ARWC Engages in Planning for Fishers Peak State Park

Fishers Peak, the centerpiece of one of Colorado's newest state parks.

Fishers Peak, the iconic butte overlooking Trinidad is now protected as one of Colorado’s newest state parks. Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Fishers Peak State Park Planning Team are engaging stakeholders as part of the master planning process for the new park. ARWC Executive Director Jonathan Paklaian attended a recent stakeholder meeting to review proposed plans and take a tour of the park.

In addition to the flat-topped mountain, Fishers Peak State Park encompasses 19,200 acres of land known to locals as Crazy French Ranch. The Trinidad City Council approved the purchase of 4,000 acres of the ranch as a city park and began working with The Nature Conservancy and The Trust for Public Land.

With the two national nonprofits on board, the effort expanded and received additional funding from Great Outdoors Colorado, Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. CPW monies came from its Habitat Stamp funds.

The new state park includes pristine oak and pine forests, volcanic cliffs and grasslands surrounding Fishers Peak, which dominates the view from Trinidad. ARWC is engaged in the master planning effort as protecting this natural landscape protects headwaters tributaries of the Purgatoire River in the southern Arkansas River Basin.
​
The Master Plan for the park will include various recreational elements as well as preservation of natural ecosystems and landscapes. More information about the park and the draft Master Plan can be found here.

Stakeholders get a tour of the new Fishers Peak State Park near Trinidad.