Erie is an island no more.
The last major segment of the Coal Creek/Rock Creek Regional Trail was completed last month, bringing together a 27-mile trail network that now extends from Erie to Eldorado Springs, south of Boulder.
The final 4 miles of trail to be knocked out this summer straddled the Lafayette city and Erie town lines, extending the trail across the 142-acre Mountain View Egg Farm Open Space in Lafayette and under Colorado 7 into Erie.
“I think it’s huge for Erie,” said Parks and Recreation Director Jill Wait. “This creates the first connection that takes trails out of Erie. Meanwhile, other people are going to be able to come into Erie and experience our trail system.”
Inside Erie, there are 33 miles of trail that the town maintains, not counting dozens more miles that are under the control of various homeowner associations. Not only is the town’s trail system now available to other Boulder County residents via the Coal Creek/Rock Creek Regional Trail, but Broomfield is in on the action as well. A new trail connecting Broomfield’s Anthem subdivision to the Coal Creek Trail was finished in late June, opening Anthem’s 48 miles of neighborhood trails to residents of Boulder County and vice versa.
“Getting Broomfield access to regional trails is absolutely key to our master plan,” Broomfield Mayor Pat Quinn said. “This has been something I’ve advocated for since 1988.”
