Horsetooth Mountain Park RResourceesource CConservationonservation aandnd VisitorVisitor EExperiencexperience MManagementanagement PPlanlan May 2006 Larimer County Parks and Open Lands Charlie Johnson, Cover Photograph (rendered by EDAW) Horsetooth Mountain Park Resource Conservation And Visitor Experience Management Plan April 2006 Larimer County Parks and Open Lands Horsetooth Mountain Park Resource Conservation and Visitor Experience Management Plan Contents Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................2 1.1 Purpose and Objectives of the Plan ........................................................................2 1.3 Scope And Organization Of The Plan ......................................................................6 1.4 Public And Agency Involvement ..............................................................................6 2. EXISTING CONDITIONS .............................................................................................9 2.1 Overview .................................................................................................................9 2.2 Natural Resources ...................................................................................................9 2.3 Cultural Resources ................................................................................................19 2.4 Visitor Experiences and Resources .......................................................................22 2.5 Park Administrative Resources .............................................................................28 3. OPPORTUNITIES, CONSTRAINTS, AND PLANNING ISSUES ..............................34 3.1 Overview ...............................................................................................................34 3.2 Natural Resource Opportunities, Constraints and Planning Issues ......................34 3.3 Cultural Resource Opportunities, Constraints and Planning Issues ......................35 3.4 Visitor Experience Opportunities, Constraints and Planning Issues......................35 3.5 Park Administrative Issues and Concerns .............................................................37 4. RESOURCE CONSERVATION AND VISITOR EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT ......39 4.1 Management Plan Overview .................................................................................39 4.1.1 Park Guiding Statements ...................................................................................39 4.1.2 Park Management Zones ...................................................................................40 4.2 Natural Resources Management ...........................................................................43 4.3 Cultural Resources Management ..........................................................................49 4.4 Visitor Experience Management ...........................................................................51 4.5 Park Administration ...............................................................................................56 4.6 Summary of Implementation Tasks and Phasing ..................................................58 5. APPENDIX A: Planning Team, Public and Agency Involvement ..........................63 6. APPENDIX B: Bibliography .....................................................................................71 7. APPENDIX C: Visitor Survey and Results (2005)...................................................74 8. APPENDIX D: List of Wildlife and Plant Species .................................................103 9. APPENDIX E: Related Documents ........................................................................122 Chapter 1 Horsetooth Mountain Park Three Dimensional Image of the Park 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Purpose and Objectives of the Plan Horsetooth Mountain Park was established in 1982 as a regional park1. The original intent behind the establishment of the Park was to protect the mountain from residential development, to conserve the Park’s natural and cultural resources and to provide outdoor recreational opportunities. An original management plan was drafted in 1982, with a subsequent update in 1998, which served as tools for management and recreational development of the Park with the assumption that the Park would provide public use while maintaining aesthetics and habitat conservation. This plan builds on all the previous plans and studies (see Appendix B). Hughey, Culver and Soderberg open spaces were added to the Park from 1998 to 2003. These properties were purchased to conserve their natural and cultural resources, buffer Horsetooth Mountain Park from changing land use and to provide public access where appropriate. Culver and Hughey open spaces are located in the SW corner of the Park. Soderberg Open Space is located on the east side of the Park. Management plans were prepared for each of these open spaces and have been incorporated into this plan to establish a unifi ed approach to management of the area. Where this plan refers to Horsetooth Mountain Park (or the Park), this description includes both the Park itself as well as Hughey, Culver and Soderberg open spaces (see map 2.1). The purpose of this update of the Horsetooth Mountain Park Management Plan is to: 1) reexamine the management objectives for the Park given the current ecological, social, economic and political environment; 2) provide the formal program and policy guidelines that will direct the management and use of Horsetooth Mountain Park well into the future; and 3) develop specifi c implementation strategies for carrying out various components of the management effort. The 1 A regional Park is defi ned in both the Larimer County Parks Comprehensive Parks Master Plan (1993) and the Larimer County Open Lands Mas- ter Plan (2001) as a large area of 500 acres or more with natural resource values of regional signifi cance for nature-oriented, outdoor recreation. A strong emphasis is placed on resource preservation. 2 Resource Conservation and Visitor Experience Management Plan Introduction overall objectives of the management plan are to: • Protect, manage and enhance natural, cultural and visual resources, including maintaining and promoting healthy ecosystems and their processes. • Provide and promote safe, diverse and enjoyable outdoor recreation opportunities while minimizing detrimental impacts upon natural, cultural and visual resources. • Provide educational opportunities regarding the values of the surrounding natural, cultural and visual resources and the importance of responsible use and stewardship of the land. • Defi ne implementation policies, programs and responsibilities for the above goals as well as provide specifi c implementation steps where appropriate. 1.2 History of Horsetooth Mountain Park Horsetooth Mountain The history of Horsetooth Mountain dates back as far as 10,000 B.C. when Native Americans used the area as a hunting and gathering ground. According to Native American legend, Horsetooth Mountain is the body of a giant that was slain by a brave warrior who slashed the giant’s heart - Horsetooth Rock. The death of the giant brought peace and tranquility to the Valley of Contentment (Spring Canyon). Fur trappers and traders began to move into the area as early as 1825. Settlers soon followed with the discovery of nearby gold in 1858. By the 1870’s Horsetooth Mountain became a popular place to recreate. In the 1880’s, the quarrying of sandstone in Spring Canyon created a demand for lumber, which was harvested from the mountain slopes. Over time, regular land use practices on the mountain and surrounding land included cattle grazing, timber harvesting, quarrying and farming. Some early landowners were the Herringtons, Culvers and Soderbergs. By 1952, the Soderbergs owned the majority of what is now the Park land. In the early 1980’s, Horsetooth Mountain came under the threat of impending residential development. In response, two Colorado State University students began a petition to purchase the Soderberg Ranch for a county park. Funding would be provided by extending an existing one cent sales tax for six months. The issue, placed on the April 28, 1981 ballot, passed and by 1982, Larimer County became the owner of Horsetooth Mountain Park. Since that time, entrance areas with parking, picnic, restroom, trailheads and drinking water facilities have been established. The trailheads provide access to approximately 30 miles of trail and road that have been developed for the enjoyment of visitors on the approximately 2,696-acre Horsetooth Mountain Park. Soderberg Open Space Now partially submerged under Horsetooth Reservoir, the Town of Stout was once the main community in the Horsetooth Valley. Swan Johnson came from Sweden after his fi ancée died, fi rst living in Pennsylvania and then settling in the Horsetooth Valley area on the 700-acre Lesher 3 Chapter 1 Horsetooth Mountain Park Ranch. Swan lived in a two-story stone ranch house with a white porch west of what is now Dixon Cove. Around the turn of the century, his niece Wilhelmina, her husband John Soderberg and their fi rst of what would eventually be 11 children moved in with him. The water for the house was piped from a spring ¼ mile away and the house was heated with wood and coal. On Swan’s ranch there were two stone quarries where fl agstone was removed and sent to Fort Collins and Denver for sidewalks. Stone from the quarries was also used by John Soderberg in building the old Fort Collins Library (now the