A section of land west of Colorado Springs in the burn scar of the Waldo Canyon Fire will remain closed until at least 2029. The recent order from the U.S. Forest Service includes Forest Service Trail 640, also known as the Waldo Canyon Trail. It also keeps the surrounding land closed to camping or building a campfire.
Samantha Gooch, the recreation planner for the Pikes Peak Ranger District of the USFS, said the agency decided to keep the Waldo Canyon Trail closed primarily because of public safety concerns and trailhead access.
The original trailhead off Highway 24 closed because the trailhead was partially on private property and the trail itself was no longer safe after the fire, according to the USFS
“So the trail has erosion, trees down, all sorts of stuff, but since there's no trailhead, no access, that’s not our first priority,” Gooch said.
The three-mile loop was quite popular with hikers before the wildfire, Gooch said, and according to the USFS, the trail was "the most heavily used trail on the Pikes Peak Ranger District." The Forest Service is looking for a way to re-establish access.
One possibility might be the Black Canyon Quarry, which the city of Colorado Springs purchased as part of a 315-acre total package in 2022 through its Trails and Open Space (TOPS) sales tax fund. The land is northeast of U.S. Highway 24 and adjacent to Williams Canyon.
“I know there was conversation about the possibility that this Black Canyon Open Space could serve as a potential trailhead connection into Waldo Canyon,” Lonna Thelem, the manager of Colorado Springs’ TOPS program said.
The city has not completed a master planning process yet for Black Canyon, but Thelem said they hope to finish current reclamation by the end of 2026.
The closure can be rescinded any time. “If by then (2029), which we hope, we have some development for a trailhead then we would be interested in reopening it,” Gooch said.
Even then, Gooch said the trail needs a considerable amount of work to be ready for hikers.
As for the area beyond the trail, Gooch said the agency decided to keep it closed to camping and campfires in part because of the threat of another fire. The area stretches northeast from U.S. Highway 24 near Cascade across the Pike-San Isabel National Forest Service toward Rampart Reservoir and Blodgett Peak.
“Because of all the dead and down or just dead trees out there and it being such a close proximity to a large population we don't want to have fires,” Gooch said.
More than a decade after the Waldo Canyon fire, the land is recovering, but slowly.
“We do have a lot of aspen regrowth which is great, it’s going to take a while for a lot of the other trees and vegetation to come in,” Gooch said.
Violators of the closure or restrictions may be charged with a misdemeanor offense and could be forced to pay $5,000 or face six months in jail.
