Colorado Parks and Wildlife investigating reported bear attack in Jefferson County

Colorado Parks and Wildlife is investigating a reported bear attack on a trail in Apex Park in Jefferson County. Around 5:20 p.m. Sunday, a woman hiking in the park encountered a bear displaying habituated behavior by approaching humans and following hikers. She told CPW officers the bear grabbed her backpack and made contact with her leg. She reported to CPW that the bear continued to follow her down the trail for more than 30 minutes, despite her attempts to haze the bear with sticks, rocks and loud noises. Two other hikers joined her in trying to scare the bear from the area. The bear eventually left and crossed a gully, where it reportedly started to follow a separate pair of hikers on a neighboring trail.

CPW officers responded to the area Sunday night, but were unable to locate the bear. Officers continue to search for the bear involved in the reported attack. Jefferson County Open Space closed Apex Park for bear activity on Monday. A bear was sighted in a residential area near the park on Monday morning. CPW is investigating if it is the same bear involved in Sunday’s incident. Please report any bear sighting to the Denver CPW Office at 303-291-7227 or by calling Colorado State Patrol dispatch at *277.

This is the first reported bear attack in Colorado for 2026. Bear reports to CPW are high this year, likely due to the generally warm and dry winter Colorado experienced impacting natural forage opportunities for bears. This year, it is even more important that humans not provide unhealthy, unsafe food attractants for bears.

For more information on bears in Colorado, visit cpw.state.co.us/living-bears.



              ************************************************************************************

Check out our online trail guides:

• Glacier National Park: HikinginGlacier.com

• Grand Teton National Park: TetonHikingTrails.com

• Rocky Mountain National Park: RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

• Ramble On: A History of Hiking

Forest Service Proposes First National Policy for Recreational Climbing on Public Lands

The U.S. Forest Service will publish a proposed climbing directive in the Federal Register and initiate a 30-day public comment period. This proposal establishes the agency’s first national direction for managing recreational climbing opportunities on national forests and grasslands that will include guidance for the use and maintenance of fixed anchors and equipment.

The updated proposal replaces a 2023 draft that was overtaken by new requirements in the Expanding Public Lands Outdoor Recreation Experiences (EXPLORE) Act, signed into law January 4, 2025. The EXPLORE Act directs federal land management agencies to recognize recreational climbing - including certain fixed anchors – as an appropriate use in congressionally designated wilderness areas.

“Recreational climbing continues to grow in popularity, with nearly 30 percent of all outdoor climbing occurring on National Forest System lands,” said Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. “This proposed directive provides much-needed national policy for climbing activities and gives local decision-makers the ability to work with partners, tribes, climbing organizations, and others to ensure visitors are having safe, responsible and accessible outdoor experiences.”

By law, the Forest Service must develop a climbing directive, consistent with the goals stated Executive Order 14219, “Ensuring Lawful Governance and Implementing the President’s ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ Deregulatory Initiative.” (PDF, 162 KB)

The outdoor recreation economy continues to grow, and the Forest Service is committed to promoting and increasing access to these special sites. Nationally, it is estimated there are nearly 10.3 million climbers in the United States, of which approximately 2.3 million participated in sport or boulder climbing and approximately 2.4 million participated in traditional ice or mountaineering climbing, according to the Outdoor Industry Association’s 2022 report on outdoor participation trends.

The proposed rule can be viewed and comments submitted through the Comment and Analysis Response Application.



                *******************************************************************************

From Montana to New Mexico, the American Rockies stretch for more than a thousand miles. Within this spectacular mountain range are thousands of miles of hiking trails. With such an overwhelming number of options, how will you find and choose the most scenic and rewarding hikes?

Ultimate Hiking Guide to the Rocky Mountains takes all the guesswork out by focusing on some of the most amazing hikes across this range, and provides you with a handpicked list of options that will allow you to make the most of your trips in the Rockies:

Watch out for bears while camping, hiking and backpacking in Colorado bear country

Colorado is home to a large population of black bears–estimated at 17,000-20,000 animals–and the majority of them live in areas where humans camp, hike, and backpack. This summer, CPW is reminding the public to be BearWise to avoid conflicts when enjoying our wonderful outdoors.

Most conflicts between people and bears can be traced to easily accessible trash, human food or other attractants with strong odors. A bear’s natural drive to eat can overcome its fear of humans. When bears become too comfortable around humans, they can destroy property or even threaten human safety.

As of June 12, 2026, CPW has received 1,192 reports of bear activity across the state.

“Most conflicts between people and bears begin when bears gain access to food, garbage or other attractants left by people,” said CPW Area Wildlife Manager Tim Kroening. “Properly storing food, securing trash and pet food, and keeping campsites clean helps protect both people and bears. If a bear visits your campsite, make loud noises by yelling, clapping, blowing a whistle or using an air horn, and always give the bear a clear path to leave. These actions can discourage bears from becoming comfortable around people and help prevent future conflicts.”

Bear reports are high this year, likely due to the generally warm and dry winter Colorado experienced impacting natural forage opportunities for bears. This year, it is even more important that humans not provide unhealthy, unsafe food attractants for bears.

“When camping or recreating in bear country, carry bear spray, stay alert and report concerning bear encounters to Colorado Parks and Wildlife,” Kroening said.

For more information on bears in Colorado, visit cpw.state.co.us/living-bears.



                *******************************************************************************

From Montana to New Mexico, the American Rockies stretch for more than a thousand miles. Within this spectacular mountain range are thousands of miles of hiking trails. With such an overwhelming number of options, how will you find and choose the most scenic and rewarding hikes?

Ultimate Hiking Guide to the Rocky Mountains takes all the guesswork out by focusing on some of the most amazing hikes across this range, and provides you with a handpicked list of options that will allow you to make the most of your trips in the Rockies:

The first trail guide published in the United States

The following is an adaptation from Ramble On: A History of Hiking.

In 1882, William Pickering published Walking Guide to the Mt. Washington Range, which is arguably the first hiking trail guide to be published in America. The book also contained a topographical trail map, which is likely the first published trail map for the White Mountains.

Though there were a handful of other guides that preceded his book, I would argue that Pickering’s volume is the first modern trail guide. And while the guides published before 1882 provided excursion information for peaks in the White Mountains, they devoted very little ink to route descriptions or any other information that modern hikers normally consider important. These older books functioned more as travel guides that included generic hiking information, and focused heavily on descriptions of the scenery one could see from the various mountaintops. Pickering’s book, on the other hand, provided fairly detailed route descriptions, mileage, elevation data, estimated times to complete each hike, water sources or lack thereof, as well as potential hazards and obstacles that hikers might need to be aware of.

Pickering’s guide preceded the Appalachian Mountain Club’s authoritative White Mountain Guide by 25 years.



                *******************************************************************************

Virtually no one went hiking before the 19th century. What occurred that inspired ordinary people to take a walk through the woods for pleasure? Ramble On: A History of Hiking explores the rich history of hiking, and how it evolved into one of the most popular pastimes in the world.

Pike National Forest increases fire response capability along the Front Range

On April 24, Deputy Chief for Fire and Aviation Management Sarah Fisher approved the addition of the Monument Helitack crew to the Forest Service helicopter short-haul programs. The program recently moved forward to complete short-haul ground and flight training. The crew completed ground training this spring at the Monument Fire Center on the Pike National Forest, followed by a short-haul flight training in McCall, Idaho, in early June.

The Forest Service short-haul program began operations in 2015 and was initially used for medical extraction. Since then, the program has expanded to include inserting aerial delivered firefighters.

“The addition of the short-haul capability will be extremely beneficial both regionally and nationally,” said Mike Spink, zone aviation officer. “As we get closer to the heart of fire season, this will increase our readiness and preparedness to respond to medical emergencies that occur on an incident and responding in difficult terrain.”

The Forest Service manages most of the large firefighting aviation assets for the federal government, including helicopters, airtankers, smokejumper planes and other fixed-wing aircraft. These assets are used across all jurisdictions.

Monument Helitack is a 10-person wildland fire crew based in Monument, Colorado on the Pike National Forest. They are focused on providing highly trained firefighters and aviation managers to increase our response capacity for initial attack and large fire support both regionally and nationally.

The Forest Service will continue to respond to fires in an aggressive, coordinated and unified response with interagency partners, states, tribes and local governments.



              ************************************************************************************

Check out our online trail guides:

• Glacier National Park: HikinginGlacier.com

• Grand Teton National Park: TetonHikingTrails.com

• Rocky Mountain National Park: RockyMountainHikingTrails.com

• Ramble On: A History of Hiking