Rifle mountain park

Be mindful if rifle is busy this weekend the City is likely to close it for the season.  If you were planning on coming please rethink your trip.  Those of us that live out here don’t have many other venues so if it’s shut down we are screwed for the season.  Let’s all try and have fun in our local zones until all this crap passes.

Did the city release something saying if it gets busy they will just close it for the season?

Here is an official stance from Rifle Parks and Recreation:
Hi Outdoor Enthusiasts!

Rifle Parks and Recreation staff has experienced a large volume of calls inquiring about Rifle Mountain Park, so we expect busy weekends ahead.

Rifle Mountain Park is open, but remember, Rifle Mountain Park does not have an unlimited capacity. Once the park is full, it is full.

We do not take reservations and picnic site and campsite use is first come, first served. If you wish to camp at Rifle Mountain Park, it is best to plan ahead and get to the park before Saturday.

Related to COVID-19, please follow rules that are in place in order to reduce the risk of the spread of Coronavirus, such as washing hands, using hand sanitizers frequently, using social distancing, and do not gather in groups above 10 persons.

Bring enough cleaners and disinfectants with you to be sufficient to sanitize the picnic tables and facilities you use, etc.

Family members who reside at the same residence are not subject to social distancing within your family group.

Staying with only your family group, and not mixing with other groups, is best.

Thank you for making this workable!

Tom Whitmore

Rifle Parks and Recreation Director

Speaking with the town and camp hosts if social distancing rules are not followed the park will be closed.  It’s not just climbers that use the area so giving the people who are out for a picnic need some room as well.  I’m paraphrasing but the camp host said yesterday “ this weekend will probably decide how the summer turns out”

This local's only fantasy is going to last about 1 week - until Memorial Day best case.  That said, I don't think the result will be continuing to close everything indefinitely either.  Lots of people screaming virtue at each other seems the most likely new normal - the best reason to stay away from dense, armed redneck infested hells like Rifle, IMO.

I can't believe Im wading into these waters as mountain project forums at this point have fully succumbed to the trolls and are legitimately disheartening...but here goes

Do what you want to do within the bounds of the law, "locals" have no grounds to say otherwise. Does packing into a campsite with 3 other parties make you an asshole, yeah probably. For better or worse, we live in a country that promotes individualism over the common good.

If you want to change how this is being handled, vote. Otherwise, STFU and go climb and if you want to be an asshole you may be the one at the butt of the joke in the end.

I'm confused by Tank's message - it sort of reads to me like "I confess to being an asshole yet I can't believe I'm talking to a bunch of assholes, but I think it's okay to be an asshole because it's legal." 

Since nobody thinks they are the asshole, my charitable interpretation of Tank's post is that he thinks the locals (aka the OP, laughably telling us the only local climbing he has is Rifle, which is false) are being assholes for telling people not to climb @ Rifle legally. I can see his point, and I even feel for him cause there's literally nothing left on the front range for him to send (besides the Anderson route in Eldo?).

Except the dude can't boulder worth shit so maybe he should stick with that...

That post is somewhat of a Rorschach test.
I don't plan on going to Rifle anytime soon.

+1 to Reboot, that is my plan and it is working well so far.
Locals only bro!

Robert Hernandez wrote: Right, how funny is it to claim the only climbing in that part of the state is Rifle state park. Almost as funny as climbing there are local rifle climbers. More like local cabron dale climbers. 

Just "Rifle Mountian Park" the state doesn't run that place.