Colorado Parks and Wildlife is well known for the management of the state’s 42 parks and applications for hunting and fishing licenses — which requires awareness of sometimes competing interests.
In recent years, two shooting ranges in the state have been established as State Recreation Areas managed by CPW, so that people who want to practice shooting guns will have a contained place for the sport.
“Sport shooting has a huge following,” said Scott Roush, Northeast Region deputy regional manager for CPW, in a recent telephone interview. “It’s not just picking up a gun, popping off rounds. In a controlled atmosphere, there are classes, hunter education, and someone can learn how to shoot a pistol, a rifle, or a shotgun in a safe environment.”
Colorado Clays Shooting Park in Brighton, which CPW purchased in 2021 from a private owner, is in Roush’s region.
“That was spurred on by everything happening on the Front Range, with people going up to the forest and shooting where there are so many doing different things going on,” he said, explaining that outdoor recreationists might be on U.S. Forest Service land to hike or snowshoe where someone else decides to do some target practice. “We were making sure we still had a safe shooting range.”
The effort also involved the participation of the Northern Front Range Recreational Sport Shooting Management Partnership, whose purpose is to “provide safe, responsible and accessible sport shooting opportunities while addressing conflicts near residential areas with other recreation users.”
Since purchasing Colorado Clays, CPW has invested in infrastructure such as a paved road and updated restroom facilities. In 2022 and 2023, it was operated under a concession agreement; in 2024, a new operating plan will be implemented as other improvements are assessed.
At Colorado Clays, competitive and recreational shooters can practice their aim with sporting clays, skeet and trap, using both rifles and pistols. A semi-indoor range is easy to walk to with targets set up for rifles or pistols, or golf carts can be used to take visitors out back where there are various setups for different skills and interests to practice shooting clays. A small creek runs through the property; bridges lead to additional target areas.
Fees at Colorado Clays vary based on the number of targets, golf cart rental, shotgun rental, and other factors. Eye and ear protection are a must and if you don’t bring your own, prepare to buy some in their store before being permitted to do any target practice.
A second State Recreation Area for sport shooting is on the Western Slope. The Cameo Shooting and Education Complex just outside of Palisade is located on land that was previously a coal mine and coal-fired power plant. CPW spent years working with other entities for approval of this complex.
The area includes both shooting and archery ranges, and will be expanded in phases to include classrooms, a wetlands riparian ecology study area, a botanical garden, and educational displays. Currently, fundraising is underway to achieve these expansion goals.
Another shooting range is located in Cherry Creek State Park. Roush explained that it had been designated as a State Recreation Area too, until it became a state park with mixed recreational use. Family Shooting Range at Cherry Creek State Park has pistol, shotgun, and rifle range areas with safety classes available to all user levels. There are also archery targets there; pistols, rifles and shotguns can be rented.
“People may never go hunting, but they want to learn how to shoot in a safe environment,” said Roush. “That’s what these public areas offer, is learning how to handle the gun safely and how does what I do affect other people?”
For CPW to manage these State Recreation Areas, employees must be attuned to the balance of preservation and recreation in the state. “This is the latter, and we’re not just looking at shooting; it’s a recreation type of thing,” Roush said. “Hunter education classes are open to everyone and they learn, here’s a safe way of handling things, a safe way to act in the woods, species identification, and it gives you that education.”
