The Town of Crested Butte Parks, Recreation, Open Space and Trails Department (“PROST”) enriches the lives of residents and visitors through inclusive year-round recreational programming, conservation and stewardship of vital open spaces and trails, and access to diverse public park amenities. We promote community connection, foster collaboration, ensure a high quality of life, and protect the Upper East River Valley’s rich natural and cultural heritage.
Interactive Open Space Map
This Interactive Open Space Map highlights the conservation easements and conserved fee title properties held by the town of Crested Butte.
Parks Tour - Coming Soon!
By the Numbers
13 parks totaling over 25 acres
1,200 program participants a year
17 public recreational access easements
2,297 acres of conserved land
$8 million dollars spent on conservation since 1992
PROST Master Plan
We are thrilled to announce PROST Master Plan is currently under revision as part of the Community Compass Initiative.
Open Space & Trails
The Town of Crested Butte collaborates with community partners to steward, conserve, and protect open spaces for wildlife, wetland and watershed protection, agriculture, scenic views, and recreational access through conservation easements in the Upper East River Valley. Crested Butte has supported open space conservation since 1992 partnering with organizations like 1% for Open Space, the Crested Butte Land Trust, Gunnison Ranchland Conservation Legacy, and the Trust for Public Lands. With the help of community partners, we acquire open space properties and easements, monitor these lands, lead stewardship efforts, and maintain cherished trails such as Woods Walk, Lupine, Green Lake, and Baxter Gulch.
Funding
Real Estate Transfer Tax (“RETT”): Crested Butte is one of 12 municipalities in the mountains/Western slope of Colorado that have a RETT. These were extant at the passage of the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR) in 1992 and so were “grandfathered in.” The Town’s RETT is 3% of the sales price of real property with 1.5% of that dedicated to Open Space.
Projects
The Town collaborates with regional partners and conservation consultants on a wide variety of stewardship, restoration, and conservation projects. Our focus areas include wildfire mitigation, wetland attenuation, easement acquisition, and recreation access projects.
