Boggy Draw prescribed burn set for Sunday, will treat 1,200 acres

Smoke, trail closures and road detours are coming to Boggy Draw this weekend as crews burn about 1,212 acres to blunt summer wildfire risk before the busiest outdoor season begins. Hikers, bikers and drivers heading toward the Dolores trail network should expect access changes while crews work the prescribed fire and secure the area.

The Boggy Draw Prescribed Fire Area Closure runs from April 19 through May 2 and closes a section of the Boggy Draw Trail System during prescribed fire operations. The closure covers National Forest System lands, roads and trails in the Dolores Ranger District, including NFSR 257.A, 527.C, 405 and 527.B, along with Boggy Lower Loop, Little Bean Canyon, Boggy Draw Trail, Pa Ya, Shush Beekah, McNeil West and McNeil East. Lorena Williams is listed as the contact for the closure.

The current project is part of a larger 4,107-acre Boggy Draw prescribed fire about 4 to 8 miles northeast of Dolores in Montezuma County, along NFSR 526 and 527. For Sunday’s work, Montezuma County says crews will focus on Units 25A-C using both aerial and hand ignitions, with the burn expected to take one to two days if conditions and smoke limitations cooperate. The San Juan National Forest says prescribed fire work across the forest will continue through the spring as weather allows.

For San Juan County residents and anyone traveling through the Four Corners region, smoke may be visible around Mancos, Dolores, Dove Creek, Cortez and Highway 491 between Dove Creek and Pleasant View. It may also settle into low-lying valleys and the Dolores River Canyon overnight, which could affect driving visibility and outdoor plans after dark and early in the morning.

Forest managers say the burn is meant to do more than clear brush. The San Juan National Forest uses prescribed fire on all three districts to reduce overgrown vegetation, protect communities, infrastructure and natural resources from wildfire, and restore ponderosa pine ecosystems. In Boggy Draw, the work is also aimed at reducing wildfire risk to private lands and municipal water supplies, thinning dense ponderosa pine stands and lowering the chance of a stand-replacing fire or a bark beetle outbreak.

Boggy Draw has been treated before. Crews burned about 1,130 acres there in 2024, and a 2023 operation covered 1,376 acres with more than 70 firefighters, a helicopter and a drone supporting the work. That repeated use underscores why the area remains a priority for fuel reduction, and why the closures this weekend are designed to be temporary while the fire-risk benefits are intended to last much longer.