LITTLETON, Colo. — A detour to see some of the best sights in the Denver metro area can be a real pain in the Jackass Hill.
Users of the High Line Canal trail near Jackass Hill Park in Littleton have found access to be detoured.
“I live in the neighborhood just on the other side of the High Line Canal here, so, I would come through here to get to Jackass Hill," Billy Gooch said. "You get beautiful sunsets, you can see fireworks, unobstructed views of the whole front range here. I know a lot of people come from this side to get to the High Line Canal.”
Gooch is one of the 90,000 yearly users of the segment of High Line Canal trail that bends near Jackass Hill, which is close to Santa Fe Drive and Mineral Avenue. He is also part of Vibrant Littleton.
“We advocate for safe routes for pedestrians, bicycles, kids to get to school, affordable housing, local businesses,” Gooch said.
Over the weekend, a 400-foot section of a dirt path that connected the High Line Canal trail with Jackass Hill Park was shut, with a gate and a chain and a notice sign.
“PRIVATE PROPERTY & DRIVEWAY - VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED – Use Mineral Ave for access.”
“This is a safe route to school," Gooch said. "Heritage High School and Runyon Elementary are both just down the way."
There is a permanent sign attached to a pole near the path that says it is a “School Route.”
“Heritage High: Turn right and then left at trail.”
The sign shows that it is a 20-minute walk to Heritage High School and a six-minute bike ride.
“I'd much rather be biking over here than be biking up and down [Prince Street] with speeding cars,” Gooch said. “It's about a mile-and-a-half to go around either direction to get to where it's just 400 feet from us here.”
There is trail access off Mineral Avenue. If you walked from the now-closed path to that access point and then back to where the now-closed path would have taken you, you would have walked about 1.7 miles.
“Came as a shock. I've lived here for 10 years," Gooch said "This has been open the entire time. I've had neighbors tell me this has been open for 35-40 years. What suddenly changed?”
There is a home on either side of the path. Property records with the Arapahoe County assessor are not clear which of the two properties owns that land.
Efforts to reach both property owners by phone were unsuccessful on Wednesday.
“I'm not a real estate lawyer, but if it's private property, and they decide they don't want people here, you know, all we can do is ask nicely,” Gooch said. “It seems like the best use for this land is just connecting the community and giving everybody access to our beautiful natural parks down here.”
There are three groups involved. The High Line Canal Conservancy, South Suburban Parks and Recreation District and the city of Littleton.
In a statement, Littleton City Manager Jim Becklenberg said, “The City of Littleton learned of the closure of a path connecting Jackass Hill Park and the High Line Canal on late Saturday, November 23. The city is respectful of private property rights and is looking forward to engaging with the property owner along with its partners, South Suburban Parks and Recreation District and the High Line Canal Conservancy, to re-open the trail as expeditiously as possible.”