Aspen Requests Public Input On Smuggler Mountain Open Space

About 123,000 people used Smuggler Mountain Open Space during its peak usage year of 2020, according to a trail monitor near its observation deck.

Smuggler Mountain’s current management plan, drafted in 2008, only accounts for 232 acres of the now around 300-acre open space. With a rise in visitation, continued issues with invasive species, and historic preservation, a new management plan is being considered. 

As such, the city of Aspen is asking the public to give their input on what is critical about the open space.

When Aspen first acquired Smuggler Mountain in 2008, the city had to clear the land of the detritus left behind by the original owner and make the original mining infrastructure safe for the general public. The Aspen Historical Society helped to catalog and store the most historically important items from the mountain. 

“(In 2008,) there were a lot of remnants left, either from mining or from the previous owner,” said Carly O’Connell, senior planner and landscape architect for Pitkin County Open Space and Trails. “We hauled out school buses and old building materials; it took about $60,000 to haul away all the stuff that was left at Smuggler.”

The remaining historical artifacts and mining sites are now part of the trail system on the mountain. Several old cabin sites, foundations, and mineshafts still remain on the mountain. Much of the land on the mountain that was sold or traded to the city of Aspen used to be mining claims or small operations. Aspen hopes to educate users on the city’s history as a mining town. 

“There’s a big effort put into interpretation, including signs and viewpoints and guiding people through a lot of the historic sites that are up there,” Aspen Open Space and Natural Resource Manager John Spiess said. “We don’t actively preserve or keep any of the sites or mine shafts open. What we’re interested in these days is the interpretation of the site.”

Noxious weeds like Canadian Thistle or meadow knapweed are also issues both throughout Colorado and on Smuggler Mountain. The city has followed through with the 2008 management plan and monitored the weeds and invasive species, as well as removed as much as possible. The city will need to continue the efforts in the 2024 management plan even though progress has been made. 

“Noxious weeds take hold and disturbed ground,” he said. “Since the 2008 Smuggler management plan, we’ve seen a lot of use up there, but we’ve been able to define areas for that use and allow some of those natural ecosystems to come back. The number of newly-disturbed areas is on the decline, which is ultimately the ground where invasives take hold.”

According to data from a trail monitor set near the observation platform, around 79,000 people used the trails on Smuggler mountain in 2023 alone. The 2024 management plan will take into account how this will affect the large populations of wildlife and the impact of humans on the most trafficked areas. 

By: Beau Toepfer I The Aspen Times I July 13, 2024