Two planned management actions to improve operational sustainability at Horsetooth Mountain Open Space (HTMOS) are complete with installation of an automatic gate at the main HTMOS trailhead, located at 6550 W. County Rd. 38E, and digitizing the open space’s backcountry campsite reservation method.

The gate facilitates a daily partial nighttime closure from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m., which allows visitors to exit during the closure period. The partial nighttime closure resulted from several months of stakeholder meetings and community feedback that was gathered in 2021 to update the Horsetooth Mountain Open Space Management Plan, which was completed in 2006. 

The partial closure provides the community with flexibility to recreate before sunrise or after sunset, attend permitted night programming (ex. Skygazing or astronomy), and to apply for special use permits. The closure’s goal is to abate increasing public safety incidents and wildfire risk. 

In addition, another action to manage nighttime use included transitioning the backcountry campsite reservations at HTMOS from a paper log at the trailhead to an online reservation system, which is being utilized to reserve all other Larimer County-managed campsites (larimercamping.com). Online reservations for the backcountry sites at Horsetooth Mountain will be available beginning Monday, May 1.

The HTMOS Management Plan Adaptive Update was completed in 2021 and can be found online. For more information, please visit larimer.gov/naturalresources.

Photo: Horsetooth Mountain Open Space plums in the spring. Courtesy Brendan Bombaci.