Penny Hot Springs Managem Ian November 2019 2 - - Ill-?mr?; Acknowledgments A special thank you to the Steering Committee Member s for their time and dedication to the planning process and the development of this document. Bill Argeros or Stacey Bernot - Crystal Caucus Dave Johnson - Redstone Community Association Jeff Bier - Crystal Valley resident John Armstrong - Crystal Valley Environmental Protection Association John Hoffman - West Elk Loop Scenic and Historic Byway Commission Kate Hudson - Healthy Rivers and Streams Board Michael Gorman - Penny Hot Springs user Rebecca Moller or Rose Rossello - Town of Carbondale Parks and Recreation Commission Sarah-Jane Johnson (or Andrea Stewart) - Carbondale Chamber of Commerce Zuleika Pevec - Penny Hot Springs user OST Board liaison: Wayne Ives Penny Hot Springs Acknowledgments ii Table of Contents 1. Introduction 5 2. History 6 3. Existing Conditions 14 3.1 Acquisition and Management Background 14 3.2 Location and Surrounding Context 14 3.3 Site Description 16 3.4 Ecological Resources and Biodiver sity 16 3.5 Existing Uses 16 3.6 Easements, Rights of Way, Decrees and Other Rights: 18 3.7 Prior Plans and Related Studies: 19 4. Planning Process and Public Involvement 21 4.1 Baseline Data Collection and Public Input 21 Process Over view and Time Line 22 4.2 Plan Development 23 4.3 Draf t Plan Input 23 5. Management Actions 25 5.1 CDOT Renewable Lease Agreement 26 5.2 Rules, Guidelines and Environmental Ethics Signage and Outreach 27 5.3 Interpretive Signage 27 5.4 Pullout Organization 28 5.5 River Access Improvements and Bank Stabilization 29 5.6 Climber Parking for the Narrows 30 5.7 Work with CDOT on Delineating a “No Passing Zone” 30 5.8 Potential Future Acquisitions 30 5.9 Potential Future Amenities 32 Appendix Public Sur vey Results 33 Public Safety Call Data 54 Steering Committee Worksheets 57 Penny Hot Springs Table of Contents 1 The Penny Hot Springs Open Space Management Plan is a product of Pitkin County Open Space and Trails. Pitkin County Open Space and Trails 530 East Main Street Aspen, CO 81611 PITKIN COUNT Y OPEN SPACE AND TRAILS BOARD OF TRUSTEES MISSION STATEMENT The mission of the Pitkin County Open Space and Trails Board of Trustees is to acquire, preserve, maintain and manage open space properties for multiple purposes including, but not limited to, recreational, wildlife, agricultural, scenic and access purposes; and to acquire, preserve, develop, maintain and manage trails for similar purposes. The Pitkin County Home Rule Charter provision authorizing the Open Space and Trails Program defines open space and trails as follows: “Open Space” shall be defined as primarily undeveloped lands and waters which meet one or more of the following criteria: Within public scenic view planes; bounding or within urbanized areas; incorporating or protecting significant wildlife habitat; preserving historic agricultural and ranching activities; protecting riparian or wetlands areas; protecting other public lands from the impacts of development, and preserving cultural, historic, and archaeological resources lying within properties which are otherwise acquired for their customary Open space characteristics. “Trails” shall be defined as access ways, either separate from or within County and State Road Rights-of-Way meeting one or more of the following criteria: preserving historic routes of ingress and egress to public lands and waterways; providing access to and from recreational or urban destinations; providing transportation or recreational opportunities throughout the Roaring Fork Watershed. Penny Hot Springs Mission 2 PITKIN COUNT Y HOME RULE CHARTER AND 2011 PITKIN COUNT Y STRATEGIC PLAN P I T K I N C O U N T Y S T R AT E G I C P L A N Core Focus Areas & Success Factors Community Vision Pitkin County will continue to be a healthy, safe, vibrant and sustainable community, enhancing the quality of life for everyone who lives, works and visits here, while conserving the natural environment as the basis for our community success. Pitkin County Organizational Values The diagram below illustrates the relationship between the three Core Focus Areas in achieving the County’s mission and vision. Pitkin County embraces the following values to promote public trust and confidence in County Government. STEWARDSHIP We strive to leave our natural environment, community, public assets and organization in better condition than we found them for current and future generations. CORE FOCUS Flourishing Natural & Built Environment Organization Mission S U C C E S S FA C T O R S Pitkin County government provides valued and high quality public services supporting the health, safety and well-being of people and the natural environment. 1. Conserved natural resources and environment ETHICS 3. Ease of mobility via safe and efficient transportation systems We hold ourselves to high standards of honesty and dependability in the conduct of County business. 4. Well planned and livable built environment EXCELLENCE 2. Responsibly maintained and enhanced County assets SAFE COMMUNITY VIBRANT & SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITY HIGH QUALITY OF LIFE CORE FOCUS Livable & Supportive Community S U C C E S S FA C T O R S 1. A sense of personal and community safety 2. Diverse and livable housing options CORE FOCUS Prosperous Economy HEALTHY COMMUNITY S U C C E S S FA C T O R S 1. Sustainable economy and employment 3. Self-sufficient individuals and families 2. Affordable and quality health care options 4. Access to recreation, education, arts and culture 3. High performing County leaders, teams 5. Improved community engagement and participation and employees 4. Responsible and accountable stewardship of County assets We are committed to providing quality services that are accessible, accurate and innovative to meet our community’s needs. COLLABORATION We work together as employees and with citizens and other government, non-profit and private sector organizations helping each other succeed in promoting and achieving the public’s goals. OPEN COMMUNICATION We are committed to listening to our citizens and partners and to giving accurate and timely information. POSITIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT We appreciate dedicated and knowledgeable employees and support their professional and personal growth. The Pitkin County Strategic Plan identifies three core Focus Areas: “Flourishing Natural and Built Environment,” “Livable and Supportive Community” and “Prosperous Economy.” The goal is for the three Focus Areas to work together to achieve the county’s vision and mission. The Penny Hot Springs Management Plan supports the Strategic Plan in various aspects: FLOURISHING NATURAL AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT Success Factor 1: Conserved natural resources and environment Identified Actions: managing and improving riparian areas, recreational opportunities and scenic values. Success Factor 2: Responsibly maintained and enhanced county assets Identified Actions: maintaining county properties in a sustainable manner with context sensitive infrastructure enhancements, user education and interpretation to encourage proper use and care of public lands and assets. LIVABLE AND SUPPORTIVE COMMUNITY Success Factor 4: Access to recreation, education, arts and culture Identified Actions: providing improved access to a unique recreational asset within the county in addition to educational and nature appreciation opportunities in the Crystal River Valley. Penny Hot Springs Mission 3 Penny Hot Springs 1. Introduction Penny Hot Springs, in the Crystal River Valley, is a popular natural hot springs location with a long history of public use. Every year after spring runoff, people rebuild the pools that provide locals and travelers a place to soak in a spectacular setting. The continuously evolving hot springs pools along the west bank of the Crystal River are located partially on Open Space and Trails property and partially on Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) right of way. The parking pullout along the highway and the downstream pools are within CDOT’s right of way, which extends to the middle for the river. The pullout provides parking for multiple uses, including: the hot springs, climbing on the opposite side of the highway, watching wildlife at Filoha Meadows Nature Preserve and general highway traffic. This plan represents a collaborative approach to managing increased use of the area, involving both CDOT and Pitkin County Open Space properties. The plan reflects guidance from the Penny Hot Springs Steering Committee Vision Statement: To protect and preserve the natural environment and future use of Penny Hot Springs in a safe and environmentally sustainable manner that is compatible with the location’s natural setting and that encourages respect and stewardship. The vision for Penny Hot Springs, as defined by the Steering Committee, will be used to guide the management of the area. PENNY HOT SPRINGS OPEN SPACE QUICK FACTS Acquisition Date: 1991 County Acquisition, 1999 Adoption into Open Space and Trails (The Penny Hot Springs parcel has been managed as part of the Filoha Meadows Nature Preserve) Funding Partners: None Parcel Size: 0.1 acres Open Space Values: River Access, Recreation and View Plane Preservation Easements/Encumbrances: None Public Records: BOCC Resolution 41990 for Acquisition #90-39 ; BOCC Resolution 434491 designating Penny Hot Springs as Pitkin County Open Space and Trails Property #99-112. Penny Hot Springs Introduction 5 A rickety bridge crosses the Crystal River at Penny Hot Springs in this undated, historic photo. A bathhouse is situated on the far bank next to the path leading down to the hot springs from what is now Hwy. 133. Source: Unknown. 2. History Penny Hot Springs has apparently been a hot spot for Crystal River Valley visitors pretty much since its discovery well over a century ago. The springs, originally a collection of thermal pools that include what is today known as Penny Hot Springs along Hwy. 133, drew the native Utes and then early pioneers. Successive generations of bathers, lured by the curative powers of the soak, the scenery or perhaps just the scene, have sought out the soothing waters. The Ute People were early users of the mineral-laden hot springs that dot what is now Filoha Meadows Nature Preserve and the riverbank. Witnesses as late as 1950 could recall Ute encampments near Penny Hot Springs along the Crystal years before.1 A nomadic people, the Utes spent their summers in the valley in the pursuit of plentiful fish and game.2 With the expulsion of the Utes from Colorado and a flood of prospectors and early settlers into the Crystal Valley, Hot Springs, as it was simply called, became a popular spa at the turn of the century. An 1884 map of Pitkin County notes the spot prominently along Rock Creek, later renamed the Crystal River. That same year, Pitkin County Assessor William Clark left Aspen for Rock Creek with the intention of assessing developed property in the valley. He noted plentiful game and a crowd of prospectors at the springs, where he “enjoyed a good bath” and the hospitality of landowner Mr. Penny, who was planning to build a hotel at the site.3 By the late 1880s, Hot Springs was served by wagon road and a stagecoach stop. Eventually, travelers could ride the Crystal River Railroad to the spa, where Dan Penny’s guest house and dining establishment were built close to the track.4 There was a bathhouse at the river at Granite Spring (today’s Penny Hot Springs). Dan Penny’s namesake spring was out in the meadow. In June 1889, news from Carbondale included this tidbit in the Aspen Daily Times: “An excursion party of eight 1 2 3 4 “Some Facts and Conjectures About the Crystal River Valley in Colorado,” Alvin Foote, A & T Co., New York, 1950, p 33. “Marble Colorado City of Stone,” Duane Vandenbusche and Rex Myers, Golden Bell Press, Denver, Colo. 1970, p 4. “The Assessor on the War Path,” Aspen Times Weekly, June 7, 1884, p 1. “The Crystal River Pictorial,” Dell McCoy, Sundance Limited, Denver, 1972, p 46. Penny Hot Springs History 6 Rail service once chugged through what is now Filoha Meadows Nature Preserve, offering a stop at Hot Springs for travelers who made this early spa in the Crystal River Valley their destination. Source: Unknown. couples visited Penny Hot Springs Sunday. The principal event of the day was the smashing of a buggy wheel.” One famous visitor was Doc Holliday, a gunslinger, gambler and dentist, who traveled to Penny Hot Springs in the summer of 1887, hoping to find a cure for his consumption. He stayed there, at a cabin owned by Alexander and Eva Harony, for a few months before returning to Glenwood Springs, where he died that November.5 Ranching largely supplanted the early flurry of mining in the Crystal Valley and by the mid-20th century, Penny Hot Springs apparently succumbed to the quiet years up the Crystal. Joseph Grange acquired the meadow now called Filoha in the 1940s, and raised cattle and potatoes there. At that time, the Grange holdings included lands above Marble as well as Rock Bottom Ranch and lands near Emma. Kelly Grange inherited Filoha while his brother, Emil, ended up with the Emma property, according to the 2004 Filoha Meadows Management Plan. Kelly Grange’s holdings included an easement for use of the heated spring water along the roadway – an asset that would become a thorn in his family’s side. Steve Child of Old Snowmass remembered walking to the springs from a cabin at Avalanche Ranch with his family in about 1955. He would have been 8 years old. The narrow, dirt road had virtually no traffic, he said, and the spring was enclosed in a wood structure, Child recalled. The tub in the building had water straight from the spring, and there was a bar of soap. “It was really hot. You had to get in really slowly,” he said.6 The 1960s brought hippies to the hot springs. A concrete bathhouse, reportedly built by the Carbondale Chamber of Commerce, held a modest concrete pool filled with water that was “hell for hot,” according to Carbondale resident John Hoffman. “It was a time of love. We’d get eight people in there, but it probably fit four.” From the bathhouse, the water flowed into two successively cooler pools dug into the bank before it flowed into the river.7 Hoffman was a student at Colorado Mountain School’s Spring Valley campus in 1968. “We’d drive down from Spring Valley, soak into the night and drive back. It was just a glorious experience,” he said. The pullout along the highway was often full of cars, particularly in the evenings, according to Hoffman, who 5 6 7 “Doc Holliday: A Family Portrait,” Karen Holliday Tanner, University of Oklahoma Press, 1998, p 216. Interview: Steve Chlld, Aspen, July 22, 2019. Telephone interview: John Hoffman, July 10, 2019. Penny Hot Springs History 7 A photo in the Aspen Today newspaper depicts the scene at Penny Hot Springs before the site was bulldozed in 1972. recalled sneaking across the river to a spring in the meadow that was lined with marble slabs. It was perhaps, the original Penny Hot Springs. Carbondale resident Laurie Loeb recalled hot springs etiquette back in the day meant you could pull up and honk your horn, and parties already using the bathhouse knew they had 15 minutes before they had to relinquish the pool. The unwritten rule fell by the wayside as more people began using the springs, she said.8 The increasing use apparently took its toll. Detractors of the scene objected to filthy conditions (painted on the side of the bathhouse was the message, “please do not urinate right here”) and the naked sunbathers lounging outside, but perhaps none expressed their concern more eloquently than Mrs. Grange, in a 1971 handwritten letter to Lamont Kincaid, then-sanitarian for Aspen and Pitkin County. She charged hot springs users with failing miserably in their promise to clean up conditions at the site and curb the public nudity. “The nudes are running rampant and very definitely in the majority…,” she wrote. “Even more disgusting are some men, obviously nourishing their sick minds, who spend much of their spare time (not for the hot baths) mingling among the nude women. “If the sanitation department is really in the interest of sanitation, I must say it could start immediately cleaning up what must surely be the filthiest joint in Colorado, physically and morally,” she wrote. The Granges, who resided in a house upstream from the hot springs, would remain central figures in the tempest over the springs for years to come and at least initially, at Kincaid’s urging, would take matters into their own hands to resolve the issues. There was an effort to upgrade facilities at the springs, providing trash collection and toilet facilities, for example. It was a complete flop, Kincaid would later tell Pitkin County commissioners. The toilet was crushed and tossed in the river within 10 days of its installation in an act of vandalism that also included the dumping of tar, oil and dead animals at the site, he said. A sheriff’s report indicated that, sometime on the night of Sept. 27, 1971, several gallons of roof pitch were dumped into the bathhouse and garbage was dumped atop the pitch, which was oozing into the river. The portable toilet was destroyed and scattered. “From that time on conditions continued to deteriorate, with numerous complaints and incidents of maggot infestation in trash, the accumulation of human feces, used sanitary napkins, dirty throw-away diapers, used prophylactics, undergarments, broken bottles, etc.,” wrote Kincaid, whose salary was paid in part by the Colorado State Health Department. “Again, the state and local Health Departments warned that such 8 Interview: Laurie Loeb, Carbondale, April 12, 2019. Penny Hot Springs History 8 conditions could not be allowed to continue, but they did continue.” Kincaid’s March 1972 letter to commissioners came in defense of the destruction of Penny Hot Springs less than a month earlier. Hot springs aficionados were outraged and demanded answers. The controversy boiled over into the county commissioners’ chambers and the pages of local newspapers. The Aspen Times decried the destruction of a “priceless natural treasure” in an editorial. With representatives of the Sheriff’s Office on hand to keep the peace, Kelly Grange had the bathhouse and outdoor pools bulldozed on Feb. 28, 1972. The action came after Grange received a letter from Kincaid charging him, as the responsible party, with several violations related to sewage and refuse disposal. Kincaid ordered Grange to cease the violations and “achieve total abatement of the conditions on or before March 10, 1972” or face fines that could exceed $1,000 per day plus possible jail time. The abatement was to be temporary, the sanitarian advised Grange, so that the springs could be reopened when it became feasible to provide adequate facilities. The reshaping of the landscape eliminated the bathhouse and the pools below it. In their place, boulders, rock and dirt extended to the river’s edge. The imprint of bulldozer tracks remained on the flattened riverbank. In the aftermath of the destruction, Kincaid reiterated his concerns about the health hazards presented by the hot springs. Other problems at the springs, he said, included shootings, vandalism and a “severe” traffic safety issue – coal truck drivers crossing the double center line on the highway in order to glimpse the “cuties in the river.”9 The bulldozing of Penny Hot Springs in 1972 took out the bathhouse and two shallow, outdoor soaking pools. Source: Aspen Historical Society, Aspen Times Collection. Grange, to his credit, continued to offer 2 acres of adjacent land to rebuild the springs if the county or some other entity would assume responsibility for the site. In a 1972 letter to the editor, Mr. and Mrs. Grange noted they had not destroyed the springs, which still flowed somewhere within the rubble. “The only things that are gone are the unnatural, manmade bathhouse, the ‘cess-pools’ and the garbage, except for several dozen discarded cans and bottles still residing across the river on our property,” they wrote. Kincaid observed efforts to recreate a bathing pool in a May 1972 stop at the spot and new pools were evidently shaped in the rubble over time, even as hot springs backers began collecting donations to build new facilities at Penny Hot Springs. A group calling itself the Redstone Hot Springs Foundation circulated petitions 9 “Health officials authorize closure of Redstone springs,” Aspen Today, March 1, 1972. Penny Hot Springs History 9 urging Pitkin County to reopen the springs through any means possible. A design for a steel-frame, icosahedron-shaped bathhouse took shape. A separate petition, asking commissioners not to reopen the hot springs without an agency established to regulate the site and enforce the rules, was also circulated. More than 115 residents of the Crystal Valley signed it.10 Kincaid was dismissed by the county and City of Aspen in 1973 for reasons unrelated to the hot springs, escaping the spotlight when the battle over the springs reheated in the 1980s with a new, striking figure rising from the steam to defend the beloved springs. Conflicts between the Grange family and the throngs of nude bathers who were once again making use of Penny Hot Springs – this time with no bathhouse to conceal any of the activity – were back in the headlines by the mid-1980s. In 1987, rancher Erwin Grange, Kelly’s son, requested the highway department lease or sell him the land in the Hwy. 133 right of way so he could close the springs. The department declined.11 Grange also sought redress through the criminal code, urging authorities to arrest nude bathers for indecent exposure and summoning deputies for trespass violations. Sheriff Bob Braudis refused to charge nude bathers with indecent exposure based on input from the deputy district attorney, who said the Granges couldn’t claim to be Roy Rickus and Laurie Loeb at Penny Hot Springs in a photo published in The bothered by the nudity given the distance Denver Post after Rickus was charged with indecent exposure. Source: Vintage from their house to the hot springs – roughly Photos a quarter-mile. The Granges took their case to the DA, who overruled his underling and said the offenders could be prosecuted if strong evidence were presented.12 Roy Rickus, self-appointed curator of the hot springs, was photographed by the Granges on two dates in August 1987 and found himself facing two counts of indecent exposure filed by the Pitkin County DA’s office for “knowingly exposing his genitals” to the view of another person. He was naked, but for his trademark turban. Rickus ran health food stores in Aspen back in the 1960s and early ’70s, and then operated one in Carbondale called Roaring Fork Crystal and Co. He was a frequent visitor to the hot springs – taking a dip as often as four times a day, he said.13 He remains a Crystal Valley resident. “That was my social life for a while,” he said. “I’d go down there at night and turn it down to sleeping weather.” (That meant making the pool cooler.) 10 11 12 13 “Petitions seek control of hot spring,” The Aspen Times, July 26, 1973, p 11-A. “Highway department won’t lease hot springs property,” The Aspen Times, Sept. 17, 1987, p 18-A. “Hot springs incidents spur indecent exposure charges,” The Aspen Times, Sept. 24, 1987, p 16-A. Interview: Roy Rickus and Laurie Loeb, May 10, 2019, Carbondale. Penny Hot Springs History 10 Rickus spent considerable time adjusting the mechanics of the riverside pool, arranging rocks to force hot water up from below and using a bucket to scoop cold water in from the river before perfecting a system of turning a rock to let in more or less cold water from the river. Crowds were not a problem, he recalled. “I’d crank it up to where no one else could stand it.” Rickus, who was 45 at the time, fought the criminal charges, which also included a count of trespassing for allegedly crossing over a boundary in the river and onto Grange property. A second man was also charged with trespassing, but was acquitted. At the time, Rickus contended the photographs of him constituted an invasion of his privacy.14 He maintained it was “sacrilege” to wear a swimsuit in the pool. The Granges complained that the springs regained popularity as a nudist hangout with publicity over the Rickus case and they posted signs on the opposite riverbank. One was a warning against trespassing. The other read, “NOTICE – Do Not Expose Your Nude Body To The View Of This Property.” Carbondale’s Loeb laughed about the sign. There was no one across the river to see the nudity, she said. Except for elk and bighorn sheep, Rickus added.15 Signs posted across the river from Penny Hot Springs addressed trespassing and nudity. Source: The Valley Journal file photo, Sopris Sun Loeb, who remains friends with Rickus, found herself immersed in the nudity debate when The Denver Post picked up the story of Rickus’ indecent exposure case and published a photo of Rickus, submerged up to the bottom of his flowing beard, at the hot springs. A grinning Loeb (clearly wearing a swimsuit) is visible soaking in the background. Loeb was active with the Redstone Hot Springs Foundation, which sought donations to make improvements at the springs. Among the suggested resolutions was piping the spring water up to 1,000 feet downriver and creating a new pool on Forest Service property. Shortly before Rickus went to trial on the indecent exposure charges in April 1988, Penny Hot Springs was again in the headlines after an unknown party or parties rolled large boulders into the soaking pool – an act that would have required heavy machinery. “Penny Hot Springs rocked by massive sabotage,” screamed a March 1988 headline in The Valley Journal after the latter incident. “The spring survived but now the pool’s only big enough for two skinny people or one fat one,” the Carbondale newspaper reported. Volunteers rallied to move the boulders out of the way. Despite predictable finger-pointing, no culprit was ever identified. A jury, however, convicted Rickus on both counts of indecent exposure. A judge subsequently threw out the verdict because the prosecution had failed to prove one of the elements of the offense – that Rickus was aware he was being observed when he bathed nude.16 Rickus, meanwhile, was already embroiled in the next round of the fight. Edwin Grange had filed a water right application with the state in an attempt to gain complete control of the hot springs. He intended to pipe the water from the highway right-of-way onto his own land. Loeb and the Friends group were attempting to raise funds to mount a legal challenge and assist Rickus, who also filed a water right application as “trustee for 14 15 16 “Rickus will fight exposure charges,” The Aspen Times, Oct. 15, 1987, p 7-A. Interview: Roy Rickus and Laurie Loeb, May 10, 2019, Carbondale. “Hot springs guru beats nudity rap,” The Valley Journal, April 28, 1988, p 3. Penny Hot Springs History 11 the users of the spring.”17 Several other Crystal Valley residents filed protests to the Grange application. In June 1988, the Colorado Department of Highways further muddied the water by announcing it would sell the property on which the springs were located, giving a government right of first refusal to acquire the right-of-way to preserve or enhance the site. An adjacent landowner – the Granges – would have second right of refusal to buy the land at market value, the highway department announced.18 The Friends group began lobbying Pitkin County to buy the springs. In September 1988, the anti-springs faction apparently sprang once again into action. Road tar was dumped into the One of the headlines of the day in The Valley Journal. spring. “Long strings of black and brown gunk stretched across the oblong spring, then flowed downriver like clumps of rotten kelp,” The Valley Journal reported. Two months later, Pitkin County commissioners agreed in principal to purchase Penny Hot Springs but not administer the property. They asked the Friends for a detailed management plan to address the Grange family’s concerns. The group had already proposed a no-nudity policy; installation of a grouted, rock pool; screening and signage; plus moving the springs either 200 or 500 feet downriver. With no action from the county to acquire the springs a year after the highway department offered up the site, the department granted Erwin Grange a utility permit, allowing the rancher to enclose the spring and pipe the water across the river to his land. The county and the friends were caught off-guard.19 Erwin Grange charged the county with dragging its feet. Utility permit in hand, he tried to fence off the site but the fence was destroyed twice in one week. In April 1990, two years after Rickus beat the nudity rap, county commissioners balked at the Friends’ proposal for a full-fledged recreation area at the springs. Commissioners agreed the spot should remain in the public domain, however, and that the county should acquire the land and the water rights for low-key use. Commissioner Collette Penne was dispatched to the next Highway Commission meeting, where, she said, “I’ll be wearing layers and layers of clothes.”20 Commissioners approved a resolution on April 24, 1990 to acquire the Crystal River Hot Springs and a portion of the Hwy. 133 right-of-way from the Department of Highways. Through the acquisition, the county resolved to address concerns of health and safety, public nudity and possible trespass on adjacent property, as well as traffic safety on the highway, according to the resolution. A month later, Erwin and Linda Grange sprang their final surprise, selling their Crystal River property to Chrysler Vice President Gerald Greenwald. The Granges bought a new spread between Delta and Grand Junction, according to news reports at the time, and retired from the hot springs spotlight. Greenwald, meanwhile, eventually built a house in Aspen and had no conflicts with hot springs users. He sold the 145-acre Hot Springs Ranch, now part of Filoha Meadows Nature Preserve, to Pitkin County Open Space and Trails in 2001. The county had completed acquisition of the hot springs in 1991 and folded the property into the Open Space and Trails program in 1999. 17 18 19 20 “Erwin Grange filing for right on spring,” The Valley Journal, April 21, 1988, p 2. “Highway honcho on Penny Hot Spring,” The Valley Journal, June 2, 1988, p 5. “Utility permit threatens to shut down Penny Hot Springs,” The Valley Journal, Aug. 3, 1989, p. 7. “Commissioners support unmanaged hot springs,” The Valley Journal, April 5, 1990, p 4. Penny Hot Springs History 12 Roy Rickus and Laurie Loeb in 2019 after providing their historical perspective on the Hot Springs use in the 1980s. Penny Hot Springs History 13 3. Existing Conditions 3.1 Acquisition and Management Background The 0.1-acre triangular Penny Hot Springs Open Space parcel was acquired by the County in 1991 and adopted by the Open Space and Trails program in 1999. The property was originally purchased from CDOT through the County’s general fund, prior to the establishment of the Open Space and Trails program, to resolve concerns related to hot springs use. Prior to the current plan, the Penny Hot Springs parcel has been managed as a part of the larger Filoha Meadows Nature Preserve, which encompasses the Hot Springs Ranch parcel and the Penny Hot Springs parcel, totaling approximately 185 acres. The 2008 Filoha Meadows Nature Preserve Management Plan identifies the Penny Hot Springs along the west bank of the river as the “Visitor Use Area” within the preserve, allowing for year-round public access and use of the hot springs. The Penny Hot Springs pulloff is the only place for vehicle parking to view Filoha and offers the only river access within the larger preserve. 3.2 Location and Surrounding Context Penny Hot Springs is located on the west bank of the Crystal River along the east side of Hwy. 133, just north of mile marker 55. The property is approximately 3 miles north, or downstream, from Redstone and 12 miles south of Carbondale. The continuously evolving, naturally fed hot springs pools straddle the Penny Hot Springs Open Space property and Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) right of way (ROW). The eastern boundary of the property boarders Filoha Meadows Nature Preserve. The White River National Forest extends up the hillside to the west, opposite the highway from the hot springs. The pulloff, just before mile marker 55 along Highway 133, is often full of cars, with users accessing the hot springs as well as the climbing area on the public lands to the west. Penny Hot Springs Existing Conditions 14 Penny Hot Springs Context Map White River National Fores t Hot Springs Ranch Open Space M ha Filo do ea ws FI L OH A MEA D OW S N AT U R E P R ES ER V E Filoha Meadows Open Space Penny Hot Springs 55 To Carbondale CDOT ROW Parcel Boundary PennyHSParcel White River National Fores t Open Space (fee simple) Conservation Easement Trail Hwy 133 Right of Way Mile Post Larson-Grange Load-out To Redstone HWY 133 0 460 920 Feet Hexagon, CompassData Carbondale Penny Hot Springs Open Space Aspen