A $1 high-fee has been added to the cost of daily vehicle passes at Lake Pueblo, Golden Gate Canyon, Staunton, Castlewood Canyon, Roxborough, and Highline state parks as of Friday, January 1.
These state parks have seen a large increase in visitation numbers, with this year being a year of record park visitation. The high-use fee at all of these state parks is required to mitigate the extra expenses and resource strain associated with visitors’ high level of use.
This year has also seen record drownings and increased protocols for COVID-19, which has ultimately resulted in many high-use parks needing maintenance funds. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) has relied on its volunteers this year for trash pick-up, extra patrols, and programs such as the Trail Ambassadors at Cheyenne Mountain State Park, which works to help with the increased demand.
CPW started working with Boulder to provide shuttle service during the busy summer months to alleviate traffic. Popular locations such as Eldorado Canyon hit vehicle capacity all summer long.
Additional revenue and financial support generated will aid CPW with increased trash collection, increased resource damage, additional temporary staffing, additional wear-and-tear on facilities, and other expenses not offset by normal pass fees. These state parks join Cherry Creek, Chatfield, Boyd Lake, and Eldorado Canyon as high-use fee areas.
For more information regarding Colorado’s 42 state parks, including purchasing passes online, visit: cpwshop.com or https://state.us10.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5144ed31c5f2ba642e0393361&id=02f49132f6&e=5576d9a9bf