Wildridge's Back-Door Trails Have a Winter Deadline, and Avon Is Asking How You Use Them

On December 15, most of the West Avon Preserve closes. Under the Town of Avon's West Avon Preserve Management Plan, every part of the property is closed to all uses from December 15 through April 15. Only three trails are exempt. From the Wildridge streets above town, that leaves about eight weeks of open access starting this Thursday.

The town picked these same weeks to ask Wildridge how its parks and open space should change. On October 9, Avon announced a community survey and a series of neighborhood meetings on Saddleridge Park, O'Neal Spur Park and the West Avon Preserve. The last meeting is Thursday, October 29. So right now, while the town is listening, residents can still walk or ride every trail it's asking about.

What stays open after December 15, and what doesn't

The management plan lists ten designated trails in the preserve. Three of them stay open all year: PB&J, Our Backyard and Beaver Creek Overlook. The Vail Valley Mountain Trails Alliance closure list gives the same December 15 to April 15 window. It names the third exception "Beaver Creek Point," which the town plan uses for the trailhead parking area. The VVMTA list also includes Knob Hill, a Forest Service trail, in the same seasonal closure.

The plan states the reason directly. The closures exist "to keep people and domestic animals from entering important wildlife wintering areas on the Property." In practice, the network shrinks to the three trails that sit closest to the Wildridge side.

The trailhead at O'Neal Spur becomes a one-trail entrance

The table shows how the closure works from Wildridge's own trailhead. The plan identifies O'Neal Spur Pocket Park, where Old Trail and O'Neal Spur roads meet, as an access point for both Wyse Way and PB&J. It has on-street parking and park facilities. From mid-December to mid-April, Wyse Way closes. PB&J is then the only trail from that corner, and its junctions with Saddle Ridge and Lee's Way lead onto closed trails until April 15.

The plan also names three other trailheads. Each one changes differently in winter:

1. Beaver Creek Point. This asphalt lot sits at the midway point of Beaver Creek Point Road and holds six cars. It's where the Our Backyard loop starts and ends, so it keeps its main trail all winter. The Vail Daily's guide to the preserve describes parking there as very limited.
2. Nottingham Road. This one is on a town right-of-way on the south side of the Nottingham Road cul-de-sac, about 750 feet west of Metcalf Road. The plan designates 5 to 10 roadside spaces. The same Vail Daily guide advises caution at this trailhead because of traffic from local businesses.
3. Singletree Access. This trailhead is at 701 June Creek Drive, on the eastern edge of Singletree. The Berry Creek Metropolitan District bought the property in 2003 for trail access. The Avon-Singletree Connector is on the closed list, so the link between the two neighborhoods is seasonal.

Put together, the winter preserve is a small set of trails close to home. The longer routes across the property are only open from April 16 to December 14.

Rules that apply on every open day

Two rules in the management plan apply all season. Dogs must stay under voice command, and handlers must carry a leash. Motorized and electrically assisted recreation is prohibited, except for Class 1 e-bikes. The plan also commits the town to closing social trails and shortcuts as they appear and replanting the ground. It allows any trail to close immediately if it can't be maintained well enough to protect wildlife habitat, vegetation or water quality. These rules matter for the planning effort, because the town will weigh any future improvements against them.

The town wants input during the weeks the full system is open

Avon's notice describes the Wildridge Park & Open Space Improvements effort as a way to understand how the three spaces are used today. The feedback will be used "to develop recommendations for future planning and improvement projects." It covers both kinds of public space in the neighborhood: the two developed parks, Saddleridge and O'Neal Spur, and the preserve trails around them.

"Wildridge's parks and open spaces are important community assets. We want to hear directly from the community about how these spaces are used today and how they can be improved."

That's Michael Labagh, Avon's Recreation Director, in the town's announcement.

The town scheduled three meetings at the O'Neal Spur Park Picnic Shelter, 2799 Old Trail Road. The October 14 and October 19 sessions have already taken place. The last one is:

• Thursday, October 29, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., O'Neal Spur Park Picnic Shelter, 2799 Old Trail Road, Avon

Feedback from each meeting will be compiled and considered alongside the survey responses. The survey is on the town's Wildridge Park & Open Space Improvements page. Labagh's office is listed as the contact, at [email protected] or (970) 748-4446.

The timing works in residents' favor. The meeting is at the same pocket park that will be a single-trail entrance in winter. A ride down Wyse Way or a loop on Saddle Ridge the weekend before gives anyone who goes current, first-hand detail about trails that close for four months starting December 15.

When the light goes, the evenings are down the hill

By late October it's getting dark before 6:30, so the meeting will end close to nightfall. Several places in Avon are running shoulder-season offers that fit after the meeting or after a ride.

• Colletta, at The Westin Riverfront Resort and Spa, opened June 22, 2026, in the space formerly occupied by Stoke & Rye. The Vail Daily reported that it serves Italian-American food, including house-made pizza and pasta, and that locals are welcome. This fall it has a Fall Tre Portate prix fixe dinner for $50 per person, with options like mussels fra diavolo, radiatori and tiramisu. That's according to the Vail Daily's off-season deals roundup.
• Lookout Bar, also at The Westin Riverfront, takes 20 percent off the whole bill for locals every day from 3 to 7 p.m. through November 22, according to the same roundup.
• The Westin Riverfront Lobby Bar has football specials, including a Lobby burger and beer for $21 and $6 draft beers.

For families, the weekend before the meeting has a town event at the bottom of the hill. Avon's Pumpkin Fun Run is Sunday, October 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Avon Pavilion in Harry A. Nottingham Park. It includes a 2K, games, face painting and a pumpkin for each family, and costumes are encouraged.

Lookout Bar's locals discount ends November 22. After that, the next date on Wildridge's calendar is December 15, when Saddle Ridge, Lee's Way, Wyse Way and the rest of the preserve close until April 15.

Tom has lived in the Vail Valley since the mid-1990s, and how a town plans the open space behind a home is part of how we think about that home's value. If you own in Wildridge and want to talk through what the parks and open space planning could mean for your property, Tom Dunn and our team would be glad to sit down with you. Request a Confidential Valuation, and we'll keep the conversation as private as the trail at the end of your street.