Thanksgiving and Day After Office Closures -
Colorado Parks and Wildlife offices, including park visitor centers, will be closed on Thursday, November 28, and Friday, November 29. No park pass is required to enter any state park on Friday November 29th for Fresh Air Friday.
1/20/2023
Denver, Colo. – Winter in Northern Colorado ushers in different types of recreation that residents and visitors alike wait all year to enjoy. Whether skiing, snowshoeing, hiking, or biking, people take full advantage of the opportunities that freshly fallen snow provides. Just as recreation is different in the winter, so is wildlife behavior and the types of encounters people may experience.
According to the Colorado Search and Rescue Association, there are approximately 3,000 search and rescue incidents in Colorado per year. Around 400,000 volunteer hours are put in annually for training, missions, and other activities. Often, rescues occur on public lands during the winter when visitors are unprepared for changing weather conditions or unexpected trail conditions, have navigation issues, or encounter wildlife.
Northern Colorado public land managers collaborated to release a video series highlighting avalanche awareness, ice safety, winter gear necessities for the pack and vehicle, and tips for safely interacting with wildlife. These videos will be found in the coming months on the participating agencies’ social media accounts.
View the winter recreation video series for helpful tips in English and Spanish.
See a list of winter recreation tips from Northern Colorado land management agencies.
These messages are part of a broader effort by eight agencies collaborating on ways to address the challenges of high visitation and a growing population in northern Colorado’s foothills and mountains. Called NoCo PLACES 2050, this collaboration is committed to sustainable solutions, equitable actions, and beneficial land management practices for the long-term conservation of public lands in Colorado and the quality of the visitor experience. Learn about NoCo PLACES 2050.
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Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) is an enterprise agency, relying primarily on license sales, state parks fees and registration fees to support its operations, including: 43 state parks and more than 350 wildlife areas covering approximately 900,000 acres, management of fishing and hunting, wildlife watching, camping, motorized and non-motorized trails, boating and outdoor education. CPW's work contributes approximately $6 billion in total economic impact annually throughout Colorado.
