For Immediate Release:  September 24, 2007  
Contact: Jaime Gardner, 303-239-3681

BLM Opens Ridge Trail on Emerald Mountain

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is pleased to announce that Phase 1 of the Ridge Trail is open for recreational use.  The Ridge trail is located in the newly acquired Emerald Mountain Special Recreation Management Area (SRMA) near Steamboat Springs. 

Ridge Trail will provide opportunities for strenuous, challenging mountain biking, Nordic skiing, hiking, horseback riding, hunting, and other recreational activities. Development of the Ridge trail is a part of the implementation of BLM’s Recreation Area Management Plan for Emerald Mountain which was approved on June 15, 2007. 
“We are pleased to open this trail as part of our first step in the management of Emerald Mountain.  This effort was shared with our partners and we have had nothing but a positive and productive relationship” said John Husband, Field Manager of the BLM Little Snake Field Office in Craig.  “We ask all users to enjoy this great opportunity and respect the resources and others that might be using this newly developed trail.”

Design of the Ridge Trail has been a joint effort between the Bureau of Land Management, City of Steamboat Springs Parks, Open Space and Recreational Services Department, Emerald Mountain Partnership, Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, and Routt County Riders. 

Driving access to Ridge Trail is located approximately 1.1 miles on Cow Creek Road (County Road 45) off of County Road 33, or by non-motorized access on the Blackmere Drive Trail, located approximately 3 miles from the Ridge Trail trailhead.

The area is open to day use and non-motorized vehicle use with no overnight camping allowed.  Zone 2 is closed to mechanized travel. 

Pedestrian gates are located at the Ridge Trail trailhead and at the south end of Cow Creek Road to the Emerald Mountain SRMA.

For more information, please contact Gina Robison, BLM, at 970-826-5083.

-BLM-