Is There Really A Private Airport In Glade Park, Colorado?

From the Potholes on the Little Dolores to hiking the Blackridge Canyons Wilderness area, there's always something new to find in Glade Park, Colorado. If you keep your eyes peeled, you might even discover the airport.

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Wait, there is an airport in Glade Park? Technically, yes. It's more of a landing strip. However, it's private, and you are required to get permission before you are allowed to land there.

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Glade Park's Pinyon Airport

How cool is this Cessna 180 landing posted by Sam Seibold on YouTube? It's a couple of years old, but it gives one of the best views of the landing strip found online. In the video above, we can see the plane set down nice and easy on the all-dirt runway at Glade Park's Pinyon Airport.

If the airstrip kept going, the plane would roll right past Glade Park's 'busiest' intersection at DS and 16 & 1/2 Roads (seen on the map below).

History of the Airstrip

Runway 5/23 at Pinyon Airport is visible on Google Earth and Google Maps. It opened in January of 1992 for private use with the FAA identifier CO43. Western Colorado can thank Daryl D. Monroe for the Pinyon airstrip, which is built on the Monroe family property. Daryl and his wife Alice shared a love for flying, naming their property 'Wing and a Prayer.'

Daryl worked with the Lower Valley Fire Department, Mesa County Sheriff's Department, Search and Rescue, was a member of the St. Mary's Flight for Life Team, and the Medical Captain at Glade Park Volunteer Fire.

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You Never Know Who Is Landing in Glade Park

For 30 years, the landing strip was used for general aviation, recreational flights, and a few VIP charters. According to Beacon News, the most famous landing to take place at the Pinyon Airstrip may have been the 2012 visit from Barack Obama, who used the airstrip during a visit to Grand Junction.

The Monroe family told the Beacon that Obama's South Carolina National Guard camped out at the airstrip for eight days ahead of the visit for security.