Outdoor recreationalists now can enjoy one of the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks’ new trails now that burrowing owls have raised their owlets.

The OSMP Department announced Tuesday it has opened the new Vesper Trail near the intersection of 75th Street and Lookout Road after two nesting pairs of burrowing owls raised eight owlets successfully.

According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, this owl species:

• Does not have ear tuffs, however, does a bobbing or deep knee bend — often seen in disturbed birds — which is distinctive to this owl species.

• It has a distinctive “flattened” head shape and facial pattern with brown cap, white eyebrows, large yellow eyes, and a white throat.

• It is most likely the only owl one would see during the day perched on a fence post or on the ground in open habitats.

The burrowing owl pairs began breeding close to the new trail just as the department was completing trail construction, leading OSMP to close the trail to help the owls reproduce with minimal human disturbance, OSMP said.

Burrowing owls are a federally protected species and their populations are declining throughout Colorado. The OSMP offered thanks to community members for respecting the trail closure, which helped protect the only burrowing owl nests on city-managed open space in 2024.

OSMP reminds visitors to remain on trail when traveling on the Vesper Trail to allow undesignated trails to revegetate and help protect wildlife in the area.

The new Vesper Trail resulted from an OSMP community engagement effort — Gunbarrel Hill Integrated Site Plan — which intended to improve visitor experiences on Gunbarrel Hill while also improving wildlife habitat in the area.

“As part of construction of the new trail, OSMP is also closing and revegetating undesignated trails that can impact wildlife habitats and seeding grassland areas with native vegetation to help improve habitat for ground-nesting birds and other wildlife species,” OSMP said.

To learn more about OSMP current trail closures, please visit OSMPTrails.org.