To: Board of County Commissioners
Through: Gini Pingenot, Director, Open Spaces Department
Prepared By:
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Josh Garcia, Planner, Open Spaces Department
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Subject:
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Bijou Basin Open Space Master Plan Adoption
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Purpose and Request:
recommended action
Staff is requesting the BOCC adopt the Bijou Basin Open Space Master Plan and approve the allocation of $4,350,000.00 from Open Spaces Acquisition and Development Fund for the construction of the Bijou Basin Open Space site improvements. The BOCC approved adding this to the consent agenda for formal approval at their meeting on November 3, 2025.
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Alignment with Strategic Plan: Sustainable Growth and Infrastructure - Maximize use of County facilities and assets.
Background and Discussion: Bijou Basin Open Space is located along West Bijou Creek in the central eastern part of Arapahoe County, at the junction of Quincy Avenue (CR30) and Bradbury Road (CR173) approximately 5 miles south of Byers, CO. Open Spaces purchased the 2,854-acre property in 2010 and in 2025 purchased an additional 362-acres adjacent to the 2010 purchase. Bijou Basin was purchased with the intention of being maintained as a working property with active grazing and dryland farming and to integrate appropriate passive recreation opportunities for the public to enjoy.
Approximately half of the property is encumbered by two conservation easements held by the Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust. The property is bordered by over 12,000 acres of adjacent conserved lands including the West Bijou Conservation Easement to the east and the County's Mule Gulch Open Space property to the south. The property features short grass prairie and wildflowers, hidden canyons, geologic features and three miles of the winding West Bijou Creek. Broad and extensive cottonwood galleries fill the bottomlands with four seasons of color, along with upland pastures which support a diversity of wildlife and native shrubs such as...
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