A steep and often icy trailhead parking lot outside of Breckenridge has been causing its fair share of safety concerns during ski season, so officials have decided it needs a new home.

In recent years, neighbors and law enforcement have been reporting an increase in incidents at the Laurium Trailhead parking lot as more people use it to backcountry ski and snowboard on Bald Mountain.

The 15-spot lot has a 14% grade and, at times, is over used, officials say. Neighbors near the lot say it’s not uncommon to see people double parking and blocking others in when it’s busy.

“We have fielded a lot of complaints from users who are sliding into each other as they try to park or feel unsafe, and from plow drivers who feel like it’s difficult to plow,” Breckenridge Open Space & Trails manager Duke Barlow said at a Nov. 4 site tour of the new lot. 

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<figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Barlow stands on the site of the future Laurium Trailhead parking lot at a Nov. 4 , 2024 site tour. Some at the site tour worried about people crossing the road to get to the trailhead on the other side and cars coming around the sharp corner and maybe not seeing them.</figcaption><figcaption>Kit Geary/Summit Daily News</figcaption>

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Mark Watson with the Summit County Sheriff’s Office said the accidents that have occurred have been tricky for tow trucks to navigate due to the road’s grade and shape.

Breckenridge and Summit County’s Open Space & Trails departments have contemplated moving the lot since 2023. After over a year of meetings, they decided moving the lot to the southwest of its current location on County Road 528 was the best fit. The site of the future parking lot has more sun exposure, which was one of the selling points for officials, who said it will making plowing the lot easier.

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<figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This rendering presented at the Sept. 24 Breckenridge Town Council meeting demonstrates the changes that will be coming to the parking for the Laurium Trailhead in 2025.</figcaption><figcaption>Breckenridge/Courtesy illustration</figcaption>

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Breckenridge Town Council already voiced approval at a Sept. 24 meeting for moving the lot to the southwest along with the approximate $231,000 construction price tag.

The parking will soon be on the other side of the road, which officials anticipate will warrant the relocation of the Laurium Trailhead as well. 

Barlow said they are expecting people to cut through a social trail nearby instead of crossing the road, which is particularly steep in that area, before trekking down to where the trailhead is located. 

Eric Rasmussen, who lives near the trailhead, said he saw usage of the parking lot take off during the pandemic. Rasmussen said most people would park at the Baldy trailhead to backcountry ski Bald Mountain. 

“It’s an issue when we can’t get out of the neighborhood,” he said, noting how accidents on County Road 528 can impact the surrounding neighbors. 

Some neighbors expressed concern over the future parking lot being uphill from the current one during the Nov. 4 site walk. A few were nervous about the sharp bend in the road leading to where the new parking lot would be.

Keith and Gwen Arnold have had a home in the area for 23 years and know firsthand how the steepness of County Road 528 can cause issues for drivers, particularly those unfamiliar with the area. 

“We’ve had to tow a lot of our friends up here,” Keith said.

“If you don’t have the right tires, you might not make the bend,” Gwen added. 

Some neighbors wondered why the current parking lot couldn’t be flattened. 

Barlow said flattening the current lot was one of six options considered, but there were numerous reasons why that wouldn’t work. Namely, “a ton” of grading work on the site would likely only result in taking the grade of the lot down from 14% to 8%. Additionally, the grading work and other necessary alterations would shrink the number of spots in the lot from 15 to nine. 

Other options, Barlow said, impacted nearby wetlands and historical structures alongside infringing on open space.

Officials plan to fully decommission the current lot when the new one is built.