Power Kite Forum

Where to go in South Denver / Front Range

Proletariat - 20-9-2013 at 10:07 PM

I need some help finding anywhere in Denver south of I-70 to reliably kite. I think I've been to all the big spots -- all of which have some major issue. When I (rarely) do get a day to ride a bit, I typically drive around and check spots and get thwarted at all of them.

Aside from a cactusy, out-of-the-way, hard-to-get-to, bumpy green belt, I have no place to go to get my kite on. Anyway, I could use some advice if anyone has any. The Denver locals typically try to get together on Sundays but when we do, it's often so packed that it's not feasible to fly. Every open spot for about 20 miles around me has a no trespassing sign.

Here is some of the fail



So what do YOU guys do to find a place to fly inland? Can we reserve part of a field locally or something? Are there any types of land that we CAN go on without asking someone first (which inevitably earns a refusal before the talk has even begun?)

I may have ridden a grand total of 2 hours in the past 3 months, and that was in a different state. I could really use some suggestions for trying to landboard here locally, or suggestions based on whatever it is that you do in your home town to get your land on.

Thanks

bigkid - 20-9-2013 at 11:24 PM

Should have stayed in Oregon, my buggy is is always ready for another ride down the beach.
Keep looking and talking to people, got to be something that would work.

Proletariat - 10-8-2014 at 09:28 PM

We've recently been spending a bit of time out at the Arapahoe County Fairgrounds. They're cool there, the parking lot is big and dusty and no turbulence... the downside? There are 2:

1) Tons of random junk laying around the parking lot. Every time I go there, I leave with baling wire, plastic taillight bits, etc... It makes me worried about the integrity of my kites and perhaps my inner tubes.

2) The dirt is soft has hell, so it is incredibly hard to keep an edge on a landboard. Buggys are perfectly fine. In fact, it's baller for buggying.

erratic winds - 10-8-2014 at 09:39 PM

FWIW if you mean Chatfield Reservoir in your initial post, there is no kites allowed of any kind, water/land. CO State Park rules. Aurora Res is not a state park so they will allow kitesurfing.

FrontRangeJeff - 12-8-2014 at 12:16 PM

Arapahoe F/G seemed so promising at first but yeah----I just finally got the multiple slow leaks in my tubes to seal...at some point I'll have to replace them.

At least they are cool with kites.

As for State Parks - I think that policy might be gone? Brad (Yeti) and I think Dave and I all tried finding the language banning kites a few months ago and it looks to be gone from the regs-but I am sure many rangers would be total butts regardless. If Chatfield was that nasty to Nick then I'd suspect not much would have changed there...that stuff seems to be engrained based on attitude from park to park.

I do know as a fact that Steamboat Lake State Park is accepting of kites. My parents retired up there and my father talked to 3 chains of command that it would be completely fine so long as we weren't "Getting massively airborne all over the place". Basically if we are not looking like we were endangering guests they wouldn't care. I have been waterskiing there many times but never had a kite and board with me - it would be a gusty tough place to H2O it but in the winter it can be wicked good.

Snow kited there several times - each time stopping in the visitors center to say hello and ask about the ice conditions just to let them know I planned on snow kiting - also had a ranger drive up and say how nice it was to see kites. Also snow kited 11 mile - never had a problem there either. I think a case by case basis of state parks is worth trying.

erratic winds - 12-8-2014 at 01:06 PM

Quote: Originally posted by FrontRangeJeff  

As for State Parks - I think that policy might be gone? Brad (Yeti) and I think Dave and I all tried finding the language banning kites a few months ago and it looks to be gone from the reg



From the 2014 CO State parks Land & Water Regulations Page Two:
It Shall Be Prohibited......

AIRCRAFT
15. To land or take off with any type of aircraft on any Parks and Outdoor recreation lands and waters except as specifically authorized by these regulations or in case of emergency. “Aircraft” means any device or equipment that is used or intended to be
used for manned flight or to otherwise hold humans aloft for any period of time, including powerless flight, and specifically includes, but is not limited to, airplanes, helicopters, gliders, hot air balloons, hang gliders, parachutes, parasails, kite boards, kite tubes, zip lines and other similar devices or equipment.


Sucks, because I could quite literally walk to Chatfield from my house.

Quote: Originally posted by FrontRangeJeff  

I do know as a fact that Steamboat Lake State Park is accepting of kites. My parents retired up there and my father talked to 3 chains of command that it would be completely fine so long as we weren't "Getting massively airborne all over the place". Basically if we are not looking like we were endangering guests they wouldn't care. I have been waterskiing there many times but never had a kite and board with me - it would be a gusty tough place to H2O it but in the winter it can be wicked good.

Snow kited there several times - each time stopping in the visitors center to say hello and ask about the ice conditions just to let them know I planned on snow kiting - also had a ranger drive up and say how nice it was to see kites. Also snow kited 11 mile - never had a problem there either. I think a case by case basis of state parks is worth trying.



Someone might have talked to 3 chains of command who approved it, but unless the actual document changes, those people's opinions don't mean much and won't help you at all when a ranger tells you to get off the "state" ice.

I snow kited for 4 years on chatfield before they kicked me off, never a complaint from fishermen, and had several parks rangers tell me how cool it was.....doesn't change the fact I was kicked off and they were very clear about how it was forbidden, circling this page of the booklet and handing it to me.

I, personally, am not gonna even let the possibilty of being shut down and maybe cited for trespass affect my kiting again, so _f_u_c_k_ Colorado State Parks in regards to our sport, I used to be an annual pass holder, but no longer.

FrontRangeJeff - 12-8-2014 at 01:56 PM

Well obviously missed THAT....but I am not going to let a couple of jerk rangers out of many that are cool kill my juju of snow kiting on both Steamboat Lake and 11 Mile. I've seen 6 kites at 11 mile and for the first time ever I kited with others at Steamboat.

Threats of trespass is absurd and maybe the powers that be at Chatfield had prior issues....regardless-unless I get run off I'm not going to worry about it-there are lots of regs that go unenforced.

I purchased my annual park pass while making sure they didn't give a flyin' f$dK about using the lake for snow kiting

erratic winds - 12-8-2014 at 02:21 PM

It's up to you if you want to continue to go there, but now that you have the knowledge that you're breaking the usage rules, it may color your ability to enjoy the place.

FrontRangeJeff - 12-8-2014 at 03:04 PM

Yep I'll keep going; and Nope-it won't color my ability to enjoy myself....if nothing else it is my own peaceful way to stick it to the man:lol:

Proletariat - 12-8-2014 at 03:08 PM

I just buzz them with small fast kites (with staples in the front)... but to each his own :)

yeti - 12-8-2014 at 06:28 PM

Yeah I looked in the same place for those regs as when I saw em before but I couldn't find em again. So either they're not online anymore or they moved somewhere very sneaky.

I'm not on the front range anymore so I guess it doesn't affect me.

For tube punctures, can you get something similar to these?
http://www.rei.com/c/bike-tire-liners

They worked wonders for me protecting against goat's heads on the mountain bike.

FrontRangeJeff - 13-8-2014 at 03:39 AM

I'm certainly not going to worry about getting run off snow kiting at state parks - kited 4 days total at two spots without issue so if they want to enforce the letter of the law I'll deal with it then.

I wonder if getting a liner to curve that tight or fit within such a small space of a land board tire is an option - but worth a look.

Fortunately slime eventually took care of it - I had about 8 to 10 small punctures from land boarding over a freakin' cactus :o so it took quite a few occasional pump ups before it finally sealed entirely.

erratic winds - 13-8-2014 at 04:28 AM

http://cpw.state.co.us/aboutus/Pages/RegulationsBrochures.as... for rules and regs statewide

volock - 18-9-2014 at 08:11 PM

You tried checking the local polo grounds? As long as there aren't people out there actively on horse, I've had plenty let me go use their competition grass areas.

erratic winds - 18-9-2014 at 09:23 PM

I am only aware of one polo ground in the area and it is private property which might not be an issue but it's also a gated community you can't even get in to ask.

Kiznosh - 20-10-2014 at 10:31 AM

Back to the original question. I've moved to Aurora from Boulder, so I'm looking for spots to kite (in my abundance of free time, since I'm back in school). Don't have a landboard yet, but I'm thinking about getting one...

erratic winds - 20-10-2014 at 03:47 PM

Euugh, sorry Kiznosh, boulder's not got many spots at all, only place I know that allows kites on land is sandstone park. Ya might have to go water if you want kite time in boulder. Boulder Res is a good spot.

Hope to see you all this winter.

Even though there won't be a CKF event anymore, maybe we will have to declare a date as a meetup up on Dillon and go play in the snow.

Kiznosh - 20-10-2014 at 10:40 PM

EW, I'm in Aurora now, not Boulder.

erratic winds - 21-10-2014 at 05:47 AM

Ah! I read that backwards, must have been distracted.

Well, best spots in Aurora are still Dove Valley and Arapahoe County Fairgrounds parking lot like Proletariat says above!

Cerebite - 7-11-2014 at 01:13 PM

or if your are in N Aurora then Stapleton Central or Lowry Great Lawn.
On the subject of Rangers I have talked to three different Denver Parks & Rec. Rangers in the last year [they do not talk to each other]. After the first one I looked up the regs and kites are allowed [but frisbees are not :lol:]. with the third one after I was not intimidated off by his empty threats he the resorted to a "speed limit" rule like they use on the bikes in Wash Park on the weekends. That day i had not broken the speed limit [cranked the grass PB up over 40 kph on Sunday with a good wind direction and nobody out there :)].
I have got to get down to Arapahoe County FG and see this "new hotness" in buggy locations.

FrontRangeJeff - 7-11-2014 at 02:29 PM

Arapahoe is ok but really be on the lookout for glass, nails, wire and other crazy stuff....and my 2 cents The lots ride small. The huge fields would be wicked good with a dumping of snow but ultimately MAYBE luck out for 1 day a year? The lower lot is buggy-able but bumpy :)

Kiznosh, hope we meet up to snow kite again this year. Hope Aurora area treats you well.

Proletariat - 13-12-2014 at 08:10 AM

Arapahoe would be great for a west wind, but jeff is right that it rides small, but I've put in some serious speed there. There is certainly quite a bit of debris in the parking lot, but you can also extend out into the field, which is bumpy but has less debris. If we got a lot of snow, it might be amazing. Basically, exactly what Jeff said :) The nice thing is that they were super cool with us being out there (same with Aurora res right next door).

Also, Jeff and I recently stopped by BLM and asked them about land use and they were amazingly cool. Said we could use any of their lands, but we'd have to get a permit if we had an event that made us money. They also sell maps for $4 apiece. I think there are 50ish maps for all of Colorado.

Anthonyshopguy - 2-5-2019 at 05:07 PM

I know this is an Ancient thread, but Question has anybody approached state parks about looking into revising the rules. The only people that want to use the lakes when it is windy are sailers, whether they kiteboard, sailboard, or use old fashioned sailboats. My believe is these rules where put into affect sometime in the early 90's I had talked to a ranger out at Jackson Res about kiting and the venom that came out of his mouth did not sound very good. I was not a kiter at that time but had seen it both at Big Mac and Florida. The story he told me was of a kiter having to be rescued out of a tree with sever injuries. Kiting is still a hazardous occupation but has gotten much better over the years. If maybe we could get say 1000 Colorado residents to sign a petition to get the parks to look into revising the statues. First open the parks up for winter use, buggies on beaches, kiters on frozen lakes, Steamboat, Eleven mile being good examples. 2nd opening parks to water kiting in off peak season times March-May, Sept-Nov Parks such as Chatfield, Cherry, Boyd, Jackson, Green mountain, Steamboat, Crawford, Ridgeway would all be excellent water kiting. 3rd same parks as above with maybe designated areas for all year usage. I propose if you are a Colorado kiter and are interested in pursuing this, post your info here or PM me and I'll work on a list. There is a board of Citizen advocates appointed to guide state park policy's. One is here on the western slope. I'm hoping to reach out and get a meeting with them to at least see if there's any chance of a revision to the policies. I've also made mention of this in Kiteforum, and FB Colorado kiters. I'm not into politics but if we sit around and only complain it will never change.

nate76 - 2-5-2019 at 08:43 PM

Hey Anthony! Ya, I know this is something on the mind of a lot of us here. There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of congruity in what you can/cannot kite in the state - for example why is Dillon Ok, but 11 mile not? I think posting in the FB Colorado Kiters forum is the right start - there are some of the Old Guard that frequent there who I believe has been active in the past in trying to get things changed.

Sadly I kind of get the vibe that the longer people have been involved in kiting in CO, the more pessimistic they are that things will change for the better and it has driven some of them underground. I do think you're right though that kiting has become a little more mainstream, safety has come a long way, and we have lots of examples of precedent from other states that it can be sanctioned and done safely in State lands.

And just to be clear, the hang-up seems to be State Lands specifically. I've never had any issues in BLM or National Forests.

Cerebite - 6-5-2019 at 12:43 PM

And in an update to the land side:
In '16 or '17 I had a disastrous run in with Denver Parks & Recreation on the subject of buggying. I received a ticket for "dangerous operation of a motor vehicle" at Stapleton.
1) no motor, ranger never approached within 50 m of the buggy to determine this
2) at the time I was 20 m from my handles so was not operating. The ranger never did see my flying a kite [this was my second encounter with her] or operating a buggy
3) no wind to fly anything [I had either an 8 m or 12 m FB on 25 -30 m lines laying on the grass].
4) other than the kiters no one was using the fields that we were on with our kites [nobody flying but they all had out stunt and static kites].

My wife and I appealed the ticket to the fullest extent possible
a) they changed four items on the ticket without notifying us [little things like whether or not I cooperated and provided my drivers license]
b) they did not consider the weather report for the day to be pertinent to the discussion [IIRC 0 -3 mph winds]
c) they read on Wikipedia that buggies are capable of 80 mph and significant height off of the ground and therfor deducted that I was flying at 80 mph at 10 -15 ft off of the ground on that day [like an ultra lite].


- - - - - - - - -

As a result of that pretty much everyone stopped buggying in Denver city limits. The icing on the cake is that about five years earlier Parks & Recs had included buggying as an attraction to that specific park in their description of it and prior to that ranger they had ALL been supportive and encouraging of our efforts to conduct our sport at that location.


I now work for an employer with a personnal dry lake so it is all good :)