I did the DOT in a supported style starting at York Street Pavilion and went clockwise. In planning for this effort, I had to ensure that I am following all the official opening and closing hours for all the sections. I researched each section to identify the operating/maintaining agency what their opening and closing hours are for the different sections of the trail. In many cases where there isn't a clearly posted information on physical signs or online, I had to dig through the agency to get those times. The following are the different opening and closing times for each of the section to the best of my knowledge at the time of this writing.
- Section 1: 1 hr before sunrise - 1 hr after sunset
- Section 2: 1 hr before sunrise - 1 hr after sunset
- Section 3: 6:00 - 22:00
- Section 4: 6:00 - 22:00
- Section 5: 1 hr before sunrise - 1 hr after sunset
- Section 6: 1 hr before sunrise - 1 hr after sunset
- Section 7: 5:00 - 22:00
- Section 8: 1 hr before sunrise - 1 hr after sunset
- Section 9: 1 hr before sunrise - 1 hr after sunset
- Section 10: 1 hr before sunrise - 1 hr after sunset
- Section 11: 1 hr before sunrise - 1 hr after sunset
- Section 12: Open throughout
- Section 13: 5:00 - 22:00
- Section 14: 5:00 - 23:00
- Section 15: dawn - dusk
- Section 16: sunrise - sunset
- Section 17: dawn - dusk
- Section 18: sunrise - sunset
- Section 19: 5:00 - 23:00
- Section 20: sunrise - sunset
- Section 21: 5:00 - 23:00
- Section 22: 6:00 - 23:00
- Section 23: sunrise - 23:00
- Section 24: sunrise - 23:00
- Section 25: sunrise - 23:00
- Section 26: sunrise - sunset
- Section 27: dawn - dusk
- Section 28: 1 hr before sunrise - 1 hr after sunset
If a section is operated by multiple agencies, I used the latest opening and earliest closing times. Others attempting to set this FKT maybe able to break it down into smaller sections which allows for a better window to run these sections but requires a lot more planning. They may also need to double check with the agencies to confirm the times.
There were three locations where I had to detour from the official GPX route - two for trail construction, once because there is a show happening in Red Rocks and I could not go through the amphitheater. None of the detours gave me any extra benefit, in fact they added about a mile or so total extra distance.
I would like to acknowledge the huge logistical, moral, pacing, and morale support my crew of ~30 friends provided for me on this. I could not have done it without them. I had pacers for all but ~25 miles of the route. My crew helped with resupply's along the way at road crossings and other logical places, in some cases more than once per section.
I would also like to thank the people who created the DOT for the amazing work they did. This route can go faster for sure. I would love to help anyone interested in attempting it with any planning and preparation - please reach out.