12/09/2024
Please view this news announcement from U.S. Forest Service-Arapaho & Roosevelt Natl Forests Pawnee Natl Grassland
News release from the U.S. Forest Service-Arapaho & Roosevelt Natl Forests Pawnee Natl Grassland:
Winter fee reminders for northern Front Range National Forest
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (Sept. 12, 2024) – The Roosevelt National Forest, in partnership with Vista Recreation, will implement winter fees at three popular developed recreation sites in Northern Colorado. On the Canyon Lakes Ranger District, winter fees will begin on Sept. 23 at Dowdy Lake Picnic and Boating Site and West Lake Picnic Site. On the Boulder Ranger District, fees will be required to use the Brainard Gateway Trailhead beginning Nov. 15. Winter day use fees will be $10 per vehicle at these sites.
Concessionaires like Vista Recreation operate and maintain developed recreation facilities on behalf of the Forest Service to better serve the public, maintain and improve Forest Service facilities, and meet public expectations for a high level of service. The Forest has been operating campgrounds and day-use areas through concessionaires since the mid-1990s, including Dowdy and West Lake Picnic Sites.
Winter services include cleaning toilets, removing trash, plowing snow from roads, parking areas, and around facilities, managing reservations and protecting natural resources. Many of these services were not consistently provided by previous concessionaires. Winter fees will help Vista operate and maintain these sites to the level and quality people on the Front Range have come to expect. Winter site hosts will provide improved maintenance schedules and service with consistency from year to year.
Over the next couple months, visitors may notice improvements at the Brainard Gateway Trailhead as contractors install a new kiosk, fee tube and Wi-Fi system. Winter fees will begin Nov. 15 for the first season of implementation, and managers will take information learned this winter to improve the program next winter. Fees will be charged Nov. 15, 2024, through March 16, 2025, with the Gateway Trailhead remaining free before and after the peak winter season this year.
At Dowdy and West Lake, fees will remain $10 year-round after this winter season. Visitors must pay onsite via fee tube using cash or check. At Brainard Lake, a new Scan & Pay system will be installed so visitors can scan a QR code with their smart phone and pay online or via fee tube at the trailhead. There is not currently an option to pay in advance on recreation.gov. The new Wi-Fi system will be available during the summer months for those who arrive without a reservation for entry into Brainard Lake Recreation Area and are looking for that last minute adventure.
Vista Recreation has nearly 40 years of experience in public recreation management from campgrounds and day use facilities to marinas and stores. Concessionaires use a portion of the fees they collect to invest in improving facilities, amenities and operations at the sites they operate.
Vista Recreation honors interagency senior and access passes for day-use sites and will continue to honor the interagency annual pass at Brainard Lake Recreation Area for the upcoming winter season.
For more information, call the Forest Information Line at 970-295-6600 or email [email protected]. If calling, press 0 to speak to a Forest Service representative. To receive email updates or our weekly newsletter, join our email lists
