Trails

Why Have a Trails Master Plan

During the 2015 Town of Frisco Community Survey, 62% of respondents indicated that recreational amenities were the reason they lived in Frisco. Obviously, trails are a big part of the recreational amenities available in and around Frisco, and this is a major reason why the Town of Frisco is embarked on a trails master planning process. The Frisco Trails Master Plan Project (FTMP) created a comprehensive trails plan for Frisco and the surrounding area ensuring the strategic implementation trail development and improvements to achieve the community’s vision for trails, community connectivity and recreation corridors. This plan includes both hard surface (think Recreation Path) and soft surface (think dirt trails) trails.

Background

In March, 2016, the Town of Frisco received a Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) grant to help fund the Frisco Trails Master Plan. The plan identifies and maps current and future trails and serves as a guiding document for future trail development and improvements. It includes a specific and prioritized implementation framework for the Town and partners to use over time. The Town of Frisco hired a local consulting team, SE Group, to help with this plan. SE Group provides “strategy, planning, design and permitting consulting services focused on unique places that support outdoor recreation, rural and small town lifestyles and tourism.”

• The FTMP identifies and confirms the important trail resources and facilities so that these resources can fit seamlessly into the trail network of the entire region.
• The FTMP advises decision making in terms of growing the trail network, budgeting, work programs, priorities, timelines, maintenance and management.
• The FTMP is a tool that will allow the Town of Frisco, the Dillon Ranger District of the United States Forest Service, Summit County Government, Denver Water, volunteer organizations and others involved in providing and managing trails to create greater understanding and define how these organizations will best work together in the future to implement the plan.

Overall, it is the Town of Frisco’s vision that the Frisco Trails Master Plan will position the Town’s partners to manage these resources in such a way that the trail system can grow and be managed to the highest level of economic, social, and environmental sustainability for future generations to come.

The Town of Frisco Wants to Achieve the Following:

• Create a long-term, multi-season, and comprehensive trail system that will provide access to the outdoors for people of all ages and physical ability
• Create a plan that is practical, actionable, and can be implemented over time in collaboration with our partners
• Meet the needs of a variety of users (mode type) in a multi-season environment as well as finding a balance that appropriately addresses the needs of a high volume of visitors which sometimes differ from the needs of residents; all the while protecting environmental resources
• For Frisco trails to be part of a seamlessly connected regional trail network
• Confirm our trail maintenance standards and responsibilities collaboratively with our partners for the long term
• Engage the passionate and committed recreational and trail users here in Summit County and maximize their creativity, ideas, and goals through the FTMP and see it through to implementation

How we got to the Trails Master Plan

The November 10, 2016 Trails Master Plan Community Conversation had over 100 participants. If you missed the community conversation please click here on the Trails Master Plan Presentation.

The Town of Frisco thanks everyone who participated in the planning processes for the Frisco Trails Master Plan. We are pleased to announce that Town Council adopted the Trails Master Plan. This document was created thanks to community input, the citizen’s advisory committee, stakeholder interviews, SE Group and the Town of Frisco, as well as support from Summit County Open Space and Trails and the United States Forest Service. Please send any questions or comments to Diane McBride at DianeM@townoffrisco.com, or 970-668-2559.