Groomed winter trails, rebuilt trailheads, and nearly 1,600 acres of forest trimming are built into the Frisco Backyard management plan, a sweeping new project between the town of Frisco and U.S. Forest Service.
This trails and wildfire management plan covers 3,026 acres south of Frisco at the base of Peak One. It’s bordered by Mount Royal and Ophir Mountain, and home to more than 60 miles of authorized and unauthorized trail.
It is one of the most popular natural playgrounds in Summit. A recent U.S. Forest Service study shows more than 250,000 people venture through this area every year.
Town trails manager Pete Swenson first pitched the Frisco Backyard project to town council in 2021, calling this zone an untapped gem just minutes off Main Street. By 2023 an assessment started. It wrapped up in recent months.
“The ‘Frisco Backyard’ is vital to Frisco’s future because it is our community’s gateway to thousands of acres of public land and because the health of that forest is pivotal to fire mitigation in Frisco,” Swenson said in a statement. “The area is well loved, and in turn, it deserves the attention and resources that Frisco has committed through a significant financial investment in this planning process in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service.”
The Forest Service is taking comments now on the plan, which includes wildfire fuels work and trails upgrades:
- 1,576 acres of various wildfire fuel treatments divided into 63 treatment units.
- Creating a more sustainable summer trail system through actions such as constructing or rerouting trails, decommissioning trail sections, and adopting and maintaining select user-created trails.
- Grooming approximately 10.2 miles of National Forest System trails and non-NFS routes during the winter for multiple uses (skiing, snowshoeing, hiking/walking, running, bicycling, etc.). All trails open to bicycles during the summer season would be open to bicycles during the winter season, which is currently prohibited.
- The Peaks/Zach’s Stop Trailhead and Miner’s Creek Trailheads would be redesigned and improved to better manage parking and reduce impacts to adjacent neighborhoods.
“By including both the wildfire hazard reduction and recreation improvement activities under one proposal, we are better able to address potential impacts and integrate the work, as well as give the public a more complete look at our plans for the area,” Dillon District Ranger Adam Bianchi said.
On Wednesday, April 9, the town and Forest Service host an open house at the Frisco Day Lodge from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Rangers present at 6 p.m.