PARKER, Colo. — New trails, including an uphill challenge, are set to open to the public in Parker on Thanksgiving Day.
On Tuesday, the Rueter-Hess Recreation Authority (RHRA) announced that its new Incline Challenge and surrounding trails in Parker will open to the public at sunrise on Thanksgiving Day. After that, they will stay open from sunrise to sunset seven days a week.
These two additions to the Parker area are part of the first phase of RHRA's Recreational Master Plan.
The Incline Challenge is 132 steps and the Rosie Rueter Trail loop, which starts and ends at the parking lot, is about a mile long.
Visitors can park at a parking lot just west of the Rueter-Hess Water Purification Facility at the bottom of the Incline.
RHRA President Darcy Beard said residents have been anxiously waiting for regular recreation activities to open at Rueter-Hess.
"We are very happy to have Phase I complete and the Incline ready for public use,” Beard said.
A grand opening event is planned for the spring, once Douglas County’s new East-West Regional Trail is complete. This trail will ultimately connect to the Incline trails.
The plan to open the Incline and trails on Thanksgiving Day could change depending on COVID-19 restrictions.
RHRA is a regional collaboration of six groups — Parker Water, Town of Castle Rock, Town of Parker, City of Castle Pines, City of Lone Tree and Douglas County — that are working to bring recreational opportunities to the Rueter-Hess Reservoir area.