Since COVID-19 hit, trails and other open spaces have seen significant spikes in visitors as more people itch to get out of the house and head to the hills. It's great to see people enjoying our beautiful, natural outdoors! Unfortunately, the extra traffic is taking a heavy toll on Colorado’s trails.

We've seen trampling off-trail, which harms plant and animal habitat; garbage and dog waste; graffiti on rock faces and trail signs; and illegal parking. The damage could take years to repair; some damage is permanent. Also, many people are not following social distancing guidelines. Some open spaces are at risk of shutting down.

In Colorado, we wanted to spread awareness about this issue so that our open spaces stay open and continue to be enjoyed by all. So we created the #KeepItInMind campaign. It urges people to "keep a few things in mind" as they head outside, and help protect open spaces and each other.

For example, the campaign reminds people to stay on marked trails — walking through mud if necessary! — and shows pictures of dead vegetation in places where people walked off the authorized path. It shares the principles of Leave No Trace, and provides links to resources to help recreationists find less-populated trails and campgrounds to visit. And it reminds people that the pandemic isn't over — we still need to wear masks, stay six feet apart and go out only in small groups.

We’re involving our coalition members in this campaign too, by inviting them to “take over” our social media feeds with messages about things to keep in mind in their region of the state. As an example, Colorado West Land Trust reminds users of its newly paved Monument Trail in Grand Junction to stay six feet apart when walking or cycling.

Social media toolkit

To make it easy for folks to help us spread these messages, we've created a social media toolkit that contains suggested messages and graphics. We invite anyone to support the campaign by downloading our social media toolkit and all of the #keepitinmind graphics.

Whether you are a Colorado native or a newcomer, thank you, nature lovers, for doing what you can to #KeepItInMind and #EnjoyResponsibly!

Follow our campaign on Facebook and Instagram

Spikes in visitors

Several of our open space agencies have reported an unparalleled increase in visitors. As an example, Larimer County Natural Resources says that it has seen an estimated 50 to 60 percent increase in visitors compared to a “normal” April and May; the number of visitors is more typical of June and July. We have heard similar accounts from Jefferson County Open Space and Boulder County Parks and Open Space.

North Front Range Metropolitan Planning Organization is reporting that across eight "count sites" in Colorado's Front Range region, from mid-March to mid-April 2020, they observed a 122 percent increase in trails traffic on weekends and a 172 percent increase on weekdays compared to the same period in 2019. Across 22 count sites on the Fort Collins trail network for March 2020, they observed a 46 percent increase in trail traffic compared to March 2019. #KeepItInMind and #EnjoyResponsibly

Thank you, partners!

Many thanks to our network of partners that are helping us reach larger audiences in our state — particularly our land trusts and open space agencies charged with conserving and stewarding these outdoor places. A huge thanks also to Great Outdoors Colorado, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Colorado Parks and Recreation Association, Colorado Youth Corps Association, Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education and Colorado Open Space Alliance for spreading the word!