Booby Traps Found On Popular Trail In Pike National Forest
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. (CBS4) - The search is on for more booby traps on a popular Colorado trail after the U.S. Forest Service discovered a spike strip buried in a trail bed.
The warning is out for those who use the Rampart Range trails in the Pike National Forest southwest of Denver. The Forest Service now has the tough job finding the person responsible.
The Forest Service says they have no suspects and no leads in the case.
Last week several motorcyclists were along a Rampart Range trail when they lost their way and ran over a spike strip. Right now it's such a major problem that some people say they have to worry about worse problems than just blown tires.
"Come up here and bury something that could potentially kill somebody if they slipped and fell on it or crashed into it," Sedalia resident Keifer Jacobson said.
"Someone could really have gotten hurt," Chris Strebig with the Forest Service said.
Strebig said the strip is about a foot wide with large nails sticking out of it. Several biker blogs reported flat tires on bikes, and one rider suffered an ankle injury after falling. Strebig says it could have been worse.
"Riding, or even running, or even walking, it's something you could have accidentally stepped on," he said.
Jacobson has lived near the trail for years. He said some locals are very protective of the area and he learned that lesson first hand two years ago while dirt biking with a friend.
"Someone had hung barbed wire across the trees and he (his friend) caught it in the throat and it almost killed him," Jacobson said.
Camper Jim Clark said he's worried about his son's ATV rides in the area.
"You come up here and you enjoy yourself in the mountains, relax and have a good time, and then people start sabotaging stuff," Clark said.
The Forest Service said there have been other unconfirmed reports of booby traps in the area.
The Forest Service said they are relying on the public's help and that anyone with information should give them a call.