Entry fees for winter recreation will be required for the first time this year at the Brainard Lake Recreation Area near Nederland and two other locations in the Roosevelt National Forest.
A fee of $10 per vehicle will be imposed there as well as Dowdy Lake and West Lake in Red Feather Lakes, located 50 miles northwest of Fort Collins. Fees at the Brainard Gateway Trailhead will be imposed beginning on Nov. 15.
Brainard Lake is a popular destination for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing with six named trails and stunning views of the Continental Divide just to the west.
Backcountry skiing on national forest land is normally free of charge, but at the busy Vail Pass Recreation Area in the White River National Forest, there is a $10 fee to ski, snowshoe or ride snowmobiles during the winter. Some of the proceeds go to grooming trails.
The Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, which are jointly administered, have a new concessionaire this year, Vista Recreation. Concessionaires operate and maintain recreation facilities for the forest service. According to a forest service news release, implementing winter fees at Brainard Lake will allow Vista Recreation to improve winter services.
“Winter services include cleaning toilets, removing trash, plowing snow from roads, parking areas, and around facilities, managing reservations and protecting natural resources,” the release stated. “Many of these services were not consistently provided by previous concessionaires. Winter fees will help Vista operate and maintain these sites to the level and quality people on the Front Range have come to expect. Winter site hosts will provide improved maintenance schedules and service with consistency from year to year.”
The Brainard Gateway Trailhead lot is located just outside of the summer gate, which closes in mid-October. The road from there to Brainard Lake is not plowed in the winter.
Among the changes coming to the Gateway Trailhead are a new kiosk with a fee payment tube and WiFi service. Fees can be paid by depositing cash or check in the fee tube, or by scanning a QR code and paying online at the trailhead via the WiFi. The Brainard Gateway Trailhead has been and will remain free of charge outside of peak winter season.