Preserving Colorado's Outdoor Spaces With The Colorado Mountain Club

For ten years, Outdoor Alliance has united the human-powered outdoor recreation community to achieve lasting conservation victories. Our coalition of national advocacy organizations includes Colorado Mountain Club, which boasts a rich legacy in outdoor education and recreation throughout Colorado. Founded in 1912, Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) has a deep history in outdoor education and recreation in the state.

Colorado Mountain Club is where outdoor recreationists who are passionate about education, adventure, and conservation come together. Madeline Bachner Lane, Executive Director of Colorado Mountain Mountain Club said, “We share our love for the mountains and help each other develop the skills to safely access the backcountry. We want future generations to inherit protected wilderness and a stable climate with clean air and water. For more than a century, we’ve supported Colorado’s mountains and its community, and we’re here for the long haul.”

Over the years, Outdoor Alliance and Colorado Mountain Club (CMC) have worked together to protect the outdoors in Colorado and beyond, including:

Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument - In 2022, the Biden Administration designated the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument. Outdoor Alliance, Colorado Mountain Club, and the outdoor recreation community worked together advocating for these land protections for many years in central Colorado. The designation includes protections for Camp Hale, the Tenmile Range, and a mineral withdrawal for Thompson Divide.

Camp Hale and the Continental Divide are home to world-class outdoor recreation, with long ridgeline technical traverses, challenging backcountry ski terrain, and mountain biking. Camp Hale is also the birthplace of the 10th Mountain Division, where soldiers were trained in climbing, backcountry skiing, and mountaineering on trails and mountains that are still popular among outdoor recreationists today. Camp Hale is considered to be one of the birthplaces of backcountry skiing, and as a National Monument, it honors American heroes as well as America's human-powered recreation culture.

CORE Act - Although the Camp Hale-Continental Divide National Monument protected portions of the proposed CORE Act, a number of additional landscapes are still worthy of protection, including the Thompson Divide, the San Juan Mountains, the Curecanti National Recreation Area, and new Wilderness areas along the Continental Divide. Outdoor Alliance and Colorado Mountain Club, as well as other member groups, have worked on protecting these landscapes for more than a decade. Colorado lawmakers have taken great care to protect the world-class hiking, climbing, skiing, and mountain biking along the Continental Divide, the San Juan Mountains, and the Thompson Divide. All of the proposed designations in the CORE Act have been carefully vetted by recreation groups, and designations protect and expand recreational opportunities across the state.

In the San Juans, the Sheep Mountain Special Management Area protects backcountry ski terrain and creates new mountain biking trails near the town of Ophir. The Liberty Bell and Whitehouse Wilderness additions would protect world-class hiking and climbing opportunities in the iconic Mt. Sneffels range. The Spraddle Creek Wilderness addition provides a primitive backcountry area in close proximity to downtown Vail. These designations allow for a new Wilderness-urban interface which provides a unique opportunity to experience and protect these important landscapes. The CORE Act is currently being considered as part of a package of recreation policy and landscape protections that could pass by year’s end. Learn more, and write your Senators about it here.

Expanding access to outdoor recreation in Colorado (Fix CRUS) - Recreational Use Statutes across the United States protect private landowners from liability when they open up their land to the public for outdoor recreation. With outdoor participation numbers continuing to grow, landowners have begun to feel insecure about liability, and therefore unwilling to accept the risk of keeping their land open to the public for activities like hiking, mountain biking, and climbing. A gap in Colorado’s Recreational Use Statute resulted in the closure of popular hiking areas and 14ers such as Mount Lindsey, Mount Democrat, Mount Cameron, and Mount Lincoln. Outdoor Alliance, alongside Colorado Mountain Club and the American Alpine Club (AAC) joined the Fix CRUS Coalition to activate outdoor recreationists across Colorado to advocate for and update Colorado’s Recreational Use Statute. In 2024, the Fix CRUS Coalition was successfully updated when the state legislature passed SB-58, strengthening protections for willing landowners, and ensuring that recreational opportunities that exist on private land remain available to Coloradans.

Outdoors For All - Outdoor recreation is the most common way that Americans come to know their public lands and waters and develop a stewardship ethic. Outdoor Alliance and Colorado Mountain Club have worked on several initiatives, both local and nationwide that would expand access to outdoor opportunities. Outdoors For All is legislation that would create a dedicated funding source for the Outdoor Recreation Legacy Partnership (ORLP), a grant program to improve access to outdoor recreation opportunities in underserved communities.

In addition to supporting Outdoors For All, Colorado Mountain Club has their own programming that ignites a connection to the outdoors for Colorado youth, by providing opportunities for active learning through experiential and adventure education. Each year, CMC provides over 100 programs for active learning through experiential and adventure education, reaching nearly 3000 K-12 students at 70 schools throughout the Denver Metro area. This includes both summer and winter camps, and afterschool activity options like hiking and climbing, survival skills and mountain safety, and environmental sciences such as geology, ecology and conservation and stewardship learning opportunities. Learn more about available programs and enrollment here.

Protecting Colorado’s National Forests - The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, Gunnison National Forests (GMUG) stretch from the high Sawatch Range peaks of the Continental Divide to the plateaus and canyons of Colorado's Western Slope, encompassing some of the most remote and beautiful landscapes in Colorado. In their combined three million acres of land, the GMUG National Forests are home to 3,000 miles of trails and routes, 300 lakes, and 3,600 miles of rivers and streams, and include outdoor meccas like Crested Butte, Gunnison, Grand Junction, and Telluride. Outdoor adventures in this part of western Colorado including rock climbing, mountain biking, hiking, paddling, and snowsports, are more than just fun, they’re also significant economic drivers. Human-powered outdoor recreation supports $392 million in annual visitor spending on the GMUG National Forests, which receive 2.6 million visits a year.

Outdoor Alliance, Colorado Mountain Club (CMC), as well as other member organizations including IMBA and American Whitewater, have contributed to the GMUG Forest Plan. Forest Planning creates the blueprint for how each National Forest is managed. CMC and Outdoor Alliance have worked together to shape a strong GMUG forest plan that will protect landscapes and outdoor recreation access for years to come. The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, Gunnison National Forests are places that CMC members in particular look to for providing beautiful vistas, wildlife, and unsurpassed recreation. Colorado Mountain Club also leads hikes, snowshoes, avalanche education courses, and backpacking trips every year on these lands.

Are you someone who recreates in Colorado? If so, consider a membership with Colorado Mountain Club (CMC). A Colorado Mountain Club membership helps protect recreation in Colorado's outdoor spaces. From access to courses and trips to discounts on outdoor gear and pro deals, being a CMC member makes it easier for folks living in the Rocky Mountain state to experience all that the outdoors has to offer.