motorcycles, all-terrain and recreational vehicles.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis in the Commerce Department issued its first-ever report about the outdoor recreation industry in 2018. Former Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner was a sponsor of the legislation that directed the Commerce Department to issue the report, which goes out annually.

Jessica Turner, president of ORR, said the economic numbers help buttress the industry’s efforts to gain congressional support for money and new policies aimed at growing the outdoor recreation economy.

“I think we’ve always known that this industry is special. It connects people with nature. It makes them healthy and happy. It connects people with family and friends,” Turner said. “But having the actual economic data that takes our industry from a nice-to-have on the weekends to a need-to-have for community jobs has been transformational.”

The new federal analysis found that outdoor recreation supported almost 5 million jobs nationwide, or 3.2%, of U.S employees, in 2022. The numbers in Colorado were 129,773 employees for 4.3% of the state workforce and roughly $6.9 billion in wages.

“We are grateful to the BEA for gathering this data showing clearly that the outdoor industry is a critical economic driver and source of jobs for both Colorado and the country,” Conor Hall, director of Colorado’s Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, said in a statement.

Hall said the state continues to promote stewardship, more equitable access to the outdoors, a healthy workforce and “sustainable growth of the industry.”

Many outdoor businesses were hurt when the coronavirus pandemic first hit because ski resorts, campgrounds and other venues were closed or restricted. Manufacturing of equipment, boats and other goods were affected.

But outdoor recreation boomed in Colorado and across the country during the height of the pandemic when COVID-19 restrictions limited other activities. In the summer of 2020, the Outdoor Recreation Roundtable pitched outdoor recreation as a way to help rejuvenate the economy.

And recreation organizations and advocates continue to champion outdoor recreation as a means of diversifying local economies, especially in rural areas. The bipartisan America’s Outdoor Recreation Act has passed the U.S. Senate and is scheduled to be heard Nov. 30 by the House Natural Resources Committee.

The legislation would, among several things, invest in modernizing campgrounds; increase access to public lands for recreation; and provide technical and financial  help to rural communities near recreation areas.

Turner with the recreation roundtable said the act includes proposals for reservation and data systems to better manage recreation sites.

“We need better policies and better management tools to ensure that the overused, highly visited places are getting the management they need to control that and help with resources and that the underused, amazing landscapes that people don’t know about are getting visitation,” Turner with the recreation roundtable said.

Updated at 10 a.m. Nov. 23 to correct amount of wages of the outdoor recreation industry in Colorado in  2022.

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It comes out of what I do: For the last decade, I’ve guided multi-day whitewater fly-fishing trips through western Colorado’s Gunnison Gorge during the summer. Then I spend the fall guiding horseback hunting outfits in the wilderness. It adds up to around 100 nights a year sleeping rough.

I’ve met a lot of people from all over the country, and, sad to say, too many seem oblivious to how scarce clean water is in the outback and also how much work it takes to make water safe for drinking. That’s why I sometimes call them “water poopers.”

Spill a big batch of filtered water, treat a horse like a car rather than a living being, or behave in some other entitled way, and you might get saddled with this moniker. If a client takes offense, I explain that a water-pooper assumes that a flush toilet is necessary to life, and they usually agree: “Yep, that’s me. Never thought about it that way.”

On the river, and in hunting camp, water is precious: We filter every drop of water that we drink. We haul the water from the river or the creek to camp and then let gravity filters purify it, one drop at a time.

On overnight river trips we use a portable toilet setup with a great view, but some clients never get over their distaste of having to use it. At trip’s end, our portable toilet gets packed out, leaving nothing behind.

On the mountain every fall, we usually have to dig two 5-foot-deep outhouse holes at least 40 paces from the main tents. After a stalagmite of poop and toilet paper inevitably forms, the “camp-jack” has the unlucky job of knocking over the tower. We fill in the hole when it’s three-quarters full and then dig a new one.

Wilderness guides love saying things like “misery makes memories,” or “embrace the suck.” It’s good for a laugh when rain, mud or a sudden freeze moves in, but it helps make living deep in the wilderness an experience to learn from and remember. It also breaks the water-pooper spell we fall into in the “real world.” Being responsible for our personal needs connects us to the realities of life that modern civilization hides.

Our elk camp is located in an aspen forest licking down into Gambel oak brush, and every year I notice that the land is drier and hotter. Aspens are not doing well. The mature trees are dead or dying and only saplings seem to have any vigor. A little creek used to run cool enough to hold some fingerling trout, but vegetation is moving higher up the mountain and the creek is warm. The elk rut also happens later in the fall each year.

At some point every season after six weeks in the wild, I drive home, and as I crest the ridge and see the lights of Grand Junction, it hits me: Some 150,000-plus people live in the area, and they all defecate in purified water without a second thought.

For those first few days back in civilization, the absurdity is overwhelming. But I also can see the bigger picture of our careless lives. Living in a wild place separates us from what is essential: Shelter. Energy. Food. Clean water. Waste removal. We’re forced to take individual responsibility for all of those things in the backcountry.

Of course, I’m a water-pooper, too. No one is immune. No matter how you wipe it, we all clean ourselves with dead trees, even protestors sitting in old growth forests.

I might just be a river rat and mule skinner, but I know that many of our most pressing environmental and social issues stem from this water-pooper line of thinking.

Stepping out of the system to take responsibility for ourselves, even for a few days in the wild, can be eye-opening. It’s amazing to realize how fragile our luxuries are, from toilets that whisk waste away to having clean water pour out of a tap.

It is unwise to take these luxuries for granted.

Jacob Richards is a contributor to Writers on the Range an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring conversation about the West. He is an outdoor guide and writer and lives in Fruita, Colorado.

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission on Friday approved the importation of the red swamp crawfish for human consumption — though with some restrictions. Starting Jan. 1, people who want to bring the southern food staple into the state can do so with an importation license, but they cannot possess the crawfish for more than 72 hours or release them into water.

Before the change, it was illegal to import or possess the species because of concerns that the crustaceans would damage lakes and rivers if they made their way into waterways.

But the species remained easily available for purchase live or at restaurants. If caught, a violator was subject to a misdemeanor that could carry a fine of up to $5,000. Most of the people cooking and eating the mudbugs were unaware of the regulation banning them, and the ban went unenforced for years, Colorado Parks and Wildlife staff said.

“There is a huge demand on these,” Ty Petersburg, assistant chief of law enforcement programs at the agency, told the commission at an August meeting.

Consternation about the ban began in March when wildlife officials cited someone for importing the species, which led to a larger investigation into the industry.

“As a result of that case, CPW has been made aware of a significant culture in Colorado regarding social gatherings and meals surrounding crayfish boils,” a CPW memo on the issue states. “CPW law enforcement has now documented dozens of restaurants across the (Front Range) alone that hold regular crawfish boils and meal services with live imported crayfish.”

For years, Cajun restaurants sold imported crawfish, caterers put on boils for private events and individuals bought live crawfish for backyard boils. One distributor told wildlife officials that they were selling between 9,000 and 11,000 pounds of live crawfish per week during the season, from January to August.

“If you extrapolate that, we have a whole lot of these critters coming into the state — something we didn’t really realize, to be honest with you,” Petersburg said.

Despite the tons of crawfish coming into Colorado, the state has not detected a population in lakes or rivers here, said Josh Nehring, assistant aquatic section manager at CPW. However, the agency does not test specifically for the species.

“The species, if established, is capable of altering the habitat and food chain of lakes and streams,” Nehring said.

The ban was intended to keep the non-native species from being introduced to Colorado’s waters if they were used as fishing bait or released live into the water.

Red swamp crawfish are native to the Gulf of Mexico but have established invasive populations in other states, including Minnesota, New Mexico, Maine and Washington.

If introduced into Colorado waters, the species could also spread downstream to other states and communities. Several native species of crawfish live in the state east of the Continental Divide, but there are no native crawfish on the western side.

“Red swamp crayfish mature early, and have rapid growth rates, large numbers of offspring and short life spans,” a CPW memo on the species states. “They can replace indigenous crayfish by competitive exclusion and/or transmission of crayfish plague.”

A different invasive crayfish species, the rusty crayfish, is one of Colorado wildlife managers’ top invasive concerns in the state. That crayfish has been found in Colorado’s waterways since 2009 and wildlife managers believe they were introduced after anglers used them as bait.

More than 200 people weighed in on the Gulf Coast crawfish issue during the agency’s public comment process. About two-thirds of those who commented supported removing the ban. Some of those in favor of ending the ban noted that few people would pay $6 to $9 a pound for live crawfish simply to dump them in a river.

The new regulation is an attempt to balance cultural and business needs with environmental risk, Petersburg said.

Under the new rules, people who want to buy live crawfish and host their own boils must have a copy of the providers’ importation license and a receipt of purchase, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman Joey Livingston said.

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The team, named the Rocky Mountain Hookers, reeled in a 501-pound blue marlin on the second and final day of both tournaments to win the grand prize. Immediately after receiving the check with their winnings, the team donated $100,000 to Casa Hogar de Cabo San Lucas A.C., a local orphanage for children aged 4 to 18 years old.

The Bisbee’s tournaments have been held along Mexico’s Baja peninsula for over 30 years, according to the organization’s website. And, according to Hookers boat owner and Evergreen native Ben Doud, the tournament is particularly significant to the fishing community.

“It’s a big deal,” Doud said. “It’s the richest fishing tournament in the world.”

Doud started fishing in the Baja area around 12 years ago, but only began entering his boat into Bisbee’s tournaments in 2017. After competing for a few years in the smaller tournaments, the Hookers decided to enter into the Black & Blue — which has the highest total payout of the three Bisbee’s tournaments — in 2021, and have fished in the category since.

The team specifically went after black and blue marlin this year, and though they did not catch anything on the first day of fishing, they did find a great spot, Doud said. The next morning, they set off for the same location and, within 10 minutes of being there, Houston angler Trevor Evans had hooked a fish.

“I was on the second deck of the boat, and the fish hit and the line just starts screaming really loud … it goes from really calm to organized chaos really fast,” Evans said. “The fish came out of the water, and we knew it could win the tournament. It was that big.”

The fish brought back a memory for Evans of the 2019 Los Cabos tournament, where nearly the exact same scenario took place. Evans got a big marlin on the line on the second morning, but it broke off and swam away after just about 15 minutes. He says that the fish could have won that tournament if they had been able to reel it in.

“Ever since then, I’ve kind of had this redemption-type thing in my mind of like, if I get back in the chair, there’s nothing that’s going to get me out of this. We got to catch the fish,” Evans said.

And with his past experience in mind, Evans was determined not to let the fish get away. Although eight people crewed the boat, tournament rules allow just one angler to bring in the fish at a time.

And after over an hour of reeling, Evans brought the fish onboard.

“The first 20 minutes were the hardest by far because your adrenaline is just so (high),” Evans said. “I don’t think I’ve had a rush that high in my life. It was unreal.”

While the two tournaments are not usually held at the same time, Hurricane Norma’s landfall on Oct. 21 forced the Bisbee family to reschedule the Los Cabos tournament to the same two days as the Black & Blue tournament, allowing teams to compete simultaneously in both tournaments and count certain fish for both prize pools.

“It was pretty special because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime thing,” Evans said. “The fish itself will actually change a lot of lives for the guys on the boat.”

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Revved-up climate change now permeates Americans’ daily lives with harm that is “already far-reaching and worsening across every region of the United States,” a massive new government report says.

The National Climate Assessment, which comes out every four to five years, was released Tuesday with details that bring climate change’s impacts down to a local level.

Overall, it paints a picture of a country warming about 60% faster than the world as a whole, one that regularly gets smacked with costly weather disasters and faces even bigger problems in the future.

Since 1970, the Lower 48 states have warmed by 2.5 degrees (1.4 degrees Celsius) and Alaska has heated up by 4.2 degrees (2.3 degrees Celsius), compared to the global average of 1.7 degrees (0.9 degrees Celsius), the report said. But what people really feel is not the averages, but when weather is extreme.

With heat waves, drought, wildfire and heavy downpours, “we are seeing an acceleration of the impacts of climate change in the United States,” said study co-author Zeke Hausfather of the tech company Stripe and Berkeley Earth.

And that’s not healthy.

Climate change is ”harming physical, mental, spiritual, and community health and well-being through the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme events, increasing cases of infectious and vector-borne diseases, and declines in food and water quality and security,” the report said.

Compared to earlier national assessments, this year’s uses far stronger language and “unequivocally” blames the burning of coal, oil and gas for climate change.

The 37-chapter assessment includes an interactive atlas that zooms down to the county level. It finds that climate change is affecting people’s security, health and livelihoods in every corner of the country in different ways, with minority and Native American communities often disproportionately at risk.

In Alaska, which is warming two to three times faster than the global average, reduced snowpack, shrinking glaciers, thawing permafrost, acidifying oceans and disappearing sea ice have affected everything from the state’s growing season, to hunting and fishing, with projections raising questions about whether some Indigenous communities should be relocated.

The Southwest is experiencing more drought and extreme heat – including 31 consecutive days this summer when Phoenix’s daily high temperatures reached or exceeded 110 degrees – reducing water supplies and increasing wildfire risk.

Northeastern cities are seeing more extreme heat, flooding and poor air quality, as well as risks to infrastructure, while drought and floods exacerbated by climate change threaten farming and ecosystems in rural areas.

In the Midwest, both extreme drought and flooding threaten crops and animal production, which can affect the global food supply.

In the northern Great Plains, weather extremes like drought and flooding, as well as declining water resources, threaten an economy dependent largely on crops, cattle, energy production and recreation. Meanwhile, water shortages in parts of the southern Great Plains are projected to worsen, while high temperatures are expected to break records in all three states by midcentury.

In the Southeast, minority and Native American communities — who may live in areas with higher exposures to extreme heat, pollution and flooding — have fewer resources to prepare for or to escape the effects of climate change.

In the Northwest, hotter days and nights that don’t cool down much have resulted in drier streams and less snowpack, leading to increased risk of drought and wildfires. The climate disturbance has also brought damaging extreme rain.

Hawaii and other Pacific islands, as well as the U.S. Caribbean, are increasingly vulnerable to the extremes of drought and heavy rain as well as sea level rise and natural disaster as temperatures warm.

Brown University climate scientist Kim Cobb, who wasn’t part of the assessment team, said, “at the center of the report are people — across every region of the country – who have escalating risks associated with climate change as well as clear opportunities for win-win climate action.”

The United States will warm in the future about 40% more than the world as a total, the assessment said. The AP calculated, using others’ global projections, that would slate America to get about 3.8 degrees (2.1 degrees Celsius) hotter by the end of the century.

Hotter average temperatures means weather that is even more extreme.

“The news is not good, but it is also not surprising,” said University of Colorado’s Waleed Abdalati, a former NASA chief scientist who was not part of this report. “What we are seeing is a manifestation of changes that were anticipated over the last few decades.”

The 2,200-page report comes after five straight months when the globe set monthly and daily heat records. It comes as the U.S. has set a record with 25 different weather disasters this year that caused at least $1 billion in damage.

“Climate change is finally moving from an abstract future issue to a present, concrete, relevant issue. It’s happening right now,” said report lead author Katharine Hayhoe, chief scientist at the Nature Conservancy and a professor at Texas Tech University. Five years ago, when the last assessment was issued, fewer people were experiencing climate change firsthand.

Surveys this year by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research show that.

In September, about 9 in 10 Americans (87%) said they’d experienced at least one extreme weather event in the past five years — drought, extreme heat, severe storms, wildfires or flooding. That was up from 79% who said that in April.

Hayhoe said there’s also a new emphasis in the assessment on marginalized communities.

“It is less a matter … of what hits where, but more what hits whom and how well those people can manage the impacts,” said University of Colorado’s Abdalati, whose saw much of his neighborhood destroyed in the 2021 Marshall wildfire.

Biden administration officials emphasize that all is not lost and the report details actions to reduce emissions and adapt to what’s coming.

Americans on every level of government are “stepping up to meet this moment,” said White House science adviser Arati Prabhakar. “All of these actions, taken together, give us hope because they tell us that we can do big things at the scale that’s required, at the scale that the climate actually notices.”

By cleaning up industry, how electricity is made and how transport is powered, climate change can be dramatically reduced. Hausfather said when emissions stops, warming stops, “so we can stop this acceleration if we as a society get our act together.”

But some scientists said parts of the assessment are too optimistic.

“The report’s rosy graphics and outlook obscure the dangers approaching,” Stanford University climate scientist Rob Jackson said. “We are not prepared for what’s coming.”

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Littleton fly fishing shop Anglers All is moving into the retail space at 1303 E. 6th Ave., formerly home to Trouts Fly Fishing.

Anglers All owner Chris Keeley, a Platt Park resident, said he wanted to expand to Denver for years but hadn’t found the right spot until now.

“We’re one of, if not the oldest continuous fly shop in the state of Colorado,” Keeley said. “We’re proud of it. Something that goes along with that is we’re slow to expand. We have looked at Denver a number of times over the years.”

He said he hopes to open the 1,400-square-foot store early next year.

Keeley bought the 69-year-old fly fishing shop in 2009, leaving the commercial banking industry behind for outdoor adventure. He said Anglers All has operated in Littleton at 5211 S. Santa Fe Drive for decades. That location will remain open.

“We’ve been in the same location since 1969 and have generations of customers. Fathers, sons, grandfathers, granddaughters — they’ve been coming here long since before I was the owner,” Keeley said.

Compared to the Littleton location, which has 12,500 square feet of retail and warehouse space and a recently added “boathouse” for still-water anglers, the Country Club spot will be a “boutique fly shop” with traditional gear, Keeley said.

He declined to disclose revenue figures but said, like most fly fishing shops, the pandemic boosted business. Generally, he said, Anglers All is an “institution” that has held a steady line since he acquired it.

“It’s a people business,” he said. “We take care of people and make them feel welcome and they keep coming back. It’s a pretty tight knit community.”

The 6th Avenue property is owned by Denver-based The Robert L. Naiman Co. Leasing Director Nikki Naiman said the space was most recently home to a yoga studio. It was Trouts before that.

“Over the past two years many people have noted they wish the space was still operating as a fishing shop,” Naiman said.

Trouts operated in the space for 20 years before moving to Lincoln Park in 2020. BusinessDen broke the news last week that the state seized Trouts’ new property over unpaid taxes.

Keeley said when the Country Club space became available this summer he was initially interested because of how successful Trouts was in that space.

“It’s really a positive aim for us,” Keeley said. “We thought they (Trouts) ran such a good business out of that location and in the middle of a great neighborhood.”

This story was reported by our partner BusinessDen.

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This place of destruction was what some locals called “Carnage Canyon,” roughly 30 acres off Lefthand Canyon in Boulder County.

It was a shocking sight, but was it unique? Think about your own nearby public lands.

This canyon’s history began with mountain biking. Sometime in early 2000, a mountain biker discovered the canyon and developed a trail through it. Then, more bikers came in droves, and “motocrossers” also loved it, particularly because nobody was around making rules or telling them what to do.

Nobody complained to the Forest Service, the managing federal agency.

After them came people in Jeeps who liked to plow through mud, crawl over big rocks, and climb up the sides of the canyon. They also widened the trail into a one-lane, eroded dirt road.

Still other folks figured the canyon was a great place to dispose of junk cars and appliances until the place began to resemble an open landfill. Target practice came next. Still, no one complained.

What else happened to this much-abused canyon? A murder and manhunt followed by an encampment for homeless people whose activities were not healthy for what was left of the woods. Yet none of this was the cause for restoring the canyon to its original state.

Hey, there were no complaints!

But here’s how erosion changed things. It brought water carrying large amounts of silt down past the canyon’s mouth and into Lefthand Creek. After the silt killed all the aquatic insects, the trout left. It was people who liked fishing for trout who demanded that the steam be fixed, and that meant the canyon had to be restored.

The Forest Service invited two nonprofit groups — Wild Lands Restoration Volunteers and Trail Ridge Road Runners — and Walsh Environmental Services to restore the canyon.

Over seven years, bullet-ridden debris was hauled away and the squatters were discouraged. But it took hundreds of volunteers to dam the erosion channels — one 20 feet deep — and replant grass, shrubs, and trees in the trashed roads and open areas.

Some areas had eroded so steeply that a person could stand upright, reach out, and touch the ground. Hay bales used to mulch grass seeds would tumble down the slope like bison stampeding over a cliff.

But one problem remained and it was a big one: target shooting. A number of “near misses” made many shooters uneasy. There were also five documented shootings involving Forest Service employees and 10 complaints from area residents about flying bullets too close for comfort.

When the Forest Service erected signs closing the area to recreational shooting, their signs became targets riddled with bullet holes. But after the canyon was damaged by flooding in 2013, motorized access became blocked and target shooting was phased out.

These days, the canyon no longer looks lunar, fish are finally back and silt traps at the bottom of the canyon are almost empty. Mountain bikers are welcome on designated trails.

Locals liked to blame tourists, newcomers, and outsiders for the illegal dumping, vandalism, and unregulated shooting in the mountains. But Carnage Canyon’s problem areas were not tourist destinations, and most of the broken appliances and shot-out signs were problems well before the surge of newcomers.

The truth is that when damage occurs over the decades, it is usually done by people who live in the area. We have to put the blame where it belongs, and that’s on us. We are the yahoos who do this, not Californians or Texans.

It’s also true that no government agency will act unless we complain. So when there’s an opportunity to participate in planning for what the agency calls “travel management,” we need to get involved.

I was one of the volunteers who worked several summers to help restore the battered landscape once called Carnage Canyon. The work was rewarding, as all improvements were better than what was there, but volunteers shouldn’t have to be called in to clean everything up.

Federal agencies need to be better protectors of the public lands they manage for us. And when we see rampant abuse, we need to blow the whistle to protect the lands we all own.

Rob Pudim is a contributor to Writers on the Range, writersontherange.org, an independent nonprofit dedicated to spurring lively conversation about the West. He is a cartoonist and public land advocate in the Denver area.

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“There’s not a single bad view on this loop,” my dad, David Fries, said multiple times as we backpacked the Maroon Bells Four Pass Loop.

You’ll see wildlife and pass waterfalls, alpine lakes and rivers while hiking over four summits above 12,000 feet that overlook colorful valleys with blooming wildflowers and those iconic red mountain peaks. If you’re a backpacker, this one must go on your bucket list.

This guide will help you plan and complete an epic Colorado backpacking trip.

PLANNING YOUR TRIP

Permits

To camp overnight in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness, permits are required year-round through recreation.gov. The best time to visit is between July and September. You’ll risk snow outside of that sweet spot. Campers will need a reservation for each “zone” you want to sleep in. We picked the Maroon zone, then the North Fork zone and the Snowmass Lake zone for our clockwise four-day, three-night trip. The permits allow up to four people, with a couple of the zones allowing larger groups up to 10.

Key reservation dates (subject to change for future years):

• Feb. 15, 2023: Permits opened at 8 a.m. for Feb. 15-July 31
• June 15, 2023: Permits opened at 8 a.m. for Aug. 1-Nov. 30
• Oct. 15, 2023: Permits open at 8 a.m. for Dec. 1-March 31, 2024

Each night cost $22 for a total of $66 for my three-night trip. For information on where campsites are located and where you can and can’t have campfires, click here.

Shuttle and parking

A limited number of vehicles are allowed to park at the Maroon Bells scenic area at the trailhead. Parking reservations ($10) are required May 15-Oct. 31 for day use, 24-hour parking or overnight parking for up to two nights. Because my dad and I were staying three nights, we opted to park at the free overnight Buttermilk Ski Area lot instead. There is also parking available at Aspen Highlands, where the shuttle departs, at a cost of $40 a day.

If you’re like us, you’ll be taking the shuttle up to the West Maroon Lake trailhead to start the loop. The shuttle runs from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and costs $16 for adults, and $10 for seniors and children if bought in advance. Day-of tickets are $20 for adults and $14 for seniors and children. If you get dropped off at the trailhead before or after the bus starts running, you can purchase a one-way downhill ticket for the return for $10.

To get from the Buttermilk Ski Area lot to Aspen Highlands, you can take the free RFTA bus. We were able to take the BRT Aspen bus three stops and then the CM Highlands bus up to the resort.

Gear

Aside from the basics (tent, sleeping bag, water filter, etc.), be prepared for the weather. The Colorado mountains, especially those passes, can see afternoon storms that are much more brutal at 12,000 feet. If you’re a hammock sleeper, be assured that there are enough trees, even at this high elevation, to string up your bed. A paper map is a must (this one from National Geographic was a lifesaver). And unless you have knees made of steel, I would highly recommend hiking poles. If you’re looking for a great backpacking tent that won’t break the bank, the Trekker Tent 1 from River Country was awesome for me.

HIKING THE FOUR PASS LOOP

My dad and I decided to do the loop clockwise, so here’s a breakdown of each day on the trail. While AllTrails reports this loop as roughly 26 miles, we logged 28.6 miles total. The extra mileage came from finding places to filter water and looking at several campsites before settling down for the night.

Our goal with each day was to hike as far as we could to the foot of whichever pass we’d be climbing the next day, so we’d start our day with an ascent and finish with the downhill or flatter bits of trail. We also took hours-long breaks during the afternoons to avoid the hottest time of the day, while we rested our legs and rehydrated near water sources before continuing on to find a camp in the evening.

Day 1: Maroon Lake Trailhead to West Maroon Pass

• 6 miles
• 2,500 feet of elevation gain
• 440 feet of elevation loss

The first day of our trip did not include any of the four passes. We wanted to hike the loop clockwise to give our lungs and bodies time to adjust to the altitude. There is significant elevation gain on this first day but it is gradual. There are plenty of water sources as you hike alongside a creek for most of the day.

We pushed as far as we possibly could on the first day to the foot of West Maroon Pass. I’d highly recommend the last few campsites before the ascent as they are located in small groups of trees on nulls that overlook the West Maroon Valley. The sunset lights up the red mountains to a golden orange and wildlife all start coming out in the evening. We spotted a bull moose, about a dozen deer, marmots and pikas that first night.

Day 2: West Maroon Pass to North Fork

• 8 miles
• 1,660 feet of elevation gain
• 2,900 feet of elevation loss

On day two, you’ll immediately start the climb up West Maroon Pass. The views below as you climb are incredible. And there are a couple of spots for water between the last campsites and the pass. It took us approximately an hour to get to the top of the summit (12,490 feet).

Then, you’ll do a short descent before starting the climb up to Frigid Air Pass (12,400 feet). The trail between these two passes has a couple of streams for water, but there’s not much shade. I wouldn’t recommend camping in the East Fork zone but rather pushing to finish Frigid Air to camp in the North Fork zone. Frigid Air is true to its name and very windy on top. The climb is steep but also short.

Once you finish both passes, you’ll head downhill into a valley where you’ll hike along the North Fork Crystal River. There are tons of campsites to choose from in this area, but I’d recommend picking a spot past the waterfall or even the river crossing if you’re able. The river crossing requires you to swap boots for sandals. And the sunset by the river was one of the best views of the trip.

Day 3: North Fork to Snowmass Creek

• 7.5 miles
• 2,540 feet of elevation gain
• 2,010 feet of elevation loss

Get ready for a climb. This is by far the most intense day with nearly 4 miles of steep climbing. Hiking through the steep aspen groves is gorgeous, but it is a workout. And beware that there’s a false summit, so once you think you’re getting close, you’ll come to a small plateau with a lake for rehydrating before heading to the top of Trail Rider Pass (12,420 feet). At the top, you’ll get a bird’s-eye view of Snowmass Lake.

The descent is also a bit rough with steep switchbacks and a couple of scrambles over rock piles. The lake looks close, but it’s another couple miles down before you can get to the water. Snowmass Lake is the most popular camping area on the loop and feels a bit crowded. The lake is awesome for a soak or fishing, but we decided not to camp at the lake so we could have more privacy. My dad successfully did some fishing while we rested in the afternoon. We later continued on toward the Snowmass Creek campsites where we had no neighbors and were right by the water.

Day 4: Snowmass Creek to Maroon Lake Trailhead

• 6.5 miles
• 2,000 feet of elevation gain
• 3,560 feet of elevation loss

We finished off the loop with an early morning (there was weather on the horizon we were trying to beat) to climb up Buckskin Pass (12,462 feet). There are several streams for water and if you’re an early bird, you’ll hike in the shade until you reach the summit. The climb isn’t as hard as Trail Rider, but there are a few steep switchbacks at the end.

The views from the top give you an awesome look back at Trail Rider from the previous day as well as a view of the hike down back toward West Maroon trailhead. We ran into a short but intense bout of rain and hail at the top; however, it quickly passed and gave way to sunshine for the rest of our 3,000-foot descent back to the shuttle. Plenty of water and shade on the way down, but if you’re like us, you’ll be itching to get back to town for a real meal, beer and a shower.

Overall, this is a fantastic trail no matter how many days you choose to complete it in. Several trails that run through the area allow for a shorter hike, but the full loop is one of the coolest trips I’ve been on in Colorado.

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But the brown trout population in one of Colorado’s most visible and accessible mountain reservoirs has declined in recent years, prompting state wildlife officials to consider stricter fishing regulations on the reservoir and seasonal closures on nearby waters.

It’s unclear exactly what is causing the decline, said Jon Ewert, an aquatic biologist at Colorado Parks and Wildlife. But increased fishing during the pandemic, and after, may be a factor.

“We don’t know for certain whether harvest or fishing pressure is playing a large role, but we know the angling traffic has increased in the last few years since COVID,” Ewert said. “We want to rule out things that could be limiting the production of large brown trout, and harvest could be one of those things.”

Other potential causes include a change in water quality, development along the rivers and streams where the trout spawn, and stress from higher water temperatures caused by drought, Ewert said.

“We’re not in a drought today but we have been drought-prone over the last decade — it could be as simple as drought stress,” he said.

The number of brown trout measuring more than 14 inches long has declined for four consecutive testing years, according to population surveys conducted by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The agency conducts surveys every two years.

In 2014, trout larger than that size made up 62% of all brown trout caught in the survey nets. By 2022, they made up only 33%.

The brown trout in the Blue River upstream from the reservoir also have experienced an “obvious and significant decline,” according to a 2019 CPW report.

“We’re in a position where we’re ahead of the curve and we can start protecting these fish before it gets really bad,” said Randy Ford, the owner of Alpine Fishing Adventures in Dillon.

He’s among fishing guides who support potential new regulations under consideration by Colorado Parks and Wildlife. The Dillon Reservoir Recreation Committee also backs the proposals.

The proposed rules would require anglers to immediately release brown trout that are longer than 14 inches, with the rule applying to the reservoir, to sections of the Blue River south of the reservoir and to Tenmile Creek. Fishing would be banned entirely from Sept. 1 to Dec. 1 in two places where the trout spawn in the fall: the Blue River between the reservoir and three miles north of Breckenridge, and West Tenmile Creek from Copper Mountain to the reservoir.

Restoring the large brown trout population is the agency’s top priority in the reservoir, according to a March 2023 Parks and Wildlife report.

Ford has been fishing in Dillon Reservoir for nearly 40 years. He said he caught his first brown trout from the reservoir when he was about 11 years old. He has run his guiding service for the last 10 years and started to notice a decline in the number of brown trout about seven years ago, he said.

He’s noticed the increased fishing on Dillon Reservoir — especially since the beginning of the pandemic — and on the nearby waters where the trout spawn. He said it “was time to adapt and meet the times.”

“It’s not like we’ve seen this population crash and they’re not there,” he said of the brown trout. “But it’s still nothing like it used to be.”

The other fish managed by Colorado Parks and Wildlife in the reservoir — rainbow trout, arctic char and kokanee salmon — have not experienced similar declines, Ewert said. However, rainbow trout are stocked in the water every year and state regulations mandate the release of all arctic char under 20 inches long.

Brown trout are not native to Colorado but have spread throughout the state’s waters since their introduction from Europe in 1890. The population in Dillon Reservoir is self-sustaining and wild, unlike the stocked rainbow trout.

“They’re very cool, very wild,” Ford said of the brown trout.

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife Commission first heard the new regulations at its Aug. 24 meeting. The commission is expected to make its decision this fall and, if approved, the new rules would go into effect when the state issues new fishing licenses in April.

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We know that Lyons is worthy of a stop on our way to Rocky Mountain National Park, or as a destination on its own. We know that 97% of the 85 businesses are locally owned (the only ones that aren’t are two gas stations), making it one of the most unique towns in which to browse, eat and drink. We know that its setting at the edge of the Rockies, with its mix of forests, valleys and sandstone cliffs, is absolutely stunning. And we know that come summertime the music is roaring, with major festivals drawing bluegrass-loving crowds.

Here are five reasons to spend time in Lyons this summer:

The food is some of the best in the state

It may seem strange that one of the most delicious fine dining restaurants in Colorado resides in such a small town, but hey, we don’t make the rules. Marigold is a beautiful, unexpected restaurant serving beautiful, unexpected food, and it alone is worth the drive.

The menu is a constantly changing mix of European/new American dishes that is pretty much whatever chef/owner Theo Adley fancies that day. At this point it’s almost unnecessary to say that a restaurant plucks its produce and meat from local farms and ranches, and it’s the flavor combinations and techniques that make Marigold, which opened last summer, so notable.

Take the staple Caesar salad, a deceptively simple title for what is actually a hand-held take on the classic. We get two chunks of little gem lettuce topped with the familiar dressing, but large bonito flakes stand in for anchovies and crunchy puffed rice for croutons. The three pastas are handmade and extruded each day. (If the bucatini with prawns, lobster stock, white wine and chile crisp is on the menu, order it.) Of the proteins, the half chicken under a brick with yogurt and herb-packed salsa verde is always available, along with usually something else from the land and something from the sea.

And the drinks aren’t so bad either

Oskar Blues put Lyons on the national beer map in 2002 when it decided to pour its craft brews into aluminum cans instead of glass bottles. Popping the top of a crushable red-white-and-blue can is almost a Colorado rite of passage, and the original brewpub still stands on Main Street in the center of town. But there’s more to sip in Lyons than Dale’s Pale Ale.

When you likely first enter Lyons driving west on Colorado 36, you’ll see an Old West-style distillery advertising “Whisky From Colorful Colorado.” But there is so much more than whiskey at Spirit Hound Distillers. This ace distillery also makes small batch gin, rum, vodka, moonshine, sambuca and coffee- and chocolate-flavored liqueurs. You’ll want to take home a bottle of course (or five; we know life ain’t easy), but you should also stick around for a cocktail.

The lengthy menu features tasty blends made with Spirit Hounds booze, like the Call the Sheriff with gin, house amaro, orange liqueur, a tart cherry infusion and orange peel bitters. Or the Robert Burns, whose mix of cask-strength whiskey, vermouth, cacao bitters and walnut extract is so strong that you’re limited to just one. These cocktails are reason enough to book an overnight stay at a nearby Airbnb.

The concerts and festivals in Lyons are legendary

You don’t have to be a bluegrass lover — although it helps — to enjoy the town’s music festivals. July’s RockyGrass sells out quickly, as does August’s Rocky Mountain Folks Festival. The lineups are always stellar, but the experience of camping out on Planet Bluegrass’s on-site campground along North St. Vrain Creek with thousands of fellow music lovers is hard to beat. For bluegrass fans, attending a Lyons fest is pretty much their twangy version of a pilgrimage to Mecca, and the energy is fun. (And, as a warning, nonstop.)

If not showering for three days isn’t your bag, Lyons’ Sandstone Park hosts a weekly summer concert series on Wednesday nights. The acts vary in style (i.e., it’s not all banjos and mandolins), but it’s back to bluegrass for Oskar Blues’ year-round Tuesday night jam sessions. Other spots around town, like MainStage Brewing Co., also regularly host performers.

There’s fun on the water for anglers (and would-be anglers)

Especially in summer, the North, Middle and South St. Vrain creeks are prime fly-fishing spots, teeming with more cutthroat, brook, brown and rainbow trout than you can shake a pole at. (Unless you don’t catch anything, in which case there are clearly no trout in these creeks.)

While you can fish in Lyons year-round, spring runoff can be pretty high, and the weather is just more pleasant in summer. All three creeks get their start near Rocky Mountain National Park and the Indian Peaks Wilderness and wind their way down to Lyons. You can access the South St. Vrain (and where it joins the North) from Lyons’ Bohn Park right in town.

If you’d rather float the creek than put in the pesky work of fishing it, tubing is popular. You can rent single or double tubes, life jackets, river shoes and dry bags at LaVern Johnson Park. The tubing season starts in May, but the water moves pretty quickly. Head out in late June through early August for a calmer ride.

And finally, Lyons isn’t bad to look at

Whether by foot or wheels, the outdoor offerings are pretty darn stunning. Miles of hiking trails will have you trekking through pine forests, 1880s homesteads, grasslands, unique rock formations, impressive valleys and even an elk migration corridor. Check out the paths of Heil Valley Ranch, Lion Gulch Trail and Hall Ranch for spectacular scenery.

On two wheels, you can road bike the Peak-to-Peak Scenic Byway or take on the 40-mile Rocky Mountain Ascent into Estes Park and up Trail Ridge Road. Mountain bikers can hit many of the same trailheads as hikers, with the Heil Valley Ranch/Hall Ranch 33-mile, 3,800-foot-climb Heil to Picture to Hall and Back combo being especially challenging — and rewarding.

Or you can skip all the work and enjoy the views from pretty much anywhere in Lyons, maybe relaxing after a great meal or recovering from all the hard work of thinking about hiking and biking. However you enjoy Lyons, it’s a town worth knowing.

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