New Runway Project Completed at Jackson County Airport

New changes have been happening at this little airport in the Rockies

 For the last several months, the Jackson County Airport has been offline while undergoing renovations to the runway. After a complete rebuild, the airport is now back online and better than ever. Yet there is still a lot left to do. 

Jackson County Airport is a general aviation airport located about a mile north of Walden, CO, sitting at an elevation of 8154 ft above sea level. As a general aviation airport with a single paved runway (there is also a turf runway), the location is free to use by aviators. The runway is open 24 hours a day, seven days per week and is free to use—no landing fees!

The airport has no tower and flights in and out are not monitored. As long as the runway can accommodate the needs of your aircraft, you are free to take off and land. There are several tie-downs to use free of charge for aircraft and some of the privately owned hangars do offer rentals. Right now there is no time limit for use, providing access for both short-term and long-term stays.

Many local users have private hangars that permanently house their aircraft here. Visitors in private planes often bring hunters, outdoor enthusiasts, and even part-time residents coming back to enjoy their second home. Talk about a great way to avoid mountain traffic!

A Little Airport with Many Functions

The airport is used by instructors training future pilots as it offers a great location to clock in some flight time with touch-and-go landings and high altitude landings. In the summertime, the airport has often been used by glider pilots, ultralights, and other experimental aircraft, taking advantage of clear blue skies and warm air currents created by the heat of the intermountain basin.

During wildfire season, firefighting helicopters are usually based at the airport. Because of North Park’s remoteness, visitors and locals often rely on Flight for Life for critical first response in life-threatening situations the local clinic can’t address. Both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are used for extraction to larger trauma units throughout the year.

The US Geological Survey uses the airport for a base of operation with its unique helicopters that take a variety of measurements of the terrain with specialized instruments for research purposes. 

A Safe Harbor in the Mountains

Due to its remote location, the airport has remained essential to visiting pilots, especially in case of emergency landings. During bad weather, the airport is often a refuge from sudden storms and a place to make an emergency layover until the weather blows over. 

In the late 1980s a vintage WW2 Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter plane made an emergency landing to wait out a sudden spring flurry before heading back out over the mountains. North Park is no stranger to providing a safe harbor to aviators. In the 1920s, the first airplane to land in Jackson County arrived to wait out a storm and make repairs. You can see a photo of the event at the North Park Pioneer Museum, as well as a piece of the broken propeller on display. 

Having a reliable location to land for pilots is crucial to their safety, especially in smaller aircraft.

Did you Know?

The northern Rocky Mountains have posed a challenge to aviators since almost the beginning of powered flight. Mountain ranges bring with them unique weather conditions, temperature variation, windshear, and sudden changes in elevation. The mountains of Colorado are littered with hundreds of crash sites, from private planes to military aircraft. 

About 50 miles from Walden—as the crow flies—the wreckage of a B-17 Flying Fortress that went down during a snowstorm during World War 2 can still be found by hikers.

What Has Been Happening at the Airport

Over the years, the harsh weather conditions and wear and tear from aircraft have taken their toll on the airport. In order to retain this important element of North Park’s infrastructure, Jackson County has been working hard to obtain grants for funding to make this renovation project a reality. For the last four years, Airport Manager, Samantha Martin, has been working diligently with county commissioners to address the problem of renovating the airport.

The need for this airport is obvious in how it is used by aviators, not just for private use, but also serving the region in safety and science. The importance of renovating the airport outweighed the expense. Some locals opposed to the airport were in favor of just abandoning the site and letting the sagebrush reclaim it. Thankfully, the airport was too important for that to be an option.

The project is grant funded with the majority of contributions coming from the State of Colorado. So far, grant money from the Division of Aeronautics has made up the brunt of funding at just over $4.6 million. The Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) has contributed another one million dollars, and Jackson County has added another $100,000 to the project. The combined total for renovation costs is $5.613 million.

The renovation project for the airport includes a four step design plan:
1. Runway
2. Lighting
3. Apron
4. Tea-cup turn arounds

Due to the massive expense of the project, so far the biggest and most important priority—the runway—is the only phase that has been completed. As repairs on the runway were no longer possible, the entirety of the aging runway was torn out and rebuilt from the ground up. 

The DOLA grant expires in May of 2027 and the Division of Aeronautics grant will expire in June 2028. Future grants and expenditures will address these concerns as well as the other remaining factors of the design plan. But for now, the most important element of the plan has been addressed and the airport is once again open for general use.

Martin says, “It took a team to get us here. I had an amazing engineering company. United did the work and they were phenomenal to work with. Couldn’t be happier! And we’re just so grateful to the Division of Aeronautics and to DOLA for seeing the value in this project and granting us the money. We wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise.”

A Work In Progress

As of this time, runway lights are currently at 60%, which might not be ideal for night time landings. In upcoming years, Martin says she hopes that CDOT’s Division of Aeronautics can bring that number closer to completion. At the time of this article, the project was 95% complete and the remainder of finishing touches on the runway such as final painting and some repairs on the lighting all depend on the cooperation of the weather. Completion for the season was anticipated to be around Oct 15, 2025.

• FBO: Unfortunately the airport has no Fixed Base of Operations (FBO) at this time. You’ll have to come into Walden for a lounge, cafés, and other facilities. A restroom is available on premises, but only from May to mid-October due to possible freezing.
• Fuel: Currently, nobody has yet been contracted to provide fueling services at the airport but Martin says the County is working towards finding a solution to remedy that in the near future. Plans to procure a courtesy car are also in the works as a way for visitors to access town while using the airport.
• Hangar use: For long-term stays and semi-permanent use, local and CDOT Division of Aeronautics rep, Kent Holsinger often provides hangar space rental. The County also provides options for users to enter a ground-lease agreement where Jackson County leases out the land and the owner/operator builds and maintains ownership of the hangar structure.
• Plowing and Maintenance during winter: Though Jackson County Road and Bridge and County Maintenance tag team to ensure runway conditions are clear throughout the winter months, winter storms are no joke. Pilots should rely on weather reports and their training to determine whether or not to risk travel during extreme weather conditions.
• Weather cam: A webcam with a view of the runway provided by Jim Moore from his hangar gives real-time views of weather conditions. Don’t let the weather surprise you on your next visit! 

For now, completing the initial design plan is the focus of the airport project, but Martin says she hopes renovations increase traffic to the airport and the demands for these kinds of services can be addressed.

More to Know about the Jackson County Airport

For more information on the Jackson County Airport, visit their website. During regular business hours 8:00am-5:00pm, Monday-Friday, contact Airport Manager and County Administrator, Samantha Martin at 970.723.4660.

Outside of business hours, call the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office at 970.723.4242 or dial 911 in case or emergency.

For Your Next Adventure…

If you are a pilot or have access to an aircraft, you might skip the busy and expensive airports when it comes to your next adventure. Hunters, anglers, and outdoorsmen have been flying into North Park for generations. It’s a cozy location with enough runway for small single engine aircraft and even smaller private jet aircraft. With ease of access, no landing fees, and just outside of Walden, CO you might find the Jackson County Airport is just what you have been looking for!

Now that the runway renovation has been completed, chart a course for this out of the way location that brings you right into the heart of the Rocky Mountains. From students and instructors, to seasoned pilots looking for a place to set down, you’ll find this airport is a welcome sight on any trip over the Rockies. You might find yourself touching down and staying for a while. 

Special thanks go out to Shahn G. Sederberg for use of photos.