Colo. Rev. Stat. § 33-41-104

Current through Chapter 519 of the 2024 Legislative Session and Chapter 2 of the 2024 First Extraordinary Session
Section 33-41-104 - When liability is not limited - warning signage - trespassers
(1) Nothing in this article limits in any way any liability which would otherwise exist:
(a) For willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against a known dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity likely to cause harm;
(b) For injury suffered by any person in any case where the owner of land charges the person who enters or goes on the land for the recreational use thereof; except that, in case of land leased to a public entity or in which a public entity has been granted an easement or other rights to use land for recreational purposes any consideration received by the owner for such lease, easement, or other right shall not be deemed a charge within the meaning of this article nor shall any consideration received by an owner from any federal governmental agency for the purpose of admitting any person constitute such a charge;
(c) For maintaining an attractive nuisance; except that, if the property used for public recreational purposes contains mining operations that were abandoned or left in an inadequate reclamation status as provided in section 33-41-103 (2)(e)(II) or was constructed or is used for or in connection with the diversion, storage, conveyance, or use of water, the property and the water or abandoned mining operations within such property shall not constitute an attractive nuisance;
(d) For injury received on land incidental to the use of land on which a commercial or business enterprise of any description is being carried on; except that in the case of land leased to a public entity for recreational purposes or in which a public entity has been granted an easement or other rights to use land for recreational purposes, such land shall not be considered to be land upon which a business or commercial enterprise is being carried on.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(a) of this section, in the event that an individual who lawfully enters land at a primary access point is injured or killed on the land by a known dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity that is likely to cause harm, the owner does not commit a willful or malicious failure to guard or warn against the known dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity likely to cause harm if:
(a) Prior to the injury or death, the owner posts a sign at the primary access point where the individual entered the land, which sign:
(I) Includes the following text:

WARNING!

YOU ARE ENTERING THIS LAND FOR RECREATIONAL PURPOSES. IF YOU LEAVE THE DESIGNATED TRAIL, ROUTE, AREA, OR ROADWAY, YOU WILL BE DEEMED TRESPASSING. THERE ARE INHERENT DANGERS AND RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH USING THIS LAND THAT MAY CAUSE SERIOUS INJURY OR DEATH, INCLUDING CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS; OPEN AND OBVIOUS VARIATIONS IN STEEPNESS, SURFACE CONDITIONS, AND CONSISTENCY OF TERRAIN, SUCH AS FOREST GROWTH, ROCKS, STUMPS, WATERWAYS, STREAMBEDS, CLIFFS, EXTREME TERRAIN, AND TREES; WILDLIFE; AND MINING OR AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITIES, STRUCTURES, REMNANTS, EQUIPMENT, OR OPERATIONS.

(II) Is at least:
(A) Eight inches in width and ten inches in length; or
(B) Eight inches in length and ten inches in width; and
(III) Is posted in a location and manner that makes the sign visible to an individual at the primary access point;
(b) The owner maintains photographic or other evidence of each such sign; and
(c) The dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity that caused the injury or death is described by the sign.
(3) Any known dangerous condition, use, structure, or activity likely to cause harm that is not described by the sign is not covered by subsection (2) of this section and remains subject to the provisions of subsection (1)(a) of this section.
(4) An individual who accesses land for recreational purposes shall stay on the designated recreational trail, route, area, or roadway unless the owner expressly allows otherwise. An individual who leaves a designated recreational trail, route, area, or roadway is deemed to be trespassing.

C.R.S. § 33-41-104

Amended by 2024 Ch. 27,§ 3, eff. 8/7/2024.
L. 69: R&RE, p. 412, § 1. C.R.S. 1963: § 62-4-4. L. 88: (1)(b) and (1)(d) amended, p. 1182, § 3, effective May 29. L. 97: (1)(c) amended, p. 54, § 5, effective March 21. L. 2006: (1)(c) amended, p. 21, § 2, effective March 8.
2024 Ch. 27, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).