PEAK TO PEAK – As of August 12, all three Peak to Peak counties—Boulder, Gilpin, and Clear Creek—have instituted Stage 1 fire bans. Boulder's ban extends to the unicorporated western parts of the county. The Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests have also enacted Stage 1 fire restrictions across National Forest lands in Boulder, Clear Creek, Gilpin, Jefferson and Larimer counties 

The fire restrictions PROHIBIT:

• Building, maintaining, attending, or using an open fire, campfire, or stove fire on public lands. This includes charcoal barbecues and grills;

• Fireworks sales, use, and possession;

• Shooting firearms for recreational purposes on public lands except for hunting with a valid and current hunting license on public lands;

• Smoking, except in an enclosed vehicle or building, a developed recreation site, or while stopped in an area at least three feet in diameter that is cleared of all flammable materials;

• Operating a chainsaw or other gas-powered equipment without an approved spark arrester properly installed and in effective working order, a fire extinguisher kept with the operator, and a round-point shovel with an overall length of at least 35 inches readily available for use;

• Welding or operating acetylene or other torch with open flame except in cleared areas of at least 10 feet in diameter, and in possession of a fire extinguisher;

• Using an explosive or doing any kind of blasting work, except on private property.

Open fires are permitted if they are contained in permanently constructed fire pits or fire grates that the Forest Service has installed and maintained at its developed campgrounds and picnic areas. 

Developed recreation sites where open fires are permitted in our area:

Clear Creek Ranger District (Sites near Georgetown, Idaho Springs, Black Hawk)

• Clear Creek Picnic Site

• Clear Lake Campground

• Cold Springs Campground

• Columbine Campground

• Echo Lake Campground

• Guanella Pass Campground

• Pickle Gulch Group Campground

• Pickle Gulch Group Picnic Site

• West Chicago Creek Campground

Boulder Ranger District (Sites near Nederland, Ward, Allenspark)

• Arickaree Picnic Site

• Brainard Lake Day Use Picnic Site

• Camp Dick Campground

• Kelly Dahl Campground

• Meeker Park Campground

• Mitchell Creek Picnic Site

• Niwot Trailhead

• Olive Ridge Campground

• Pawnee Campground

• Peaceful Valley Campground

• Rainbow Lakes Campground

• Red Rock Lake Fishing Site

For information on fires that are allowed, or for more information regarding fire restrictions, see the following:

For Boulder County, visit: https://www.fs.usda.gov/alerts/arp/alerts-notices/?aid=57718. To see more regarding Clear Creek County, go to https://www.clearcreekcounty.us/list.aspx. For information on Gilpin County, check https://gilpincounty.colorado.gov/fire. National Forest details may be found at https://www.fs.usda.gov/r02/arp/alerts.