JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — It's one of the most popular viewpoints on Colorado’s Front Range. But Jefferson County says people are causing a long list of problems on Lookout Mountain, leading the county to consider closing car access to the road at night.
Jeffco Open Space, along with other county officials, first responders, and Denver Mountain Parks, have proposed adding gates to Lookout Mountain Road. The proposed gates would only block access through park properties, a distance of about 4.16 miles.
The parks are closed at night, but the road isn’t. The county said people love to visit after hours and cause trouble.
“We find evidence of alcohol consumption. People are smoking cigarettes and throwing them, potentially causing fires,” said Mary Ann Bonnell, a Jeffco Open Space ranger and the department’s Director of Visitor Services and Natural Resources.
“People using marijuana, drugs. We find used condoms. Underpants and bras. We find copious amounts of fast-food trash – so people just throw trash over the edge,” she said. “I have to limit my time up there because once I get started, I could spend the rest of the day up there collecting nothing but bags of trash. It’s heartbreaking to see how people treat that mountain at night.”
It's also car crashes and fires at night, according to first responders.
“We’re seeing a lot of grass fires, trash can fires, a lot of fires off the road, illegal campfires,” said Lt. Mike Amdur with the Foothills Fire Protection District. “This is a very high-risk area for wildfires specifically. So it’s a very important area for us to respond quickly.”
“Midnight is busier than 10 a.m., on average,” Bonnell said.
“People ask us, ‘Why not patrol more?’ Because there’s a constant stream of new people coming in. If the sheriff’s office or Golden police clear an area, more people just fill in as soon as we clear,” she said. “So it’s a fool’s errand to try and clear people out. What we need is gates. And gates have been successful at other parks.”
The county held a meeting in December to gather feedback from stakeholders and the public, and plans to hold more throughout the winter months. Bonnell said there were questions from people who live along or near Lookout Mountain Road and use the roadway as a through-route when other roads, like Interstate 70, are closed.
“That’s an operational question we think we can address through design or standard operating procedures,” Bonnell said.
Bonnell said there are no homes along Lookout Mountain Road that would have a single access point blocked by gates at the park property entrance.
Pedestrians and bicyclists would still have access to the road, even if the gates are added. Jeffco Open Space said it’s the people in vehicles causing the real problems.
“If people would just stay on the road, this would be cool. We wouldn’t need to do anything. But we have people parking and doing all kind of things,” Bonnell said.
"If people didn’t stop, it would be OK. If they were just doing the scenic drive and moving on, that would be OK. But that’s not what’s happening.”
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