Mount Silverheels is located in the Mosquito Range of Park County and is the backdrop of the Town of Fairplay. The south facing portion of Mount Silverheels is under the jurisdiction of the Pike-San Isabel National Forest, South Park Ranger District (SPRD). At 13,828 feet, Mount Silverheels is one of Colorado’s “high thirteeners” and is a popular climb for visitors. There are no designated routes to the peak of Mount Silverheels, though three known non-system routes (or social trails) have been utilized by recreationists to reach the summit. Additionally, the Silverheels herd of bighorn sheep has been declining in recent years with no clear understanding of why. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) attributes some of this decline to increasing and sporadic recreational use in sensitive habitat areas such as ridgelines and drainages.
Outside 285’s South Park working group, a multi-stakeholder group including land managers, biologists, recreational groups, and environmental organizations, decided to tackle the issue through a strategy to improve sustainable recreation access to Mount Silverheels in a way that protects critical habitat for the vulnerable bighorn sheep herd and other wildlife. The SPRD and CPW have been key partners in the development of this strategy, which was completed in early 2025.
The strategy includes both the design of a trail to the summit and the restoration of social trails in order to better direct visitors and minimize the impacts of recreation on wildlife habitat as well as the alpine tundra. The new trail, social trail restoration, signs and trailheads involved in the project are all conceptual at this point as additional field design, technical resource surveys, and NEPA compliance are required and remain years out.
