Portions of Waterton Canyon will be closed for 30 to 60 minutes at a time on weekdays, starting Monday, Oct. 7, through Sunday, Dec. 15, between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. for Denver Water’s rockfall mitigation project. Waterton Canyon is planned to be open without restrictions on weekends.
“Waterton Canyon is a popular recreation destination and we recognize these brief section closures will create inconveniences,” said David Wilson, Denver Water engineering project manager. “The purpose of this project is to reduce the risk of injury to staff and the thousands of annual canyon visitors from falling rocks in areas adjacent to the trail that winds up the roughly six-mile-long canyon.”
There will be signage and flaggers in the canyon to communicate with recreationists during the project and to prevent the public from entering a hazard zone. The first mile of the canyon will have minimal impacts as most of the work will be about 1.2 miles up the canyon and higher.
As a working facility, there are times when operations and maintenance projects create unsafe conditions for the public, prompting closures or obstructed trail access.
Denver Water performs maintenance projects like this one to provide for a safer experience throughout the canyon by creating optimal conditions for a family-friendly hiking and biking experience.
For more on why Waterton Canyon is such a great attraction read, “The ‘trails’ and tribulations of Waterton Canyon.”