To mark Colorado Public Lands Day on May 20, Northern Colorado public land agencies encourage visitors to download and use the COTREX app prior to their outdoor adventures. This marks the first time that multiple jurisdictions, ranging from county level to federal level, have pointed to a single trails app as the verified source of information for their lands. COTREX is the official Colorado trails app, created by the state.

A total of 236 land management agencies shared their GIS data with the Colorado Department of Natural Resources and Colorado Parks and Wildlife beginning in 2016 to build out the COTREX app with trail information directly from the source. Visitors are always encouraged to ‘Know Before You Go’, and the COTREX app allows residents and visitors to discover and navigate trails on federal, state, local and private lands with public access. Additionally, COTREX is built for all trail users, including hiking, mountain biking, equestrian riding, and motorized recreation. 

“COTREX users have access to the most accurate and updated trail information in one place, for free,” said Colorado Parks and Wildlife State Trails Program Manager Fletcher Jacobs. “Hikers can have confidence they're not going to run into a 'trail closed' sign. Bikers will know which days and directions on the trails they can use.”

View highlights of COTREX in this video
View COTREX video in Spanish

Features of the app include:

• Always free, no hidden charges
• The only official source of trail information for the entire state 
• Navigate 45,078 miles of trails across the entire state of Colorado 
• Featured routes that highlight unique places and views
• Create and share custom routes on authorized trails that show distance, elevation, and trail grade
• Get notified of real-time alerts, conditions, closures. Follow regions or land managers to receive direct-to-your-phone trail updates
• Record your outdoor experience to save for later
• Use filters to find dog-friendly and wheelchair-accessible trails 
• Download maps ahead of time when headed somewhere out of network
• Receive weather information for the area you plan to visit
• Choose ‘get me there’ option with directions to trailhead

Get your verified Colorado trail info from COTREX.
COTREX on iTunes
COTREX on Google Play
COTREX on web

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.