Prince Creek parking lot - your input needed by January 31!
We encourage equestrians to weigh in on these two options, with truck and trailer parking, which we would like to be added for equestrian use. Let Pitkin County know that horsewomen and horsewomen desire a parking lot for the Prince Creek Trail system.
Please go to this link:
https://www.pitkinostprojects.com/prince-creek-road-trail-and-parking.html
Please read letter below for more information:
We encourage equestrians to weigh in on these two options, with truck and trailer parking, which we would like to be added for equestrian use. Let Pitkin County know that horsewomen and horsewomen desire a parking lot for the Prince Creek Trail system.
Please go to this link:
https://www.pitkinostprojects.com/prince-creek-road-trail-and-parking.html
Please read letter below for more information:
1/24/ 2018
To the Pitkin BOCC and Pitkin OST Board and Staff:
The Roaring Fork Valley Horse Council (RFVHC) would like to thank the Pitkin BOCC and Pitkin OST Board for supporting the historic precedent of including equestrians on public open space trails, most specifically on the new Prince Creek Trail, as stipulated in the adopted Prince Creek Management Plan. Thank you for defending the historic rights of equestrians and future generations for continued use on the many trails that were established by horses/owners/riders, and which equestrians continue to use now, and wish to use into the future.
The Bull Pen Parking area has historically been used as a holding area for livestock, including horses for generations. Historically Prince Creek Road had many pull outs, where equestrians parked and accessed the Crown’s many trails.
Pitkin County has indicated that all pull outs on Prince Creek County Road will be closed and all parking on Prince Creek Road will be illegal. Without the proposed Bull Pen parking area, or a comparable parking alternative near the Prince Creek Trail head, historical horseback rider’s access is threatened.
The following data supports our position:
History about horses on trails
In the state of Colorado, if you have carried out the same work with access on the land for 18 years or more, you then have the legal right to continue use. (Colorado Rev. Stat. § 38-41-10). Horses and ranchers made most of the trails in the Roaring Fork Valley starting with the Homestead Act of 1862. The fact is that horse/owners/riders established and used these public trails for 156 years.
Many ranchers made trails on public lands and within the wilderness to access high country pastures for their livestock. Most of our local trails were created by men and women on horseback. The following is an example of historical evidence.
Snowmass history: The ‘Cattle Queen of Snow Mass’
In newspaper articles from 1905, Miss Catherine, better known as Kate Lindvig, was referred to as the "Cattle Queen of Snow Mass." In the late 1890s, she moved to Colorado from Denmark and ran a boardinghouse in Aspen.
Around 1898, she relocated to a ranch at the base of Snowmass Divide and registered her stock brand, a backward L with a 2 on its front side, with the county clerk. She made many of the trails within the wilderness boundary in Snowmass Creek for her cattle’s summer grazing.
By 1906, Kate made her final proof that she was working her land to satisfy the 1862 Homestead Act, making the land officially hers.
She worked the land, which was referred to as Snowmass Falls Ranch, and raised cattle along with hay and oats as a lone woman. She never married. She made the papers showing up to classes on ranching as the only woman, but she also took classes on what was traditionally "women's work." In 1943, Kate sold the ranch to the Perry family and moved to California to live with relatives at a lower elevation. She passed away in 1957 at the age of 93.
Also read the link below:
End of Trail - Western Horseman
https://www.westernhorseman.com/slides/30-on-the-trail/681-end-of-trail
“Across the United States, riding trails are at risk. More than ever, backcountry horsemen must compete with hikers, mountain bikers, ATV riders ... the trail, destroying signs and trail markers, erecting gates and fences, and even threatening horseback riders and trail volunteers who try to access the loop.”
CLARIFICATION
We appreciate that horses are included in the approved Prince Creek Management Plan as recreational trail users, by document statements and by showing equestrian icons on the original, approved map for the Prince Creek Trail.
Page 25 of the approved and adopted Prince Creek Management Plan has two sections.
In section 4.2.1, Recreation, “the trail is intended to be natural surface and accommodate all abilities and users, including mountain bikers, pedestrians, and equestrians.”
However, in section 4.2.3 of the new Prince Creek Trail and Parking document, the needs of hikers and bikers are only addressed, with no mention of equestrians. Pitkin County is assuming no responsibility for providing parking for equestrians to access the approved Prince Creek Trail.
The new Prince Creek Trail and Parking document requesting public comment may have contradicted and confused the public during the public comment period. The Prince Creek/Crown Mountain Parking map, which is included on the comment page, has also removed all equestrian icons from this new, Pitkin County, Open Space, Prince Creek Trail map.
We are aware that the BLM recognizes equestrian use on the Crown. Removing any potential equestrian parking and access through Prince Creek will virtually eliminate horses from using their historic access through Pitkin County Open Space to all the middle trails on the Crown.
By removing both the statement and the icon, it appears that historic equestrian trail use is being jeopardized.
Please restore equestrian use in the trail use statement, and reinstate the icon on the maps for the Prince Creek Trail and Parking document, which is published on the Pitkin OST web site for the Prince Creek Trail and Parking project for public comment. This will make it clear to the public that horses are included as trail users. The RFVHC is concerned that this lack of clarity may have interfered with the public comment process for parking.
The RFVHC holds that horses must have equal recreational access to trails based on historical land use rights. In all instances, public parking gives public access. Horsemen and horsewomen are part of our public recreational fabric.
Thank you for clarifying Pitkin County’s intent to preserve and protect these historic equestrian rights, as stipulated in the Prince Creek Management Plan to use the Prince Creek Trail. Now, please help us park for access to the middle part of the Crown.
We formally request truck and trailer parking for equestrians within the proposed Bull Pen area, or in a comparable parking alternative area near the Prince Creek Trail Head. A site visit to this area, as was done for the Glassier Parking area, would help clarify possibilities for all recreational trail partners.
The Glassier Parking and trail solution was an excellent idea and a resounding success. We look forward to hearing about a future site visit.
Respectfully Submitted,
RFVHC Board of Directors
To the Pitkin BOCC and Pitkin OST Board and Staff:
The Roaring Fork Valley Horse Council (RFVHC) would like to thank the Pitkin BOCC and Pitkin OST Board for supporting the historic precedent of including equestrians on public open space trails, most specifically on the new Prince Creek Trail, as stipulated in the adopted Prince Creek Management Plan. Thank you for defending the historic rights of equestrians and future generations for continued use on the many trails that were established by horses/owners/riders, and which equestrians continue to use now, and wish to use into the future.
The Bull Pen Parking area has historically been used as a holding area for livestock, including horses for generations. Historically Prince Creek Road had many pull outs, where equestrians parked and accessed the Crown’s many trails.
Pitkin County has indicated that all pull outs on Prince Creek County Road will be closed and all parking on Prince Creek Road will be illegal. Without the proposed Bull Pen parking area, or a comparable parking alternative near the Prince Creek Trail head, historical horseback rider’s access is threatened.
The following data supports our position:
History about horses on trails
In the state of Colorado, if you have carried out the same work with access on the land for 18 years or more, you then have the legal right to continue use. (Colorado Rev. Stat. § 38-41-10). Horses and ranchers made most of the trails in the Roaring Fork Valley starting with the Homestead Act of 1862. The fact is that horse/owners/riders established and used these public trails for 156 years.
Many ranchers made trails on public lands and within the wilderness to access high country pastures for their livestock. Most of our local trails were created by men and women on horseback. The following is an example of historical evidence.
Snowmass history: The ‘Cattle Queen of Snow Mass’
In newspaper articles from 1905, Miss Catherine, better known as Kate Lindvig, was referred to as the "Cattle Queen of Snow Mass." In the late 1890s, she moved to Colorado from Denmark and ran a boardinghouse in Aspen.
Around 1898, she relocated to a ranch at the base of Snowmass Divide and registered her stock brand, a backward L with a 2 on its front side, with the county clerk. She made many of the trails within the wilderness boundary in Snowmass Creek for her cattle’s summer grazing.
By 1906, Kate made her final proof that she was working her land to satisfy the 1862 Homestead Act, making the land officially hers.
She worked the land, which was referred to as Snowmass Falls Ranch, and raised cattle along with hay and oats as a lone woman. She never married. She made the papers showing up to classes on ranching as the only woman, but she also took classes on what was traditionally "women's work." In 1943, Kate sold the ranch to the Perry family and moved to California to live with relatives at a lower elevation. She passed away in 1957 at the age of 93.
Also read the link below:
End of Trail - Western Horseman
https://www.westernhorseman.com/slides/30-on-the-trail/681-end-of-trail
“Across the United States, riding trails are at risk. More than ever, backcountry horsemen must compete with hikers, mountain bikers, ATV riders ... the trail, destroying signs and trail markers, erecting gates and fences, and even threatening horseback riders and trail volunteers who try to access the loop.”
CLARIFICATION
We appreciate that horses are included in the approved Prince Creek Management Plan as recreational trail users, by document statements and by showing equestrian icons on the original, approved map for the Prince Creek Trail.
Page 25 of the approved and adopted Prince Creek Management Plan has two sections.
In section 4.2.1, Recreation, “the trail is intended to be natural surface and accommodate all abilities and users, including mountain bikers, pedestrians, and equestrians.”
However, in section 4.2.3 of the new Prince Creek Trail and Parking document, the needs of hikers and bikers are only addressed, with no mention of equestrians. Pitkin County is assuming no responsibility for providing parking for equestrians to access the approved Prince Creek Trail.
The new Prince Creek Trail and Parking document requesting public comment may have contradicted and confused the public during the public comment period. The Prince Creek/Crown Mountain Parking map, which is included on the comment page, has also removed all equestrian icons from this new, Pitkin County, Open Space, Prince Creek Trail map.
We are aware that the BLM recognizes equestrian use on the Crown. Removing any potential equestrian parking and access through Prince Creek will virtually eliminate horses from using their historic access through Pitkin County Open Space to all the middle trails on the Crown.
By removing both the statement and the icon, it appears that historic equestrian trail use is being jeopardized.
Please restore equestrian use in the trail use statement, and reinstate the icon on the maps for the Prince Creek Trail and Parking document, which is published on the Pitkin OST web site for the Prince Creek Trail and Parking project for public comment. This will make it clear to the public that horses are included as trail users. The RFVHC is concerned that this lack of clarity may have interfered with the public comment process for parking.
The RFVHC holds that horses must have equal recreational access to trails based on historical land use rights. In all instances, public parking gives public access. Horsemen and horsewomen are part of our public recreational fabric.
Thank you for clarifying Pitkin County’s intent to preserve and protect these historic equestrian rights, as stipulated in the Prince Creek Management Plan to use the Prince Creek Trail. Now, please help us park for access to the middle part of the Crown.
We formally request truck and trailer parking for equestrians within the proposed Bull Pen area, or in a comparable parking alternative area near the Prince Creek Trail Head. A site visit to this area, as was done for the Glassier Parking area, would help clarify possibilities for all recreational trail partners.
The Glassier Parking and trail solution was an excellent idea and a resounding success. We look forward to hearing about a future site visit.
Respectfully Submitted,
RFVHC Board of Directors