“At its core, this case is about trust — the extraordinary trust placed in Ms. Woods, and her breach of that trust,” District Judge Andrew Poland said as he imposed the sentence.

Woods mishandled at least 1,045 criminal cases during her 29-year career as a DNA analyst at the CBI. She deleted, omitted and manipulated data to speed up the DNA testing process and boost her productivity, creating unreliable results in hundreds of criminal cases.

“I know an apology cannot undo the harm or restore the trust that was lost,” Woods said during Tuesday’s sentencing in Jefferson County District Court. “For many years I was entrusted with evidence that could have profound consequences for defendants, victims, families and the courts. I failed that responsibility. I am deeply sorry for that failure.”

Woods could have faced between eight and 16 years in prison under the terms of her plea agreement. The 66-year-old former analyst pleaded guilty to four felonies in June, admitting to committing a cybercrime, perjury, attempting to influence a public servant and forgery. About 100 other counts against her were dismissed as part of the agreement.

Woods’ defense attorney, Tom Ward, sought the minimum eight-year prison sentence, arguing that she took responsibility for her crimes and cooperated with investigators. He said Woods’ misconduct was clustered in a few years later in her career during which her caseload had doubled.

“The things she did in this case are serious and they merit punishment,” he said, “…but they do not erase all of the good things she did.”

Chief Deputy District Attorney Darren Kafka asked the judge to impose a sentence that would start to restore trust in Colorado’s criminal justice system by strongly condemning Woods’ crimes.

“Can we trust our criminal justice system?” he asked. “Or even to some, can we trust science? Sowing this doubt will be Ms. Woods’ legacy.”

In dozens of sexual assault cases, Woods falsely said she found no male DNA in her testing when she had in fact found male DNA, depriving investigators of information key to their cases and ultimately denying justice to victims, Kafka said.

Kafka outlined 10 individual cases in which Woods lied about her DNA findings, including in the alleged sexual assault of a 4-year-old Pueblo girl, a woman who claimed she was raped in Rocky Mountain National Park, and an 88-year-old Denver woman who said she was sexually assaulted. In each case, Woods found male DNA but said she did not, and then covered her tracks by authoring false lab reports and making false changes to data, Kafka said.

“All of this created a mire of uncertainty and confusion that CBI and the state of Colorado as a whole will struggle to untangle, I suspect, for long after Ms. Woods’ sentence is discharged,” he said.

Ward said Woods discarded findings in cases that she believed “were going nowhere,” in an attempt to speed up CBI’s ability to test cases as the agency worked through backlogged sexual assault kit testing.

“It wasn’t her call to make, and she made it anyway, and that is why she is being sentenced today,” Ward said.

Woods struggled to speak at times during her emotional statement in court. She hugged tearful supporters before she was handcuffed and taken into custody at the conclusion of the hearing.

“There are cases where a sample could have gone forward for additional testing and did not because of a choice I made,” Woods said. “A suspect may have gone unidentified because of me.”

The CBI’s investigation into Woods found she altered data from an evidence item in 156 cases, altered quality control samples in 520 instances, failed to document her work in 233 cases, failed to follow policy in 106 cases, and reported results that conflicted with her notes in 30 cases, Ward said.

He noted that one act by Woods often impacted multiple cases, and said the CBI found she acted intentionally to change data 227 times.

Poland said Tuesday that Woods’ crimes were “intentional misconduct by a highly trained professional occupying a position of extraordinary trust,” and that her crimes undermined the integrity of the judicial system.

“When that integrity is compromised, the damage reaches beyond any single case, it affects confidence in the system itself,” the judge said.

First Judicial District Attorney Alexis King said after the hearing Tuesday that law enforcement and victims trusted Woods to handle evidence honestly.

“Instead, Ms. Woods played God,” she said. “She substituted her own judgment for the evidence.”

CBI Director Armando Saldate on Tuesday called Woods’ sentencing “another step forward” amid the CBI’s attempts to rectify her misconduct, reform policies and procedures, and shift the culture of the agency’s forensic services away from a quantity-over-quality mindset. He said Woods’ actions do not define the CBI.

James Karbach, a spokesman for the Office of the Colorado State Public Defender, called for the CBI to submit to independent oversight.

“Even after all that has transpired, the Colorado Bureau of Investigation has still not sufficiently addressed the pervasive systemic and structural issues that this scandal has exposed,” he said. “CBI has continued to downplay the impact of its decades-long fraud, avoid full transparency and accountability, and has demonstrated that it is not capable of regulating itself.”

The CBI’s internal investigation found that Woods took advantage of the state lab’s focus on results and productivity — as well as professional trust between colleagues — to hide her widespread manipulation of DNA data for years.

Several of Woods’ colleagues raised repeated ethical concerns about her work years before the scandal broke open — in 2014 and again in 2018 — but the CBI failed to stop her misconduct until an intern discovered a pattern of missing DNA data in Woods’ work in 2023, a failure of oversight that a Colorado judge in August found to be “outrageous government conduct.”

Woods resigned from the CBI in 2023 instead of being fired, and the agency spent 2024 sorting through her flawed work. Lawmakers passed a new law in 2025 that put additional guardrails on forensic testing in Colorado and opened up a specific legal path for people impacted by flawed testing to seek post-conviction relief in court.

Woods’ misconduct led to at least one overturned murder conviction — in the 1994 killing of Marty Grisham in Boulder — and has raised questions about the validity of hundreds of other convictions, with many post-conviction challenges underway in courts across the state.

Scientists at Colorado State University and Western Colorado University collected data from 3,500 wildfires that burned in conifer forests in the American West between 2012 and 2023 and found that fast fires — fueled by a hotter, drier climate — may cause long-term ecological damage. The was published last month in the journal .

Camille Stevens-Rumann, a CSU associate professor and director of the , said Colorado still has a lot of green forest compared to the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California or the Cascade range in eastern Washington and Oregon.

But huge wildfires like 2020’s Cameron Peak and East Troublesome fires are scorching landscapes beyond recovery.

“What’s scary is how many more places could change in Colorado,” Stevens-Rumann said. “You won’t see them be that dense, dark forest again in your lifetime.”

When forest fires burn hot and fast, they can destroy tens of thousands of acres in a single day, leaving no vegetation behind.

Trees such as the ponderosa pine, the Englemann spruce and most firs only regrow when seeds from living trees spread to barren areas, Stevens-Russman said. Those living trees can only spread their seeds for about 100 yards.

“If you’re in the middle of a 10,000-acre path of every tree being dead, it’s really hard to get seeds there,” she said.

The scientists decided to study fast-moving fires’ impact in 2020, when Colorado saw its three largest wildfires in the state’s recorded history. The Cameron Peak fire destroyed 208,913 acres in northern Colorado; the East Troublesome fire burned 193,812 acres near Grand Lake; and the Pine Gulch fire on the Western Slope covered 139,007 acres, according to Colorado historical wildfire records.

The East Troublesome fire exploded in one day, burning more than 100,000 acres in 24 hours.

“We just saw such an increased amount of fast-moving fires that we hadn’t seen in Colorado,” Stevens-Rumann said. “Those are the fires that are killing a lot of trees.”

This summer, the Aspen Acres fire in early July doubled in size within 24 hours, burning 47,953 acres in a matter of days. It is now the seventh-largest wildfire in state history, destroying more than 102,004 acres. It is still burning in remote areas along the Pueblo-Custer county line.

People who lived in Beulah described having less than 30 minutes to leave as the fire came roaring through the valley, destroying homes and the mountain wilderness surrounding them.

Within weeks, bright green shoots of gamble oak were sprouting from the blackened earth. But those trees are not seen as crucial to restoring the forest to what it once was, Stevens-Russman said.

A gamble oak, which is also known as scrub oak, is good for elk and deer to forage, and it can provide habitat for small wildlife. But it will also smother other trees trying to sprout, she said.

“It’s not going to be that big forest again,” Stevens-Russman said. “It can shroud over those little trees that are trying to grow up.”

The fast-moving fires are caused by extremely dry terrain, a result of Colorado’s ongoing drought. The 2026 winter season brought little snow, leading half the state to be in extreme or exceptional drought, the two most severe categories used by the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The drought and dry terrain are increasing because of a warming planet, making conditions favorable for large-scale fire damage, according to , an independent group of scientists who study and report on the impacts of climate change.

“For us as researchers, we’ve been watching wildfires change in the last 20 years. This paper has a lot of data backing up what firefighters have been witnessing and reporting,” Stevens-Rusmann said. “We are going into a world of more fires and more extreme fire conditions.”

Originally created on Aug. 25, 1916, the National Park Service’s purpose is to “preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.”

Colorado is home to four national parks — Rocky Mountain, Mesa Verde, Great Sand Dunes and Black Canyon of the Gunnison — and that are overseen by the National Park Service. All of those will be accessible for free this week. (If you want to visit Rocky Mountain National Park, however, you still need a timed reservation.)

The National Park Service’s birthday celebration is part of a bigger , which includes themed days through Sunday, such as Watch Wildlife Wednesday and Freedom Friday.

Can’t make it this week? Entry to these sites will also be free on Sept. 17 in honor of Constitution Day, Oct. 27 in honor of Theodore Roosevelt����ap birthday, and Nov. 11 for Veteran’s Day.

The project, known as the Poudre Headwaters Project, will involve removing non-native brook trout from the Grand Ditch and connected upstream and downstream tributaries on the park’s west side before native greenback cutthroat trout are reintroduced to their historic range.

To accommodate the work, the Colorado River Trail and the Grand Ditch will be closed to all uses from Monday, Aug. 24, through Sunday, Aug. 30. The closures follow the first phase of the project, which was completed in August 2025.

According to Rocky Mountain National Park, young greenback cutthroat trout need food, habitat and protection from non-native fish, particularly brook trout, which outcompete the native species. Removing brook trout is considered a critical step in restoring self-sustaining populations of Colorado’s state fish.

Aquatic biologists will use rotenone, a piscicide commonly used by state and federal land management agencies, to remove non-native fish from the 14.3-mile Grand Ditch system and its tributaries. The Forest Service reports that birds or mammals that may consume treated water or fish will not be impacted by rotenone because it targets only gill-breathing animals.

The work will be led by the U.S. Forest Service in partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Trout Unlimited and Rocky Mountain Conservancy.

Several popular destinations will remain accessible during the project. The East Inlet Trail, North Inlet/Tonahutu Trail, Green Mountain Trail, Coyote Valley Trail, Onahu Trail and Timber Lake Trail will remain open, along with the Holzwarth Historic Site and Harbison Meadows Picnic Area.

Fishing access also will remain available along the Colorado River south of the Colorado River Trailhead, including areas near the Holzwarth Historic Site and Coyote Valley.

Completion of all Poudre River Headwaters Project elements is expected to take another 10 to 12 years, according to the Forest Service, but when completed will provide for a connected “metapopulation” of trout across the watershed, which will become the largest such restored native trout habitat in Colorado.

For more information about the project, visit the Forest Service/USDA website at

Additional information about Rocky Mountain National Park can be found at .

Miners who spent their lives underground often explained the noises the only way they could: as the work of the Tommyknockers. These figures were described as small, 2-foot-tall green gnomes, sometimes with white whiskers or beards, said to live within the tunnels themselves.

In some accounts, they were believed to be the , returning underground to warn crews of cave-ins or other disasters. At other times, they were thought to be guides, leading miners toward gold. In less generous tales, they were mischievous, stealing tools and extinguishing lanterns.

The Tommyknockers are part of Colorado’s myth and lore that lives on and has expanded, from mountain legends and Bigfoot sightings to stories surrounding Denver International Airport. As Colorado celebrates its 150th anniversary, those stories continue to shape how its history, culture and geography are understood.

“A lot of the folklore that we have in Colorado are kind of regional variants of stories that we see take place in other places across the country and across the globe, but within Colorado, they’ll sort of have a way of finding this sort of regional contextual importance for us,” said Jack Daly, a folklorist and lecturer in the University of Colorado Boulder Program for Writing and Rhetoric.

The legends and myths travelers carried into Colorado

Some of the state’s most enduring legends emerged from mining and mountain communities, shaped in part by the , which drew unprecedented numbers of people into the region in the late 1850s.

Among the stories migrants carried with them were tales of the Tommyknockers, a myth rooted in Irish, Cornish and Welsh mining traditions in the British Isles.

Sam Bock, History Colorado’s Director of Interpretation and Publications, said the myth took root in Colorado as miners carried it west, where it became embedded in the state’s mining culture, which is still a significant part of its economic and historical identity.

The myth was said to originate as a way for miners to of the strange echoes and unexplained sounds deep within the mines, as well as to cope with the constant dangers of their work.

Bock said many of these myths and legends may begin with a kernel of truth, later shaped and expanded by cultural beliefs, traditions and specific historical moments.

“There’s no such thing as a legend that comes out of nowhere. There’s no such thing as a myth that doesn’t have some connection to a point of truth, even if that point was really long ago,” he said.

“Colorado is one of those places where people have been coming from all over the world for hundreds of years. Every single culture has its own myths and they don’t stay in one place, they go with the people, because the people find value in those myths.”

As a folklorist, Daly said myths are “sacred narratives” explaining how the world came to be. Legends, on the other hand, are stories rooted in specific places and periods in history, often with some kind of believable or supernatural element to them.

As those stories traveled, they often became tied to the landscapes people move through.

A Bigfoot- and UFO-lovers’ travel guide to Colorado

Take elephants up on Boreas Pass as an example. When the came to Breckenridge, it was said the circus train was too heavy to make it up to the pass. According to the legend, elephants were it to the summit. While no elephants roam the mountains today, hikers can still find in the area.

But not every Colorado legend arrived from somewhere else. Some were invented in the mountains themselves, including one of the state’s strangest creatures: the Slide-Rock Bolter.

Described in William T. Cox’s 1910 novel "," the whale-like creature inhabits only the steepest mountain slopes. With tiny eyes, a wide sculpin-like mouth, and a tail with enormous grab-hooks, it clings to mountain ridges, waiting for unsuspecting tourists below.

Once it spotted its prey, the Bolter would release its grip and slide downhill, swallowing the victim whole before dragging itself back up the mountainside. The bolter was said to devastate forests as well, uprooting trees in its path.

Bock said History Colorado’s research center traced the story back to the U.S. Forest Service woodcutting camps and miners in the Colorado mountains.

“If you look at the time in which this myth was kind of beginning to reach audiences, it's right when Colorado is transitioning from an extractive economy, primarily based in mining and agriculture and in wood cutting, to an economy based in outdoor recreation and travel,” he said.

“The first one to record the story that we've been able to find was a Forest Service historian, storyteller who went around the Forest Service camps in Colorado, and recorded these stories, and it seems like he was recording them as kind of a ‘tongue-in-cheek’ story.”

Bock said the foresters and loggers used to swap stories about setting decoy traps for the Bolter, using dummy tourists dressed in plaid and stuffed with explosives.

“So these guys kind of saw an end of an economic era in Colorado. And that's how that legend came about, and it was propagated kind of as a joke,” he said.

Colorado’s vast wilderness has also helped make the state a longtime hotspot for Bigfoot lore. While the modern Bigfoot craze gained popularity in California during the mid-20th century from a construction worker creating a practical joke, , a dedicated souvenir shop and museum in Bailey, and even annual festivals in Estes Park have helped keep the legend alive locally.

Bock said stories of large, hairy ape-like creatures, like Gigantopithecus, have appeared across cultures for centuries, often sharing similar traits despite originating in different regions.

“I personally want for there to be a Bigfoot. I would be thrilled if tomorrow someone was like, ‘Look, here is irrefutable proof. I have him,’” Bock said. “But until we see that, I have to put it in the realm of myth and legend.”

For Bock, the persistence of Bigfoot stories also reflects something deeper about modern culture.

“I think one of the reasons that legend is so enduring across so many different places in this country is that it connects to a lot of anxieties that Euro Americans have had around what our industrial culture has done to the natural world and to the native people that still call this place home,” he said.

Detailed in his book "Eerie Colorado: Mountain Folklore, Monsters and Tales of the Supernatural," Daly said he has taken part in a four-day Bigfoot expedition in southern Colorado with the Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization, as well as a night hike with the Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey.

He said he approaches his research without positioning himself as either a skeptic or a believer, arguing that these stories shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand.

“It's a difficult thing when you're dealing with the supernatural as an academic researcher, but it's important in this day and age to think critically about the world,” he said.

“I try to put my own cultural assumptions and biases and beliefs to the side and say, ‘I don't know everything about how the world operates,’” he said.

The making of modern stories

In contrast to these mountain legends, Denver sought to shape a different image in the 1870s, promoting itself as a city with “300 days of sunshine” to enhance Colorado’s reputation and attract railroad travelers.

While that claim was more promotional, the city remains one of the sunniest in the United States, averaging about 245 sunny days per year compared to the of roughly 205.

Today, when people talk about myths and legends in Colorado, their first thought always goes to Denver International Airport. Over the years, it has become a focal point for conspiracy theories and urban legends, ranging from secret societies and underground bunkers to aliens, lizard people, and eerie interpretations of its public artwork.

One of the most recognizable symbols tied to these stories is a large horse sculpture near Peña Boulevard. Officially titled “Mustang,” it was created by artist Luis Jiménez and commissioned in the mid-1990s. The sculpture stands 32 feet tall and is known for its vivid blue color and glowing red eyes, which led many to nickname it “Blucifer.”

The story of the sculpture’s creation is also part of why it draws attention.

During the final stages of its construction, Jiménez was tragically killed in a studio accident in 2006 when a piece of the sculpture fell and severed an artery in his leg.

His family later completed the work, and it was installed at the airport in 2008. Since then, Blucifer has been a target for mythmakers, with many insisting that he’s cursed, despite its artistic intent.

Beyond the sculpture, online narratives have expanded into claims of extensive underground tunnel systems and “lizard people” supposedly operating beneath the airport.

In reality, the airport has acknowledged that there are , including the trains that carry passengers to and from different concourses and infrastructure from a previously used automated baggage system. Officials also said the tunnels only extend out to the perimeter of the airport, less than two miles.

In addition, officials have said that these areas are limited to operational needs and do not extend into the elaborate networks often described in several conspiracy theories.

However, part of what makes these stories persist is the airport����ap scale and design. Large, complex infrastructure projects often create informational gaps.

Daly said these are precisely the environments where modern legends or theories tend to emerge, as people don't necessarily know what occurs behind the scenes.

As a result, Daly said, when the details are examined closely, most of the legends surrounding the airport trace back to interpretation and internet amplification.

In recent years, the airport itself has even acknowledged its curious reputation, hosting exhibits and campaigns that explore and gently push back on these theories and legends. Rather than confirming certain narratives, these efforts tend to highlight how stories grow around large, complex public spaces.

As Daly puts it, the internet has become “the new Dark Forest” for folklore, an ecosystem where stories spread faster than ever, but where algorithms, hoaxes and increasingly realistic AI fakes make critical media literacy essential.

However, that same ecosystem doesn’t just preserve old myths, it reshapes them. Legends evolve, rename themselves, and adapt to contemporary culture in ways that make them feel newly discovered.

Lately, Daly has been researching reports of a “Dogman,” often described as a wolf-like creature, which he argues is essentially a modern rebranding of the traditional werewolf myth.

In this sense, even newer legends remain connected to older storytelling patterns. Daly said the stories that we have are likely going to continue to shift in ways that mirror and reflect culture, as well as changes in industry and economics.

Rocky Mountain National Park Search and Rescue team members received a report of the incident early Sunday afternoon, the release said. Teton County Search and Rescue (TCSAR) provided helicopter support and assisted Rocky Mountain National Park personnel in recovery operations.

Kiener’s Route remained closed overnight Sunday and reopened Monday morning.

The incident is currently under investigation. Park public affairs specialist Jamie Richards said Monday afternoon that no further information was available.

Kiener’s Route is the easiest route up Longs Peak’s east face, according to the American Alpine Institute website. “(T)his is an entry level route into intermediate alpine climbing and should not be taken lightly,” the AAI says.

This story will be updated as more details become available.

The costs associated with entry fees and reservation times can add up quickly between the numerous national parks, national forests, state parks and more. It can also be difficult to keep up with it all since each attraction is managed by a different agency or municipality.

Say, for example, you live in Denver and have friends or family visiting for a long weekend. If you want to take them kayaking at Chatfield State Park in Littleton one day, you’ll need to buy a $12 vehicle day pass. And if you also want to drive them to the summit of Mount Blue Sky near Idaho Springs, you’ll need to make a reservation up to 30 days in advance and pay another $22 reservation/entry fee for the day.

That����ap a $34 investment before you consider the added costs of gas, food, and gear rentals.

Or perhaps your group wants to venture further into the forest and check out the iconic Hanging Lake in Glenwood Springs followed by a trip to Maroon Bells Scenic Area near Aspen. That will set you back $12 per person for hiking access to Hanging Lake, plus $12.50 to park at the Maroon Bells trailhead. The catch: Maroon Bells’ parking reservations fill up quickly, so unless you book well in advance, you’ll likely have to take a shuttle to the scenic area for $16 per adult and $10 per child.

The cheapest way to get into Maroon Bells Scenic Area is to ride an e-bike, which incurs a $5 entry fee — though that does not include whatever it may cost to rent one from a nearby shop. Plus, you need some level of physical fitness, as round trip from Aspen Highlands Ski Area to Maroon Lake.

Fees to access these beloved areas often go back to helping crews maintain and clean the trails and amenities, so they are not cash grabs. And there are some money-saving hacks to bring down the cost. For example, when Coloradans register their vehicles each year, they can get a , a steep discount compared to the usual price of $80.

Still, it����ap easy to spend hundreds of dollars per year to visit Colorado’s most coveted outdoor destinations. Here’s a breakdown of prices to know about ahead of planning your next trip.

National Parks Annual Pass: $80

If you plan to visit all four of Colorado’s national parks, or even a single park more than twice, it����ap probably worth investing in an annual pass. Otherwise, you’ll pay $30 per car to visit , and , and $25 per car to visit the . Individual parks also sell individual annual passes for less than $80. For example, an annual pass to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park costs $55.

State Parks Annual Pass: $80

As mentioned, Colorado residents can snag a discounted state parks pass when they sign up for a during vehicle registration. That is the only time locals can access that discount. About a quarter of the population opted in for that pass between June 2024 and June 2025, to support state parks, local search and rescue volunteers and the Colorado Avalanche Information Center, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation.

State Parks Day Pass: $10-$12

Day use passes to Colorado’s state parks typically cost $10 per private vehicle. However, several parks increased entry prices by $2 this year to support maintenance of roads and dams. It costs $12 to visit Chatfield State Park in Littleton, Cherry Creek State Park in Aurora, Golden Gate Canyon in Golden, Elkhead Reservoir State Park in Craig, Stagecoach State Park in Oak Creek, State Forest State Park in Walden, and Pearl Lake State Park and Steamboat Lake State Park in Clark. (Out-of-state visitors pay $15-$17 per day depending on where they go.)

Mount Blue Sky: $17-$22

Following a multi-year closure and redevelopment project, the Mount Blue Sky Recreation Area reopened to visitors in May of this year. Entry costs $20 per car or $15 per motorcycle, plus a $2 reservation fee to schedule when you want to visit in advance (required). The recreation area officially starts near Echo Lake on the , and includes access to Mount Goliath, Summit Lake Park, and the Mount Blue Sky Summit at 14,266 feet.

Pikes Peak: $20-$40 per person

Located near Colorado Springs, Pikes Peak is one of Colorado’s most accessible 14ers because there is a paved highway that runs 19 miles all the way to the summit. But, of course, it will cost you to get there. Entry costs $18 per person in a private vehicle (or $65 for a car of up to five people), plus a $2 reservation fee when booked in advance. Another option is to ride the shuttle to the top, which costs $40 per adult and $12 per child.

Hanging Lake: $12 per person

Much of the trail to Hanging Lake, near Glenwood Springs, was destroyed in a wildfire that ripped through the area in 2020. Though it has technically been open since 2021, a $4.7 million reconstruction project is now complete and welcoming visitors. Reservations ($12 per person) are required to visit Hanging Lake, a Natural National Landmark formed from travertine, or limestone deposited near mineral springs. The lake was formed by a geologic fault that caused the lake bed to drop away from the valley floor above, and it remains home to an extremely sensitive ecosystem.

Maroon Bells Scenic Area: $5 and up

The Maroon Bells Scenic Area provides access to Maroon Lake and acts as a gateway to the larger Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness. It costs $12.50 ($10, plus a $2 reservation fee) to park at the trailhead. But parking sells out far in advance, so visitors may have to take a shuttle service that runs from Aspen Highlands Ski Area to the Maroon Lake trailhead. That costs $16 per adult and $10 per child when booked in advance, or $20 per adult and $14 per child when booked day-of. New this year, the area is charging $5 per e-bike entry.

Maroon Bells ranks among Colorado’s most well-known destinations, recording about 215,000 visits annually between May and October. That����ap why fees are expected to go up in the coming years, as Pitkin County officials work to take over maintaining the recreation area.

Blue Lakes: $6-$31 starting in 2027

Anyone who wants to visit the Blue Lakes, located near Ridgway and Telluride on the Western Slope, will soon have to buy a permit to do so. Starting in 2027, the U.S. Forest Service expects to require people to buy a $5 day-use permit or $25 overnight camping permit during peak season, from June 1 through Sept. 30. The prices are anticipated to include an additional $1 and $6 reservation fee, respectively. (The agency recently proposed those fees and is currently .)

The Blue Lakes have become extremely popular in recent years to the point that recreation has devastated the natural wilderness. The permit system is intended to cut down annual visitation from about 35,000 people to 8,000 people.

“Folks with breathing-related ailments like me — we looked forward to breathing a little bit easier,” Ard-Smith testified before the Senate’s Transportation and Energy committee. “I’m concerned that the progress we’ve made as a state and as a city will be thwarted.”

Colorado Springs Utilities, which operates the Ray D. Nixon Power Plant in Fountain, about 85 miles south of Denver, isn’t alone in prolonging the life of its coal-fired plant. Providers that operate two other such plants — one on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains in Craig, and one on the eastern side in Pueblo — did not shut them down on Dec. 31, as planned. State law and replace it with cleaner-burning alternatives such as wind and solar.

Emergency orders from the Trump administration kept the Craig unit from retiring, while equipment malfunctions and transmission grid constraints contributed to the postponed shutdowns of coal-fired units in Pueblo and Colorado Springs, respectively. Xcel Energy, the state’s largest utility, and Colorado Springs Utilities requested these delays and were supported by the state.

Residents like Ard-Smith, consumer advocates and doctors statewide agreed that allowing these three coal-fired power plants to stay open beyond their scheduled closure dates will worsen public health, contribute to more deaths and increase costs for ratepayers. The tab is alone to keep the Craig Generating Station online, according to one report.

Coal is and dirtier to combust for power generation than renewable energy. Colorado’s are among the state’s worst polluters and major sources of that obfuscates world-famous views in Rocky Mountain National Park.

These plants are also ringed by communities with lower median incomes and greater proportions of people of color who suffer higher rates of .

Per unit of energy, coal-fired power plants belch more fine particulate matter, mercury, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and  than any other energy source. These generators also release millions of pounds annually of greenhouse gases that warm the atmosphere, causing more intense and extreme weather events such as heat waves, floods and hail.

And that����ap not all: Several of Colorado’s remaining coal-fired plants did not install modern pollution controls in anticipation of their replacement with cleaner energy sources. Their continued use led Gov. Jared Polis to admit in May that the state won’t reach his goal of 100% renewable-powered electricity by 2040, relative to 2005 emissions levels. Utilities will, however, hit — required by law — in 2030, he added.

Keeping the three coal-fired plants open will also exacerbate the state’s air quality, which already , as well as increase hospital visits, missed school time for children with asthma and pregnancy complications, physicians and public health researchers told Capital & Main.

“If we think about our three core functions, we have lungs that keep us breathing, a heart that keeps our blood circulating, and a brain that is the circuit board that runs the body,” said Dr. Sara Carpenter, a pediatrician and executive director of Healthy Air and Water Colorado, a nonpartisan nonprofit comprised of healthcare providers.

“Air pollution, and coal in particular, are lethal to all three of those systems,” she added.

Discontinuing coal use leads to measurable health improvements. Scientists at Colorado State University found in  published in GeoHealth that closing coal-fired power plants would reduce deaths in disproportionately impacted communities.

Conversely, keeping them open will increase mortality, said Sheryl Magzamen, a professor in the environmental and radiological health sciences department at Colorado State University and the study’s lead author.

“Ultimately, the longer these plants operate, people will get sick, and people will die,” the epidemiologist said.

More coal plants kept open across nation

The prolonged lifespans of three coal-fired units in Colorado put them among left open in spite of planned retirements since the president took office for a second time in January 2025. He doubled down on his support of what he calls “clean, beautiful coal” this month when he announced $700 million in federal funding, in part to build the first new such plants in the U.S. in more than a decade in Alaska and West Virginia.

Tapping power from such generators is necessary to help meet escalating electricity demand stemming in large part from data centers that fuel artificial intelligence, his administration said.

Colorado’s attorney general and other state litigators filed suit against the federal government����ap emergency energy orders, claiming that leaving such plants online threatens to unwind hard-fought progress toward a clean-energy economy. About a third of the average global temperature increase since preindustrial times is attributable to coal combustion, according to the International Energy Agency.

The federal orders also prompted Polis to sign into law on June 4  that institutes a cap on greenhouse gas emissions allowed from coal-fired power plants operating past their planned retirement dates.

Backsliding isn’t happening only in the United States, where the White House is actively discouraging investment in wind and solar energy. Worldwide, more than 70% of coal units slated for shutdown last year were kept online, according to from Global Energy Monitor, a nonprofit that tracks global energy use. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projected that retirements scheduled for this year .

A resurgence in coal use was partially to blame for a 2.4% increase in planet-warming emissions in the U.S. last year, after two years of decline, researchers from the Rhodium Group, an independent data provider, revealed in .

In Colorado, power plants continued to use coal as officials warned residents to prepare for the annual “ozone season” — the days between May 31 and Aug. 31 when the state’s unusual topography and unpredictable weather conspire to worsen ground-level pollution.

“Fossil fuel combustion generates a lot of precursors for ozone and they have a pretty substantial rate of spread,” said Jonathan Buonocore, an assistant professor of environmental health at Boston University.

“Air pollution from these things can be cross-continental,” added Buonocore, who worked with other researchers to build a dataset for  published in November in Environmental Research Letters that found that Colorado’s population is among the nation’s most exposed to fossil fuel infrastructure.

Health impacts from smog and ozone

Smog forms when heat and sunlight react with toxic gases released by vehicles, oil and gas rigs, and fossil-fuel-fired power plants, among other sources. Ozone pollution in metropolitan Denver routinely exceeds federal standards throughout the summer, prompting public health officials to issue that direct older residents, children and those with respiratory and other ailments to stay inside.

Colorado’s ozone problems also contribute to failing grades from the American Lung Association for areas near, and within the same region, as coal-fired power units.

Rio Blanco County, located south of the Craig Generating Station, received a “D” grade from the nonprofit for its air quality. Moffat County, where the power station is located, is without monitors that allow the organization to monitor its atmosphere for pollutants.

In , and again in , the U.S. Department of Energy issued a 90-day emergency order that required Unit 1 at the Craig Generating Station, slated to close Dec. 31, to remain operational. Since December, Unit 1 has been fired up for only 16 days to help the regional power authority cope with outages and grid uncertainty, said Mark Stutz, a spokesman for Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association.

The facility includes two other coal-fired units. Unit 2 is slated for closure Sept. 30, 2028, and Unit 3 on Jan. 1 of that year, he added.

Tri-State operates Units 1 and 2 with several other providers as part of a co-op that must pass along to ratepayers repair expenses for Unit 1, which needed repairs when the federal government ordered it to remain operational, Tri-State CEO Duane Highley said in a Jan. 29  on the order.

About 300 miles southeast in Pueblo, a coal-fired unit at Xcel Energy’s Comanche Generating Station continues to operate until the end of 2026. The state’s Public Utility Commission approved a request from the utility and state officials of Unit 2 to allow for the repair of Unit 3, which was “extensively damaged” and out of service.

Postponing closures, even for a year, matters for children’s health because their developing lungs are sensitive to air pollution from coal-fired power plants, said Carpenter, the pediatrician.

“Puberty has such big growth spurts, and the lungs really increase in size,” she said. “A study in Southern California found that between 1994 and 2011, as air pollution decreased, lung function development in adolescents increased — it was a statistically significant change.”

Thirty miles north in Fountain, Colorado Springs Utilities will be allowed to keep the Ray D. Nixon coal plant  after Polis signed a bill in May. The three-year extension of the unit����ap life was necessary to allow the utility to meet its clean energy goals as required by state law, Travas Deal, the utility’s chief executive, testified in April at the state Senate’s Transportation and Energy Committee.

The utility needs greater transmission capacity to add renewables like wind and solar, he added, and its customers cannot afford another rate increase beyond the 6.5% a year jump that����ap already in place. The region’s service area led the state in the number of low-income energy assistance program applications in 2025.

“Over the past several years, energy bills have risen faster than wages,” Nicole Means, the utility’s energy assistance program director, told lawmakers. “When energy costs rise, they don’t just strain household budgets, they ripple outward — higher utility bills mean less money for groceries, childcare and healthcare.”

This article was by Capital & Main and is republished here with permission. is an independent, nonprofit investigative news publication that reports on inequality, climate change and other issues.

The reported aggressive behavior is normal for cow elk during this time of year if people get too close to their babies, said Rocky Mountain National Park Public Information Officer Kyle Patterson in an emailed statement, adding that it is currently elk calving season.

The mother who made the report to the National Park Service said that the elk chased her and her daughter Wednesday morning after they walked past her newborn calf near Alberta Falls, which is a waterfall that can be reached by numerous trails near Bear Lake and Glacier Gorge in Rocky Mountain National Park, according to the emailed statement.

She also reported that numerous visitors continued to approach the cow elk and her calf instead of turning back, which Patterson said was unfortunate, and further agitated the elk. Patterson said no injuries were reported.

“In May and early June, some cow elk will separate from the herd and travel solo. This is a sign that an elk might be ready to give birth or she might have a young calf nearby,” Patterson said in the emailed statement. “New mothers of all species can be very aggressive and will act to protect their young.”

The encourages visitors to avoid and be cautious of all known calving areas during calving season. The bird sanctuary along the Lake Estes Trail and the Stanley Park area are common places for elk births, although they can take place anywhere in the park, the .

Patterson said that people should not approach wildlife, especially mothers with young.

She also wrote that newborn elk are born scentless, which she said helps protect them from predators. Patterson added that elk mothers may hide their young in a sheltered area while foraging for food, and that these calves are not being abandoned.

“Always give wildlife plenty of space,” Patterson said in the emailed statement. “Ask how far you should stay away … not how close you can get.”

For more information on viewing wildlife, including tips on how to keep safe and take photographs from a distance, visit

in Grand County, crossing the Continental Divide and topping out at 12,183 feet. Plow drivers began clearing snow in mid-April.

The Alpine Visitor Center and store near the summit also are open.

Although the road is a federal highway (U.S. 34), travelers are required to pay $30 for a one-day vehicle pass or secure another valid park entry pass. Timed-entry . Non-U.S. residents are required to pay an additional $100.

Adverse weather in the alpine environment can cause temporary closures of the road. Visitors can check road status by calling a recording at 970-586-1222.