The possibilities for adventure are growing around one of southern Colorado’s most iconic mountains.
Construction recently started on about 10 miles of new trail at Fishers Peak State Park — adding to the network that has steadily expanded at Colorado’s newest state park. Spanning more than 16 miles currently, the network includes a long path to the top of the chimney-like peak over Trinidad that had been privately held for generations until a public opening in 2020.
Fishers Peak’s summit path opened in 2023. Depending on construction progress through the fall, the next trails could debut next summer, park Manager Crystal Dreiling said.
They will be for hikers, mountain bikers and equestrians. “I would say that the introduction of the equestrian-only trails are most exciting,” Dreiling said. From a new trailhead designed for horse trailers, riders will be able to connect to old ranch roads exclusively for them.
The new multi-use trails will be the northernmost in the park so far, Dreiling noted. “So it will be on different kind of terrain with different views.”
And, she added, the trails will offer an alternate loop down from the mountaintop. The upper part of the summit path is seasonally closed for nesting raptors from March 15 through July 31.
let pathVariable;
let pathVariable2;
function handleUrlPathSegment() {
const fullPath = window.location.pathname.toLowerCase();
if (fullPath.includes(‘/business/’)) {
pathVariable = ‘business’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Business Newsletter’;
} else if (fullPath.includes(‘/outdoors/’) || fullPath.includes(‘/outdoor/’)) {
pathVariable = ‘outdoors’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Outdoors Newsletter’;
} else if (fullPath.includes(‘/opinion/’)) {
pathVariable = ‘opinion’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Opinion Newsletter’;
} else if (fullPath.includes(‘politics’)) {
pathVariable = ‘politics’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Politics Newsletter’;
} else if (fullPath.includes(‘outtherecolorado’)) {
pathVariable = ‘outtherecolorado’;
pathVariable2 = ‘Out There Colorado Newsletter’;
} else {
pathVariable = ‘am-update’;
pathVariable2 = ‘AM Update Newsletter’;
}
console.log(`Current path: ${fullPath}`);
console.log(`Path variable set to: ${pathVariable}`);
console.log(`Path variable 2 set to: ${pathVariable2}`);
applyNewsletterName(pathVariable2);
return { pathVariable, pathVariable2 };
}
function applyNewsletterName(newsletterName) {
if (document.readyState === ‘loading’) {
document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’, function() {
updateNewsletterElement(newsletterName);
});
} else {
updateNewsletterElement(newsletterName);
}
}
function updateNewsletterElement(newsletterName) {
const newsletterElement = document.getElementById(‘newsletterName’);
if (newsletterElement) {
newsletterElement.textContent = newsletterName;
console.log(`Updated #newsletterName element with: ${newsletterName}`);
} else {
console.warn(‘Element with ID #newsletterName not found in the DOM’);
}
}
function setupFormSubmitListener() {
function getFormattedDate() {
const now = new Date();
const timestamp = now.getTime();
console.log(‘chris: Using Unix timestamp’);
console.log(‘chris: Current time:’, now);
console.log(‘chris: Unix timestamp (ms):’, timestamp);
return timestamp;
}
const formattedDate = getFormattedDate();
var profile = window.blueConicClient.profile.getProfile();
profile.setValues(‘newsletter_category’, pathVariable);
profile.setValue(‘newsletter_signup_date’, formattedDate);
window.blueConicClient.profile.updateProfile(this, function() {
});
}
handleUrlPathSegment();
setupFormSubmitListener();
Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.
function subscribeSuccess() {
var nsltrform = document.querySelector(“#nsltr”);
var nsltrSuccess = document.querySelector(“#successnsltr”);
nsltrform.classList.add(“hideblock”);
nsltrSuccess.classList.remove(“hideblock”);
}
function validateEmail(email) {
return String(email)
.toLowerCase()
.match(
/^(([^()[]\.,;:s@”]+(.[^()[]\.,;:s@”]+)*)|(“.+”))@(([[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}.[0-9]{1,3}])|(([a-zA-Z-0-9]+.)+[a-zA-Z]{2,}))$/
);
}
function validateEmailAddress() {
const result = document.querySelector(“#result”);
const email = document.querySelector(“#email”).value;
result.innerText = “”;
if(validateEmail(email)) {
newsletterSubscribe(email);
} else {
result.innerText = ‘The email entered: ‘ + email + ‘ is not valid :(‘;
result.style.color = “red”;
}
return false;
}
function newsletterSubscribe(email) {
fetch(“https://services.gazette.com/mg2-newsletters.php?action=subscribe&site=denvergazette.com&emailPreferenceId=60&email=” + email, {
method: “POST”
}).then(res => {
console.log(“SUCCESSFUL POST”);
subscribeSuccess();
});
}
#nsltr {
min-width: 100%;
margin: 10px 0;
padding: 10px 20px;
background-color: #2076b3;
background-image: url(https://static.gazette.com/emails/circ/Audience%20Images/dg%20outdoors%20sign%20up.png);
background-size: cover;
}
#nsltr-header {
color: #fff4f4;
}
#nsltr-body {
text-align: center;
color: ;
}
#nsltr-button {
margin-top: 5px;
}
#successnsltr {
min-width: 100%;
margin: 10px 0;
padding: 10px 20px;
background-color: green;
text-align: center;
color: white;
}
#successnsltr a {
color: white;
}
.hideblock {
display:none;
}
h6 a {
color: black;
text-decoration: none;
padding: 5px;
background-color: #bbccdd;
font-weight: 600;
}
@media only screen and (min-width: 768px) {
#nsltr {
background-image: url(https://static.gazette.com/emails/circ/Audience%20Images/dg%20outdoors%20sign%20up.png);
background-size: cover;
}
}
“Folks will get to that closure point, and they haven’t had another option other than to turn back and see the trail they’ve already seen,” Dreiling said. “We’re excited about the opportunity to offer that different loop.”
With the seasonal closure lifting in August, summit seekers are reminded to come prepared. Covering close to 17 miles and 3,000 feet of elevation, Dreiling has compared the out-and-back journey to a fourteener outing.
More moderate options for hiking and biking are available across the trail system. And even more options for all interests and abilities are envisioned in Fishers Peak State Park’s master plan, which blueprints nearly 100 miles of trail exploring Colorado’s second-largest state park at 19,200 acres. (State Forest State Park is the largest at 70,932 acres.)
With the next trails bringing about 26 miles total to the system, “we’re getting to the point where we’re gonna have enough mileage where people can actually make a couple of days out of it,” Dreiling has said.
Backcountry campsites are in the works; some could be available next summer, Dreiling said. In the meantime, sites can be reserved at nearby Trinidad Lake State Park.