Jeep enthusiast runs High Park Fire trail

LisaintheMtns posted a short video on X on September 7 showing a Jeep trail run through Colorado terrain marked by burn scars from the 2012 High Park Fire. The user described the route as “très magnifique,” pointed to visible new vegetation and said they planned to return with a camera for another trip. The post turned a casual off-road clip into a small record of what wildfire recovery can look like more than a decade after one of northern Colorado’s most destructive fires. Official records show the High Park Fire burned more than 87,000 acres west of Fort Collins after it started with lightning on June 9, 2012. ### Where was this trail run taking place? The High Park Fire burned along the Cache la Poudre River corridor in the mountains west of Fort Collins, according to the Colorado Encyclopedia and the burned-area emergency response report prepared after the fire. The fire area covered multiple jurisdictions in Larimer County and included steep terrain, forest and watershed ground that remained vulnerable to erosion and flooding after the flames were out. (coloradoencyclopedia.org) LisaintheMtns’ post did not identify a precise trail name in the material reviewed, but the user said the route crossed land still showing the fire’s footprint. That matches the geography of the High Park burn area, where roads and trails still pass through stands of dead timber, open slopes and recovering vegetation. (coloradoencyclopedia.org) ### How severe was the 2012 fire? June 9, 2012 was the start date for a wildfire that became the largest and most destructive in Larimer County history at the time, according to the county’s burned-area emergency response report. The report said the fire burned more than 87,200 acres before containment was achieved on July 1, 2012, and destroyed 259 homes and cabins. A U.S. Forest Service summary on lessons from the fire said one resident was killed and suppression costs reached $38 million. (cdpsdocs.state.co.us) NASA said in a 2012 Earth Observatory post that the fire was discovered about 15 miles west of Fort Collins and spread quickly in high winds and dry vegetation. The scale of the burn made the area a long-running case study in watershed damage, erosion control and forest recovery. ### What does the new vegetation in the video likely show? (cdpsdocs.state.co.us) The Colorado State Forest Service says wildfire recovery continues long after flames are extinguished and that restoration work is aimed at rebuilding healthy, resilient ecological systems. In the High Park footprint specifically, Colorado State University’s Colorado Forest Restoration Institute said post-fire mulch treatments in high-severity burn areas increased tree seedling densities in some treated plots after three years. (science.nasa.gov) A U.S. Forest Service publication issued five years after the fire said recovery in the burn area was already well underway, while noting that scientists were still studying long-term effects on the landscape and water quality. The regrowth visible in the Jeep video is consistent with that broader record of gradual recovery, though the post itself is anecdotal rather than a scientific survey. (csfs.colostate.edu) ### Why do burn scars still stand out 14 years later? The July 2012 burned-area emergency response report warned that the High Park Fire left behind risks including increased flooding, erosion and threats to water quality. Those effects can outlast the fire itself, especially in steep watershed terrain where vegetation loss changes how rain moves across the landscape. (fs.usda.gov) The Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed says wildfire recovery work has continued in the watershed since the 2012 High Park and Hewlett Gulch fires, followed by later large fires including Cameron Peak in 2020. That means visitors can see both recovery and damage at the same time: new grasses, shrubs and seedlings alongside standing dead trees, exposed soils and altered drainage. (cdpsdocs.state.co.us) ### What happens next? September 7 is the only date attached to LisaintheMtns’ new post, and the user said they plan to return with a camera for another pass through the area. Any follow-up post would likely offer a clearer visual record of regrowth in the High Park burn scar, while the existing clip remains the immediate public reference point on X. (poudrewatershed.org)