Fishers Peak Opens Nine Miles of New Trails

Three new trails officially opened at Fishers Peak State Park on Aug. 14, adding nine miles of new routes to the park’s existing network.

The additions — Storyteller, First Spring, and Chaquaqua — mark a significant expansion for the 19,200-acre property, which became Colorado’s 42nd state park in June 2020. For generations, the 9,633-foot mesa served as a visual landmark for Trinidad residents, visible from Interstate 25 but largely inaccessible due to private ownership.

Crystal Dreiling, the park manager, emphasized that the new infrastructure is designed to enhance visitor flexibility. “These trails give people more ways to experience Fishers Peak throughout the year,” Dreiling said. “We plan our trails with the visitor experience in mind, from the views and landscape to the stories people can discover along the way.”

The new loops allow hikers and mountain bikers to return to the trailhead without retracing their steps. This connectivity is particularly useful during the park’s annual peregrine falcon closure, which restricts summit access from March 15 through the end of July. By providing alternative routes through lower elevations, the park ensures that visitors can still engage with the landscape even when the peak itself is off-limits.

The naming conventions for the new trails reflect the area’s ecological and historical layers. First Spring references a longstanding landmark on the property, while Chaquaqua, pronounced “cha-Kwak,” derives its name from the adjacent plateau. Storyteller is intended to prompt visitors to observe subtle details, such as lightning-scarred trees and traces of past human activity.

The trails traverse multiple ecological zones, transitioning from grasslands and piñon-juniper communities to higher-elevation forests. This vertical diversity offers a compact yet comprehensive view of the region’s environmental gradients.

In a related development, Colorado Parks and Wildlife opened the 4.7-mile Goldenrod Trail to mountain bikes on Aug. 15. Previously designated as hiking-only, the route is now accessible to both user groups, though mountain bikers are permitted to ride only uphill. This adjustment expands the park’s multi-use offerings, catering to a broader demographic of outdoor enthusiasts.

The establishment of Fishers Peak as a state park followed a collaborative acquisition effort involving the state, the city of Trinidad, and conservation groups. The property, formerly known as the Crazy French Ranch, was purchased for approximately $25 million. Local leaders had initially approached The Nature Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land in 2017, viewing recreation as a viable economic driver for a community that had experienced prolonged cycles of industrial boom and bust.

Trinidad’s economic history is marked by distinct phases of growth and decline. During the 1880s and early 1900s, the city functioned as a bustling coal hub and a key stop along the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. The 1970s brought international attention through Dr. Stanley Biber’s gender-affirming surgery practice, which earned the town the moniker “sex-change capital of the world.” Subsequently, the legalization of recreational marijuana in Colorado in 2012 triggered a surge in visitors and tax revenue. However, the local marijuana market faced disruption following New Mexico’s legalization efforts, illustrating the volatile nature of the town’s modern economic identity.

To hear them tell it, the new trails are not just about distance covered; they are about narrative and access. The math holds up for the park’s operational goals: increased usage, diversified user types, and reduced congestion on primary routes. That depends on who you ask, but the infrastructure is in place.

Dreiling captured the forward-looking sentiment of the project’s completion. “We plan our trails with the visitor experience in mind, from the views and landscape to the stories people can discover along the way,” she said.