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City hopes to upgrade Spring Creek Reservoir

Tom Ross

The city of Steamboat Springs hopes to modernize portions of Spring Creek Reservoir and upgrade a 400-foot section of trail this fall.

The Spring Creek Trail, beginning at the east end of East Maple Street, is among the most heavily used trails in the city. Mountain bikers, hikers and trail runners can use the trail to travel 3.6 miles through the 880-acre Spring Creek Mountain Preserve to Dry Lake Campground on Buffalo Pass Road.

The reservoir, at the lower end of the trail, formerly was a source of municipal water but no longer serves that purpose. City Open Space Supervisor Craig Robinson said the city is seeking bids for improvements at the dam. The original control structure and the reservoir bypass channel no longer can handle peak flows during spring runoff. The bypass channel is formed by a U-shaped metal half-culvert.



“The metal culvert has begun peeling up during heavy flows,” Robinson said. “Two years ago, there was almost a big washout.”

Specifications for the repair include lining the diversion channel with fabric and securing it with rock riprap. Boulders placed along the channel’s path also will give it a natural look, Robinson said.



Bid documents for the project specify that the chosen contractor will build a new control structure to regulate the volume of water entering the bypass channel. Improvements to the bypass channel will stretch more than 240 linear feet. Fresh gravel will be placed on the trail, and 300 feet of fence will be replaced.

The project is pending results of the bidding process and weather.

“I would really like for all of it to be done this fall,” Robinson said.


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