By Charles Pekow – The rules for mountain biking in three regions of Colorado have been finalized. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued guidelines for over 121,000 acres of land managed by its Uncompahgre Field Office, covering areas in Montrose, Delta, San Miguel, and Ouray counties, including Dry Creek, Ridgway, and Norwood-Burn Canyon.
Since 2007, the BLM has been working on travel management plans (TMPs). These new rules aim to implement key decisions from the TMPs to protect natural resources, improve public safety, and enhance habitat quality, big-game winter range, and migration corridors.
Mountain bikes are restricted to designated travel routes, except when accessing designated campgrounds in Dry Creek. Additionally, bikes must be parked “within one vehicle-width of the edge of a designated travel route.”
Violators of the new rules may be fined and tried before a U.S. Magistrate, according to the BLM. However, no current mountain biking areas are being removed under these rules.
For more information, visit https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-09-09/html/2024-20154.htm
