Please take a moment to comment on the Penrose Commons Recreation Area Management Plan (RAMP).
Many of you have probably ridden a dirt bike at Penrose Commons (otherwise known as The Rockpile) over the years. The area has no designated single track trails, so perhaps you stopped riding there. It is full of rocky terrain, and lots of ATV, Jeep, and now, SxS users go there, especially during the winter months.
Things have changed over the past couple of years. Users have created lots of single track trails in the gulches and on the plateaus. There are several miles worth of challenging single track now. These trails offer some of the best extreme enduro riding on any public land in our area.
Last January, CMTRA met with the Royal Gorge BLM Field Office and offered to provide stewardship of these new trails, and to help with getting them officially designated as part of the existing acknowledged Penrose Commons trail system. The Field Office is now accepting comments towards this project. We ask that you submit some personalized comments in support of adding these user-created trails into the trail system at Penrose Commons.
Comments are due NLT 30 Nov 2022.
We encourage you to personalize your comments, but here are some of the points we want to emphasize:
- There are no existing single track, motorcycle only trails in the Commons. Adding the user created single track trails into the existing inventory enhances the recreational opportunities for motorcyclists on the Front Range.
- CMTRA volunteered in January 2022 to provide stewardship of any new single track trails added to the Penrose Commons trail system inventory; we sent in a club level volunteer agreement to Royal Gorge BLM in February 2022.
- An initial scoping of the proposed single track trails has already been done. The user created trails are well worn in and offer a great riding opportunity for experienced motorcycle riders. These trails are making Penrose Commons a mecca for dirt bike riders, as there are no other such challenging trails anywhere along the Front Range.
- Social media information is out about these trails, thus attracting riders to Penrose from all up and down the Front Range, and beyond. This is some of the best riding of its kind to be found for riders looking for extreme enduro type trails.
- These trails are virtually maintenance free for the land managers, as the riders who want to experience these trails will do whatever is necessary to clear them to keep them rideable. The riders want an extreme experience, so any trail "grooming" will be unnecessary, as the riders will "groom" them as needed. The trails are in narrow gulches, so trail "braiding" is essentially impossible.
- The main concern is to keep quads and SxS riders off these trails. Natural barriers prevent them from entering most of the trails, but proper signage and some width restrictors should be put in place to further prevent/discourage their entry. CMTRA can suggest where such signs and restrictors should be placed.
- The opportunity exists to create a real gem of a riding area in Penrose Commons if the user created single track trails are officially added to the trail system inventory. This opportunity should not be missed!
The map below shows the existing user-created single track in PINK and some additional proposed single track in RED. We are most interested in getting those PINK trails into the inventory at this time. Those proposed RED trails can be something that can be added in the future. Focus your comments on the existing user-created PINK trails shown on the map.
Thank you,
Your CMTRA Executive Team
