Several valley trails closing for the winter, including Sky Mountain Park, Crown trails

It’s that time of year — numerous trails and open space parcels in the Roaring Fork Valley are closing for the winter for the benefit of wildlife.

The Rio Grande Trail closed at 5 p.m. Monday between Rock Bottom Ranch and Catherine Bridge. The roughly 2-mile stretch of the paved trail closes annual until April 30 at 5 p.m.

Seasonal closures take affect Tuesday (Dec. 1) at several properties held by Pitkin County Open Space and Trails, including Sky Mountain Park in the upper valley, Glassier Open Space and the Wheatley Open Space in the midvalley, Red Wind Point and the Perham Creek Trail in the Crystal River Valley.

The closure of Sky Mountain Park means the Airline, Cozyline, Skyline, Deadline and Viewline trails are closed until May 16. In addition, the closure affects the Seven Star Trail and Rim Trail North until May 16 and the Brush Creek Trail until April 1.

Several of the Bureau of Land Management holdings in the area are closed to motorized and mechanized uses. Trails on the Crown in the midvalley are closed Dec. 1 through April 15. That includes the closure of trails such as Vasten, Buckhorn Traverse and Buckhorn and trails on the Prince Creek side above South Porcupine Ditch.

Most trails affected by the seasonal adjustment are clearly marked as closed.

On Red Hill, the Elk Traverse and north side trails are closed Dec. 1 through April 15.

The BLM lands on Light Hill south of Basalt, Williams Hill southeast of Basalt, Thompson Creek/Holgate Mesa southwest of Carbondale and the south side of Basalt Mountain will be closed Dec. 1 to April 15 to motorized and mechanized uses.

Trails in South Canyon west of Glenwood Springs and north of New Castle will also be closed Dec. 1 through April 15 to motorized and mechanized uses.

Sutey Ranch is closed to all human uses.

(Editor’s note: This story was corrected to show BLM lands are closed to motorized and mechanized uses.)