COTREX fire alerts help Las Animas County hikers avoid danger

COTREX, Colorado's official trails app, now carries active fire alerts, closures and advisories as wildfires keep burning across Colorado and bordering states. Those notices can change a trip before anyone pulls away from Trinidad or heads into the foothills.

COTREX, short for Colorado Trail Explorer, maps trails statewide using data from more than 230 trail managers. The app shows up-to-date trail closures, advisories and wildfire alerts, with wildfire and prescribed-burn notices drawn from InciWeb and the National Interagency Fire Center. The wildfire-alert feature was added in 2024 as a summer safety tool, and trail pages can show when fire activity is affecting a route.

In Las Animas County, people heading toward state parks, public lands and the county’s backcountry can lose cell service fast. CPW manages 42 state parks, and COTREX puts closures and fire notices in the same place users are already checking routes.

On July 8, the Colorado State Forest Service listed multiple wildfires burning in Colorado and bordering states, including the Willow Fire, Snyder Fire, Gold Mountain Fire, Ferris Fire and Aspen Acres Fire. In June, the Bear Fire north of Trinidad prompted evacuations near County Road 78.9 and Bear Springs Trail, and it covered roughly 90 to 125 acres during the first day of the incident before crews lifted evacuations the next day.

Colorado health officials have also warned that wildfire smoke and wildfire behavior are unpredictable, and smoke advisories have already covered parts of south-central and southwestern Colorado this season.