Boulder, Colo. – The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Boulder Ranger District staff will be celebrating several improvements made to the Brainard Lake Recreation area (BLRA) including renovations to the Brainard Gateway Trailhead, Day Use Area and Pawnee Campground. BLRA visitors in the area on Saturday, July 20 can visit USFS and Colorado Parks and Wildlife booths near the pavilion in the Day Use area to learn more about what makes BLRA one of the top visited USFS attractions along the Front Range.

Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. BLRA visitors will have an opportunity to learn about the abundant wildlife, plants and trees, local history, forestry practices and fire prevention efforts. Colorado Parks and Wildlife offers a hands-on experience using a collection of skins, tracks and skulls to learn about local wildlife while providing information on wildlife behavior and regulations. USFS visitor information and recreation specialists offer a biology lesson on the mountain pine beetle as well as a history lesson on how the local landscape has formed over time.

The Boulder Ranger District staff has made great strides in implementing the 2005 Brainard Lake Recreation Area management plan over the last two years. Last year, winter recreation improvements such as a warming hut, vault toilets, and a paved lot have proven useful in mitigating sanitation issues, parking safety concerns, and a new hot spot for visitors to come in from the cold.

This summer, finishing touches are being placed on a newly renovated Pawnee Campground and a Brainard Lake Day Use area with improved parking, a pavilion, picnic areas and vault toilets. These improvements and the winter recreation additions were designed to address safety concerns and mitigate foot-traffic, waste, and vehicle damages from over 125,000 visitors a year.

Program Schedule:

11:00 a.m. Lions, Moose and Bears, Oh my!

12:00 p.m. Mountain Pine Beetle: Friend or Foe?

1:00 p.m. History shaped the land