Backposting this information for historical purposes. It was originally posted on the old web site on 01/26/2006 11:39 PM –chris

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Monument Preserve and Mad Hatter trail

The USFS administrative area known as the Monument Preserve or the Monument Fire Center is bordered by a combination of USFS Pike National Forest, Colorado State Land Board property (aka Section 16 School Board Land), and private property. The adjacent Section 16 land is currently being developed and turned into Forest View Acres Filing 4. This processes has been ongoing for most of the last 10 years, perhaps longer

Interestingly part of Section 16 juts out across Mt. Herman Rd and into what most of us thought was part of the Monument Preserve, or at a minimum part of the Pike National Forest. Please see the map to follow along. All points inside the blue lines are the USFS historic area known as the Monument Preserve (did you know this used to be a CCC Nusery?). Notice the triangle shaped area formed by Mt. Herman Rd and point “B”. This is now private property and will in the very near future have a home built on it. Also notice that a trail (red line) runs right across the middle of the propery.

The map is by no means an exhaustive trail system map, just the route that I happened to follow one day while in the preserve.

The trail across the private propery needs to be closed to allow the new owners to build their home. Luckily, a new social trail has formed over the last several months and FOMP, as is part our charter with USFS will be adopting this new trail for some needed maintenance and upgrades. This re-route starts directly East of the Fire Center entrance road and skirts around the property dodging in and out of Pine trees, scrub oak, and rolling up and down very much in the spirit of the old section of the trail. It has some very interesting features for hikers, horse riders and bikers alike.

FOMP will also be doing some reclamation work over the next couple of months to close off the ends of the old trail where it leads to the private property from the new trail.

The FOMP Board of Directors regrets that this has to happen but we were not financially equipped to purchase the propery (about $200,000). We have spent a lot of time over the last several months debating the best way to proceed and feel that the sooner the new trail is firmly established and the old trail parts closed the better. By spring when the seasonal users return to the Monument Preserve we would like to see that the new trail is the only obvious route and minimize any conflicts. Please help by keeping an eye out for the new re-route, staying on this beautiful new singletrack and if you are able, please join us in upcoming work days this winter, spring, and summer.

Thanks,
Chris Tirpak
President, Friends of Monument Preserve

[note: need to add back the map]