Boulder County Parks & Open Space is preparing a management plan for the East Boulder Creek Site and is seeking public comments. Public input will help shape the future of the site and the priorities for conservation and community access.
East Boulder Creek Site Management Plan
Survey Results
The first survey closed on Feb. 28. The survey focused on conservation and people priorities.
Staff are analyzing the data and will post results by April 30.
Video Overview
Planning Timeline
Phase I
Winter 2022-23
Introducing East Boulder Creek
Community Survey 1
The first survey closed on Feb. 28. The survey focused on conservation and people priorities. Staff are analyzing the data and will post results by April 30.
Phase II
Spring/Summer 2023
Visit East Boulder Creek
Site Visits & Community Survey 2
Site visits will be planned for the public to view the property. Another survey will be posted.
Phase III
Fall/Winter 2023-24
Draft Site Management Plan
Comment Period
The public will be invited to provide comments on the draft site management plan.
Phase IV
Fall/Winter 2023-24
Final Plan Adoption
Approval
The plan will be presented to the Parks & Open Space Advisory Committee and the Board of County Commissioners for final approval.
Implementation
2024 & Beyond
Site Management Plan Implementation
Construction
Staff will build and prepare the park to be opened to the public. This will take several years.
Site Location
The site shares a border with Weld County at East County Line Road, and is also bounded by State Highway 52 on the north, US 287 generally on the west, and Jasper and Kenosha Roads on the south.
The Town of Erie lies just to the south, Niwot several miles to the northwest, and Longmont about five miles to the north.
This 1,377-acre site is composed of five individual open space properties that contain a dozen ponds and five miles of perennial stream along Boulder Creek and Coal Creek.
Photos
Indian Peaks reflection in Kenosha Ponds.
Frost on sideoats grama grass in a cottonwood grove along Coal Creek.
American white pelicans on Kenosha Pond.
Sunrise along Boulder Creek looking west to the Indian Peaks.
Animal tracks, frosty leaf, and some flood debris along Coal Creek.
Dawn on Kenosha Pond.
Views of Indian Peaks from oil and gas facilities.
Boulder Creek flood damage just east of N. 109th St. near the Alexander Dawson property.
Riparian cottonwood grove along Coal Creek.
Boulder Creek on the East Boulder Creek Site.
Boulder Creek just beginning to flow in its new channel and floodplain.
Dawn at the Bailey-Kenosha Ponds property.
About East Boulder Creek Site
This portion of the Boulder Valley has been an important part of the region for its streamside riparian habitats, its irrigated farmlands, and its aggregate resources. While extractive industries have impacted the site, the agricultural community, including the tenants of these county open space parcels, continues to steward this rural landscape. The area has been, and remains, a site for oil and gas operations. The county finished the reclamation of the last and most recent gravel operation and will continue to revegetate the site.
Due to the extent of past aggregate mining, the site continues to provide ongoing opportunities for restoration. In the latest example, the county partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fully restore a one-mile segment of the Boulder Creek floodplain east of US 287 several years ago, broadening the channel in order to build resilience into the landscape and to offer a larger riparian habitat footprint. Learn more about the restoration project.
The site also supports existing significant wildlife habitats and wetlands. Due to its relatively level topography and position on the western Great Plains, this site offers expansive views of the Front Range mountains and the Indian Peaks area. This site presents a variety of passive recreation options and a continued opportunity to restore this place for both the natural and human community.