PARKER — Not much is opening these days as COVID-19 continues propagating across Colorado, prompting closure or imposing further restrictions on recreation centers, gyms and other gathering spots in an effort to slow the relentless spread of the coronavirus.
But on Thanksgiving Day, the Rueter-Hess Incline Challenge will debut in the midst of this historic pandemic, offering up 132 steps of huff and puff exertion that takes the user 232 feet closer to the sky. And the reward for making it to the top ain’t bad.
A spectacular view awaits of Longs Peak to the north and Pikes Peak to the south, with the gleaming skyscrapers of downtown Denver visible between. On one side stretches the seemingly endless subdivisions of Denver’s south suburbs, while on another the shimmering waters of the still-filling Rueter-Hess reservoir peek over the dam.
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“If there is anything that is welcome during COVID it’s this,” said Maleia Good, manager for Rueter-Hess Recreation. “How do you argue that we don’t do this?”
Coloradans have shown an unbridled enthusiasm for the outdoors and outdoor recreation since the pandemic struck in March, taking advantage of activities where fresh air and social distancing are both prevalent and possible.
The incline’s debut comes amid another round of restrictions on the operation of gyms and recreation centers in Colorado counties that have fallen into Level Red “Severe Risk” category, which encompasses the entire metro area with the exception of Weld County.
The rules, which reduce occupancy in gyms to 10% of maximum capacity, went into effect Friday.
“The timing is great,” said Mary Colton, Parker’s director of parks and recreation. “With restrictions in place, it’s a great amenity and option for people to get outside.”
Not that there won’t be coronavirus rules in place for the incline. Visitors will only be able to ascend the 10-inch by 10-inch, 6-foot-long timber steps — the trip back down to the parking lot will be via a gravel trail on the east side of the hill.
The Rueter-Hess Incline Challenge is the latest outdoor stair-step facility to open in Colorado, following the launch of The Challenge Hill in Castle Rock’s Philip S. Miller Park in 2018. While the Rueter-Hess incline has a greater elevation gain than Castle Rock’s offering (even while it has 68 fewer steps), neither comes close to the granddaddy of them all — the Manitou Incline.
Manitou boasts more than 2,700 steps and a 2,000-foot elevation gain over less than a mile. It closed in the spring for several months after the COVID-19 pandemic struck the state.
Retired South Metro Fire District firefighter Randy Capra, 58, was giving the Rueter-Hess incline an early workout last week ahead of its opening. He said The Challenge Hill in Castle Rock can get crowded, often leaving him feeling like a “bowling pin” on the ascent as users come down the steep pitch toward him.
“I like that it’s just over a mile (the full loop) — you can do it five times and get in a five-mile workout,” he said of the Rueter-Hess Challenge Incline. “It’s just a plain good workout.”
Jeff Bauer, parks and recreation director for Castle Rock, doesn’t view the new incline in Parker as a threat to his town’s stairs.
“We don’t see it as competition — we see it as complementary to our system in Castle Rock,” he said. “It’s a great relief for people in a pandemic.”
Bauer last week rolled out plans to further limit occupancy in the Douglas County town’s recreation facilities, and also instituted a reservation system to keep crowding to a minimum.
He and Colton both sit on the board of the Rueter-Hess Recreation Authority, which was formed six years ago. While the authority has a long-term master plan that calls for building miles of hiking trails, camping spots and expanding water activities to include fishing, Bauer said the new incline is the first permanent feature to open at the reservoir.
Construction on the incline began in June and wrapped up earlier this month. It comes with a 28-space parking lot, which officials hope to triple in size when funding becomes available. The trailhead is located next to the Rueter-Hess Water Purification Facility at 11865 Heirloom Parkway.
“We look at it as an outdoor training obstacle,” Bauer said. “It’s something that can push your training level right away.”
But it will also be fun for the less rigorous of mind, said recreation manager Good.
Families, older people, kids — anyone with dozens of steps worth of energy in them — will be able to tackle it. And then soak in the impressive vista at the top of step 132, surrounded by yucca and prairie grass.
“It’s a jewel in the prairie,” she said.
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