A Volunteer Park Patroller’s Perspective

Fred Naess, 30-year Volunteer Park Patroller & PLAN Jeffco Board Member

What’s it like to be a Volunteer Park Patroller with Jeffco Open Space?

With over two dozen parks, more than 270 miles of trails and nearly 60,000 acres in the system, a Volunteer Park Patroller has many options. Once you’ve been vetted and trained as a Park Patroller, you can sign up for a specific date and time at a park of your choice, but there’s no rule that says you can’t spontaneously “stop by” a park on the way home from work. It’s unlikely you’ll see another Volunteer Patroller, except perhaps on a busy summer weekend, but if you do, there are plenty of other alternative parks to visit for a patrol, none of them very far away.

The range of park experiences is huge. There’s the beautiful suburban Crown Hill Park, located in Wheat Ridge at an elevation of about 5,600 feet, with both paved and natural-surface trails winding around a waterfowl-studded lake. The nearby ponds are preserved as a National Urban Wildlife Refuge.  The main lake is stocked with rainbow trout during the ice-free months, providing fishing opportunities for both people and raptors.  During the winter months, I’ve seen two bald eagles perched in the stately cottonwood trees beside the lake, near patches of open water.

South Valley Open Space Park, photo courtesy of CarbonFibrePhoto

Moving up into the foothills, there’s South Valley Park near Ken Caryl and C-470, which has numerous red sandstone rock formations scattered along the trails.  They provide a visual feast of stunning shapes and colors, constantly changing as the sun progresses across the cobalt blue Colorado sky.  Prairie falcons often nest on narrow ledges high on the rock faces, and golden eagles soar from their nests on the rocks overlooking the Lockheed Martin facility, which is the adjoining property to the west.

Clear Creek aerial view

At the mouth of Clear Creek Canyon, and just west of Golden, is the Gateway Trailhead, entrance to the ambitious Peaks to Plains Trail, which will ultimately stretch all the way up to the Loveland ski area on the Continental Divide and beyond.  The paved beginning of this trail meanders right along Clear Creek, whose waters sing to the visitor and provide fishing and kayaking opportunities.  Keep a sharp eye out for Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep grazing in the sun-drenched meadows above to the north.

Further into the foothills is Mt. Falcon, with the west trailhead at nearly 8,000 feet elevation, nearly 2,000 feet above the Morrison trailhead. The main Castle Trail has a spur leading to the historic John Brisben Walker’s castle.

Deer in hoarfrost, Hildebrand Park

In the Evergreen and Conifer area, there are five Jeffco Open Space parks, all between 7,000’ and 8,000’: Elk Meadow, Alderfer/Three Sisters, Flying J Ranch, Meyer Ranch, and Reynolds.  These mountain gems offer something for virtually everyone—picnicking, hiking, cycling, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and wildlife watching.  Even in winter, you will likely spot chickadees, juncos, two types of nuthatches, hairy and downy woodpeckers, flickers, Townsend’s Solitaires, robins, and ravens. During the summer months, you can hear—but likely not see—the elusive hermit thrush. This is undoubtedly an incomplete list. Deer, elk, and moose—even the secretive mountain lion—inhabit this diverse ecosystem, delighting the lucky visitor who spots them. At the time of this writing, considerable forestry work is underway at these parks, thinning the overly dense Ponderosa pine and Douglas fir forest to restore it to its original density, making it more wildfire resistant and enhancing the health of the forest and wildlife habitat.

Baehrden Lodge overlooking Pine Lake, photo courtesy of MAPoolet

Finally, there’s the unique Pine Valley Ranch, my personal favorite.  Located near the quaint village of Pine, it straddles the North Fork of the South Platte River at about 6,800 feet elevation.  A historic rustic mansion (Baehrden Lodge) was used as a summer retreat by its builders, and overlooks the river and lake, but is not open to the public at the time of this writing, due to health concerns.  The main trail runs along the former rail bed of the historic Denver South Park and Pacific Railroad, which serviced the mining communities dotting the Colorado Rockies in the mid 1800s.  The east end of the trail extends through a spectacular gorge, with boisterous cataracts and winter ice jams.  A sharp eye might spot through the trees the ice wall which forms in freezing weather on the steep little creek on the far side of the river. During the ice-free months, numerous waterfowl use the lake, including mallards, and mergansers, even an occasional osprey.  A pagoda, located among the stately spruce trees beside the river, can be reserved for wedding ceremonies, with nearby picnic shelters for receptions.

This is certainly not a complete list of the Jeffco Open Space parks, but it does include the highlights from my perspective. As for being a Park Patroller, my experiences on the trails are almost without exception enjoyable. I meet many enthusiastic visitors and take pleasure in answering questions about flora and fauna, trail conditions, and park rules and information. It is gratifying to have such folks thank me for being on the trails.  An occasional contact with a visitor “stretching the rules” usually has a positive outcome, with the visitor understanding the logic behind the pertinent rule.  Jeffco Open Space provides enjoyable and thorough initial training, both for the Patroller duties and First Aid/CPR, then annually afterwards.

Jeffco Open Space offers multiple volunteer programs, some of which have won nationwide acclaim: Park Patroller, Park Host, Cliff-Nesting Raptor Watch, and Information Specialist, to name just a few.  Personally, I am finishing up my 30^th year as a Volunteer Park Patroller. I would like to think that this statistic is a strong endorsement of the program.

For those who would like more information about the Park Patroller program—and who wish to sign up—there will be recruiting open houses and interviews on Thursday, February 15, 2024 from 4:30-6:30 PM, and on Saturday, February 17, 2024 from 10:00 AM until 1:00 PM (my shift!)  For more information, the Open Space main office Welcome Center, open Mondays through Thursdays from 8AM to 5PM, can be reached at (303)-271-5925.

By Fred Naess, 30-year Volunteer Park Patroller and PLAN Jeffco Board Member