Parks, Recreation, Open Space & Trails

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. 

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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.

View Current Town Projects