The Boulder Falls viewing platform may be relocated — or, closed off entirely — after a rockslide closed down the path last November.
Boulder city officials have put a permanent closure on the table for the popular waterfall path and recreational area located along Colo. 119 in Boulder Canyon. In an Aug. 13 Open Space Board of Trustees meeting, Boulder’s Visitor Infrastructure Senior Manager Hilary Dees told trustees the trail is too dangerous to let people in. It may be too dangerous — and costly — to let people in ever again, she noted.
On Nov. 12, 2024, a rockslide caused significant damage to the trail. Once rocks start falling, Dees told the trustees, it’s more likely for rockslides to happen again.
“Rockfall events will beget more rockfall events,” Dees said in the August meeting.
Boulder Falls has spent half of its past 12 years closed, according to a presentation Dees gave the trustees. Rockslides started there in 1993, and the city initiated some minor work to handle them. After the 2013 flood hit Boulder County, though, the trail and area were closed until 2018.
Citing geologic and slope conditions, Dees said the trail represents an uphill battle when it comes to fixing or relocating the viewing platform. Renovations could cost in the realm of $7 million, she said, citing a consultant’s report on the Falls.
Some of the options for fixing up Boulder Falls include drilling 40-foot metal bars into the sides of the rock walls — like those seen in highway carveouts — or putting up mesh or fencing to slow the speed of falling rocks. Right now, there are some boulders as big as 10 feet-by-10 feet that fell last November, Dees said.
Even if renovations can be done and the city decides to go forward with the spending, the November rockslide has made it impossible for the trail to be restored to its former state.
“We cannot put the trail back in its previous alignment,” Dees said.
The same day as the Aug. 13 Open Space Board of Trustees meeting, a man’s body was found in “complex terrain” on the east side of the Falls. The trail was closed at the time the body was found. Officials at the time said the man’s death did not appear to be suspicious.
Dees said Boulder’s Department of Open Space and Mountain Parks has noted as many as 97 people entering the Boulder Falls area in violation of the closure during a six-week period starting in June.
City Council will get the final say once the Open Space Board of Trustees makes its recommendation. However, the timeline for making a recommendation is unclear, according to Communications Project Manager Sam Clusman.
OSMP still needs to conduct technical analysis and have discussions with climbers and climbing organizations, as well as the city’s risk management staff, Clusman said. OSMP will also have to make budget considerations, she said.
The next time Boulder Falls will be in front of the Open Space Board of Trustees is unclear, Clusman said.
What is for sure, though, is that the trail is unfit for people to use unless the city takes action to fix it, Dees said.
“We would love to have people go back there, but it is just not safe right now,” she said.