On May 22, 2026, Larimer County opened the last missing piece of the Poudre River Trail. That piece runs about a mile between south Timnath and north Windsor and includes a bridge over the Greeley No. 2 Canal. Connell Resources built it. With that segment finished, you can travel 45 continuous miles from Bellvue to Greeley, passing through Fort Collins, Timnath and Windsor along the way.
Four months later, on September 29, the City of Greeley announced a gap. Construction on the Narrows section starts at the end of November, is expected to take several months, and closes that stretch of trail the whole time. So the trail will be continuous for one summer and one fall before it splits again for the winter. The split lands in Greeley, at the stretch the city itself calls one of the trail's most beautiful.
Where the Narrows Actually Is
According to the city, the Narrows runs east of 83rd Avenue through Signature Bluffs Natural Area. Heading out from the Poudre Learning Center, the trail bends north just past 83rd Avenue and then runs between sandstone bluffs and the river toward the Signature Bluffs trailhead. The two trailheads at either end are the Poudre Learning Center, at County Road 62 and 83rd Avenue, and Signature Bluffs Natural Area, at 71st Avenue and County Road 29.
The simplest way to picture the closure is the stretch between the Learning Center and Signature Bluffs. That's well west of Island Grove and 59th Avenue, so the downtown-side trail isn't part of this project.
The city's description explains why this stretch needs the work:
"This portion of the trail travels through sandstone bluffs on one side and the Poudre River on the other. While this section is one of the most beautiful sections of the trail, it is also one of the most threatened because of these features."
The scenery and the damage come from the same thing. A bluff on one side and moving water on the other leave the trail very little room.
Why the River Keeps Taking the Bank
The city's explanation starts long before the trail was built. The Poudre was straightened and confined to make way for development. A straighter river is a steeper river, and a steeper river carries water faster and with more force. That faster water cuts deeper into the ground, cuts the river off from its natural floodplain, and puts more stress on the banks. The banks erode, and the trail gets undercut.
The Narrows isn't the first place the city has dealt with this. A study of the trail corridor, finished in 2019, weighed repairing, replacing or rerouting the trail wherever erosion was happening. In 2025 the city completed one of the high-priority bank projects, east of 71st Avenue. That project built a floodplain bench, installed erosion control features, armored the bank with riprap and moved the trail farther from the river.
The Narrows plan takes a different approach. The trail stays where it is. The city will widen the bench the trail sits on and build a retaining wall on the river side to protect the bank. The tread will go from 6 feet wide to 12.
| East of 71st Ave. | The Narrows | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Completed in 2025 | Construction starts end of November 2026 |
| Trail alignment | Moved farther from the river | Stays in its current alignment |
| Bank work | Floodplain bench, erosion controls, riprap | Widened bench, river-side retaining wall |
| Trail width | Not specified | Widened from 6 ft to 12 ft |
The city doesn't say why it chose a different method here. The table shows the difference anyway. East of 71st, there was room to pull the trail back from the water. In the Narrows, the plan holds the trail in place between the bluffs and builds up the river side instead.
The trail will also change in daily use. At 6 feet wide, a stroller and a cyclist going opposite directions fill most of the path. At 12 feet, the Narrows will be as wide as a two-lane path. The city says the wider trail will "significantly improve the comfort and safety of trail users."
What the Greeley Trail Looks Like With a Gap in It
The September notice doesn't include a detour. It asks trail users to plan for the closure and to watch city updates and the signs at trail access points for closure dates, duration and access. Until those details come out, it helps to think of the Greeley portion as two pieces, with the Narrows between them.
Here are the Greeley-area access points in order, from downtown heading west:
- Island Grove Park, at 14th Avenue and D Street.
- Poudre Ponds, at 35th Avenue.
- Rover Run Dog Park, at 5207 F Street near 59th Avenue, with a three-acre fenced dog area. The Sheep Draw Trail meets the Poudre River Trail just east of 59th Avenue and north of F Street, coming from Two Rivers Community Park and the FunPlex.
- Signature Bluffs Natural Area, at 71st Avenue and County Road 29, with parking and a restroom. This is the east end of the Narrows.
- Poudre Learning Center, at County Road 62 and 83rd Avenue. This is the west end of the Narrows.
Everything from Island Grove to Signature Bluffs is east of the project. If your usual loop starts at Rover Run or Poudre Ponds and turns around before 71st Avenue, the published plans don't put it inside the construction zone. The Sheep Draw connection gives you a separate out-and-back from Two Rivers Community Park, but nothing published describes it as a way around the Narrows.
The trips that get cut are the ones that cross the bluffs. That includes a ride from Signature Bluffs west to the Learning Center, and any longer ride toward Windsor and Fort Collins that starts in Greeley. The 45-mile route Larimer County celebrated in May will pause at this one spot until construction ends.
A few other conditions were already posted before the September announcement. As of the Poudre River Trail Corridor's July 2026 trail alerts, the Island Grove trail spur return was closed until further notice. The section west of the Poudre Learning Center ran through an active construction area, with changing conditions and temporary closures. That same page said the Narrows "may have limited access through the summer of 2026." The city's September 29 notice, with its late-November start, is the newer schedule.
Who Is Doing the Work, and Who Keeps the Trail Running
This project belongs to the City of Greeley. Day-to-day care of the trail in this area goes back to Poudre River Trail Corridor, Inc., a nonprofit whose board includes representatives from Greeley, Windsor and Weld County. Through its government partnership, the nonprofit supports staff who maintain and improve the trail. Larimer County and Fort Collins manage other sections of the regional route. That's why the May completion news came from Larimer County and the Narrows news came from Greeley. These are different stretches of one trail, run by different partners.
For closure information, the Corridor's alerts page calls Colorado Trail Explorer, or COTREX, "by far the best and up-to-date source of trail closure information." COTREX is available at trails.colorado.gov and as a phone app. The city's trails staff can be reached at 970-350-9205 or [email protected].
The Dates on the Calendar So Far
- Thursday, October 1, 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Community open house at the Poudre Learning Center InSTEM Building, 8313 N Poudre River Rd. City staff will cover the stabilization project, expected neighborhood impacts, the trail closure, wildfire prevention and mitigation, and vegetation management in natural areas.
- End of November. Construction begins in the Narrows, and the section closes.
- Several months after that. The city's estimate for how long construction will take. There's no reopening date yet.
The city has also said that nearby residential neighborhoods may see temporary construction traffic. The open house is the first chance to ask in person which streets the crews will use.
When the Narrows reopens, you'll find the same path in the same place between the bluffs and the river, now 12 feet wide with a retaining wall on the river side.
The trails near your home are a big part of daily life in Greeley, and our team keeps up with the projects that affect them. If you're thinking about a move and want to know how the Poudre River Trail fits a particular street or neighborhood, call or email Kimberly Tutor and our Arvada team today. Let's make your house a home.
