MAP 3
Conservation-Informed Trail Design
This map highlights areas of critical (red) and high (orange) conservation value within and around the park.
As with our other trail systems in the Backcountry Wilderness Area, such as the Wildcat Mountain and Highlands Point trails, trail alignments will be carefully designed to minimize impacts to wildlife.
The Highlands Point Trail System offers a proven example: there, a similar ridgeline separates trails from sensitive elk habitat. Because the trails remain north of that barrier, elk and other species have continued to thrive in the area.
The Wildcat Regional Park trails will follow the same conservation-minded approach, incorporating buffers, avoiding sensitive zones, and creating recreational opportunities that coexist with wildlife.
The eastern section of the proposed trails falls within a half-mile buffer of an active golden eagle nest located on Wildcat Mountain. While this proximity is notable, the area already contains significant existing development, much of which is closer to the nest than the proposed trails, including residential neighborhoods, paved streets and sidewalks, a middle school and its associated parking lot, multiple sports fields, a trailhead, natural surface and concrete trails, and a major arterial roadway. Given this existing level of disturbance, the proposed trail alignment is not expected to cause additional negative impact to the nesting eagles. Nonetheless, we are working closely with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure full compliance with federal and state regulations protecting golden eagles, and to minimize potential disturbance through careful planning and design.