Off-Highway Vehicle Grants

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Grant Program is a state-managed funding initiative dedicated to enhancing off-highway motorized recreation throughout Colorado. The program has operated for over 35 years, distributing over $93 million in funding to date. It is primarily funded through registration fees from OHV users and supplemented by federal Recreational Trails Program (RTP) dollars. The program’s core objective is to improve access, safety, and environmental sustainability of public OHV trails while simultaneously supporting economic vitality in local communities and stewardship efforts among users. This grant program supports two main project types: Competitive Grants and Good Management Grants. Competitive Grants are open to a broad range of eligible applicants and can fund a wide scope of OHV-related activities, including construction, rehabilitation, trail signage, OHV safety education programs, law enforcement equipment, and land acquisition. In contrast, Good Management Grants are available exclusively to pre-approved OHV trail crews operating under federal or state agencies and are designed to fund consistent, annual maintenance of high-use OHV areas. Eligible applicants for Competitive Grants include local, county, state, federal, and tribal government agencies, special recreation districts, and nonprofit organizations registered as 501(c)(3) under the Internal Revenue Code. Good Management Grants, however, are limited to named, existing OHV trail crews operating under entities such as the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Colorado State Parks. Both grant categories require applicants to demonstrate alignment with Colorado Revised Statutes 33-14.5-106, emphasizing responsible use, protection of natural resources, and enhancement of recreational opportunities. Applications open annually in October and must be submitted by early December. For the 2025–2026 grant cycle, applications closed on December 6, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Key milestones include public comment on submitted projects from December 27, 2024, through January 31, 2025, and multiple review stages including wildlife impact evaluations, subcommittee meetings, and final recommendations presented at the Parks and Wildlife Commission meeting in May 2025. Award and non-award letters are issued in mid-June 2025, with contract initiation and fund disbursement occurring between fall 2025 and spring 2026. Over the 2025–2026 cycle, CPW awarded a total of 56 grants with $6.77 million in allocations, funding over 88,000 trail crew hours across the state. The program is not currently accepting applications, but it is expected to reopen in October 2025. Applications are posted online and undergo public review, with stakeholder input encouraged throughout the process. Grant guidelines and application instructions are available in downloadable PDFs on CPW’s website, with separate guidance for Competitive and Good Management applicants. For questions related to the program, applicants are directed to contact the State Trails Program at Colorado Parks and Wildlife by phone at 303-791-1957 or via email at trails@state.co.us. Additional resources and historical project summaries are available online, and applicants are encouraged to refer to these materials when preparing submissions.