Missile Site Park is perhaps the largest recreation expansion in the Greeley’s history. The city wants to know how you want to use it.
Justin Scharton shows off Missile Site Park on Greeley’s western edge, the site of perhaps the largest recreation expansion in the city’s history. Photo by Dan England.
By Dan England
Justin Scharton dresses professionally, like most high-ranking administrators for the City of Greeley, but on a recent Friday, he looked ready to explore.
He didn’t look ready for a safari, or even a 14er, truth be told. But his shorts, shirt and comfortable shoes, along with a hat, made him look like he was ready for a hike, just like half of Colorado on any given day.
Scharton, in other words, dressed for the part. He was out at Missile Site Park on Greeley’s western edge, the site of perhaps the largest recreation expansion in the city’s history. And he wants to hear from residents, starting on Oct. 8, on what to do with it.
“It’s not a blank slate in terms of conservation,” said Scharton, the superintendent of the natural areas and trails division of the culture, parks and recreation department. “But from a recreation standpoint it really is.”
Greeley and Windsor together acquired the nearly 1,000 acres earlier this year in a deal with the Trust for Public Land. The so-called Shurview property offers many appealing qualities, Scharton said, including the conservation he was talking about: The land was beaten up a bit, and yet the shortgrass prairie is top-notch to a shocking degree, he said, for creatures such as birds, deer, badgers, snakes and many others. It’s also a huge chunk of land, which bolsters it as a regional park ready for trails that will provide long adventures, not just the relative bits and pieces the city offers now (save for the concrete Poudre Trail, a surface some find oppressive). And it’s…interesting, instead of the flat stuff that blankets most of Greeley.
“It’s really the only one with any topography in Greeley,” Scharton said, with some apology to Josephine Jones Natural Area.
And though it’s likely there will be some trails on the land for mountain biking, hiking and trail running, as many as 15 miles for those purposes alone, the opportunities truly are endless. Scharton, therefore, wants to offer the chance, starting Oct. 8, to experience the property. There will be some pageantry and a few speeches that day, starting at 9 a.m., but it’s not a ribbon cutting: It’s more of a preview. Residents who register and attend will get to walk the land, with some restrictions, and offer their takes on what the city could do with it.
There’s no doubt Greeley sees this as a real opportunity: In a survey done by Larimer County, it turns out Weld County residents are going to places such as Devil’s Backbone and Horsetooth Mountain about as much as Larimer County residents. That speaks to the lack of opportunities here as much as the quality of those areas, Scharton said. The exploration ends in the early part of November, and the city hopes to have the area open by spring. It won’t be done then, not by a long shot, but some areas will be ready for exploring. The area doesn’t have a designated funding source for the land, Scharton said, though eventually the city will ask the council for more money, possibly in 2024. The city also still owes millions to Trust for Public Land, though there’s no immediate deadline to paying that loan off. The city also hopes to call on volunteers for trail building and other work to get things started.
Future goals include connecting the area to the Poudre Learning Center and the Poudre River Trail, allowing camping and finding ways to bring residents from east Greeley over to enjoy the area (including connecting public transportation to it) and even teach them about open space and nature. The area could draw people from other areas, maybe as far as Sterling, and Scharton wants everyone to enjoy it.
“If you want a bigger, more regional experience,” he said, “it’ll be THE hub for northeastern Colorado.”
To Go
The kick-off celebration takes place at 9 a.m. Oct. 8 at the Missile Site Park, 10611 Colo. 257 Spur in Greeley just off U.S. 34 Bypass. Tours start at 9:30 a.m. and last until noon. Admission is free. No dogs allowed.
RSVP using this link: