If you see smoke rising east of Woodland Park this fall, it is most likely the U.S. Forest Service's Rampart Reservoir Area prescribed fire. That project covers about 1,790 acres of National Forest land roughly three miles east of town. The burn is planned and scheduled, and it has landed on the calendar right where Rampart's driving season is ending.
The two schedules overlap. Fire crews can only light when the weather allows, and Rampart Range Road stops taking motor vehicles on Dec. 1. Those limits put the fire and the last weeks of car access in the same stretch of November. Anyone planning one more fall hike or fishing walk at the reservoir should plan around both schedules.
Two schedules running through one November
These are the dates that matter for a Rampart trip from town, listed in order:
- Early October: The Rampart Reservoir Recreation Area's listed season, which starts in mid-to-late May, ends.
- Oct. 7: The Pikes Peak Ranger District announced the prescribed fire and said ignitions could start as early as Oct. 8.
- Oct. 22: Crews ran a test fire at the reservoir.
- Nov. 30: The forest-wide prescribed fire alert for the Pike-San Isabel ends, so planned burning on the forest can continue through this date when weather and fuel conditions allow.
- Dec. 1: Under a Forest Service order, motor vehicles are banned on Rampart Range Road, Forest Service Road 300, until April 1.
The Forest Service's Rampart Range Recreation Area page says that area's roads close by Dec. 1 every year. Reopening is aimed at April 1 but can slip to late May, because a mud-season order runs from April 1 to May 31. In practice, the end of November is the last time you can drive out to Rampart until spring.
Where the burn stood in late October
The October plan has already slipped. The original release said fire managers expected to start as early as Oct. 8 and finish in "a couple of days." The Forest Service's own prescribed fire listing was still showing the project as "Scheduled for early October" on Oct. 8.
The test fire came two weeks after that first possible start date. The Pikes Peak Courier reported on Oct. 26 that the Oct. 22 test fire "met its desired results." Firefighters were going ahead with the planned ignitions, and the fire was expected to last several days. As of that report, no date had been set for the main burn days. They depend on the weather, so they can shift on short notice.
What the burn is meant to do is clearer. In its Oct. 7 release, the Forest Service explained it this way:
"Prescribed fire reduces woody debris, small trees, and shrubs on the forest floor. Removing these hazardous fuels decreases the risk of high-severity wildland fires. Smoke and flames may be visible for days to weeks following a prescribed burn."
That last line matters for anyone walking out there. The release also asks visitors to use caution because fire crews and equipment may be on the trails or roads. It does not name any trail, trailhead or road as closed for the burn. Treat that as "watch for crews," not "everything is open as usual."
Getting to the water from town once the reservoir road is gated
The Rampart Reservoir Recreation Area sits off Rampart Range Road. The Forest Service's trail page says Forest Service Road 306, the spur down to the reservoir, is closed by a locked gate from December through April. That page names Rainbow Gulch as the other way in.
| Access point | What the Forest Service lists | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Rainbow Gulch Trail #714 | About 1.4 miles from FSR 300 down to the Reservoir Trail, nonmotorized, large parking area | Year-round |
| Reservoir Trail #700 | About 11.5 miles along the shoreline between Homestake Fishing Site and the boat ramp parking, rated easy, nonmotorized, no hiking fee | Year-round |
| FSR 306, Rampart Reservoir Recreation Area Road | Road from FSR 300 down to the reservoir | Locked gate December through April |
| FSR 300, Rampart Range Road | Closed to motor vehicles from the Garden of the Gods gate to the FSR 306 junction | Dec. 1 to April 1 |
The Forest Service's directions to Rainbow Gulch start right in town. Take Baldwin Street, which becomes Rampart Range Road, then Teller County Road 22. Turn right on Loy Creek Road, then right again onto FSR 300 to reach the Rainbow Gulch parking area. Both trail pages were last updated in 2025, so they describe the routes in general, not this week's conditions on the ground.
The Forest Service's winter closure order for Road 300 applies to motor vehicles only. It covers the stretch of Rampart Range Road that starts at the gate in Garden of the Gods and ends where it meets the reservoir road. The order runs every winter through April 1, 2027, unless it is rescinded, and firefighters on duty are exempt.
Last fall, the burn was right at the trailhead
This is not the first fire work at Rampart, and it may not be the last. In September 2025, KRDO reported a planned prescribed burn of about 460 acres in Rainbow Gulch, directly west of the reservoir and Forest Service Road 300. The burn was set to start Sept. 22, 2025. Its stated goals were to improve forest conditions and habitat and to lower the risk of a destructive wildfire to municipal watersheds and nearby communities.
Machine work started before that. FOX21 reported in February 2025 that the Rampart Reservoir Fuels Reduction Project began mechanized thinning in January 2025 and was expected to continue through summer 2026. The goals included lowering severe-fire risk, protecting watersheds and wildlife habitat, and cutting back mountain pine beetle infestations. Before that, an earlier Forest Service project treated about 200 acres of burned forest on the reservoir's south side, in the Waldo Canyon Fire area, using mechanical thinning and mastication.
The watershed is the reason the forest around Rampart keeps getting this attention. Colorado Springs Utilities calls Rampart its largest reservoir. Rampart stores water from the utility's high-mountain systems and feeds the Tesla Hydro Power Plant before the water goes on to treatment. The utility's page also notes that the Forest Service manages recreation there. In its Courier statement this fall, the Forest Service called the burn "part of a much larger effort to strategically reduce wildfire risk to communities and infrastructure."
Taken together, this work has followed a pattern for two falls in a row. Rampart's late season, after the recreation area's listed season ends and while the road is still open, falls in the same weeks fire crews use for burning.
Checking before you drive out
The Forest Service says it sends email notices and posts updates on Facebook at @PSICCNF and X at @PSICC_NF when burn days are scheduled. The Pikes Peak Ranger District takes questions at 719-636-1602. Those accounts are the quickest way to know whether a free Saturday at Rainbow Gulch falls on a burn day.
Teller and El Paso counties use Peak Alerts for public-safety warnings about threats to people or property. You can register up to five addresses and choose texts, calls, email or the app. The system is not described as a routine prescribed-burn notice service, so the Forest Service accounts are the better feed for this project.
If smoke rises over the ridge, the Forest Service asks people not to call 911, "since a prescribed burn is not an emergency." It also says crews will monitor and patrol the area until the fires are completely out.
For the smoke itself, the release points to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment's wildfire smoke page. CDPHE's guidance covers checking current air quality and staying indoors when possible. It also covers wearing a properly fitted N95 outdoors, and closing windows and setting the HVAC to recirculate with suitable filters to keep smoke out. The page lists people with heart or lung conditions, children, older adults, pregnant people and outdoor workers among the groups more sensitive to smoke. The Courier brief adds that CDPHE advises people near the burn to reduce exposure, protect indoor air and check the air quality index.
A November trip to Rampart now comes down to three checks. Look at the PSICC feed for a burn day, look at the air quality, and go before Dec. 1, when the road closes to cars until spring.
Ruthie Grainger's family has been in the Pikes Peak corridor for generations, and the forest roads east of town are part of the place she knows best. If you own a home on this side of Woodland Park and wonder what it's worth this season, Gold District Realty can start you with an Instant Property Valuation and a conversation with someone who knows the road out to the reservoir.
