Colorado Parks and Wildlife is encouraging outdoor recreationists to use the Colorado Trail Explorer mobile app, or COTREX, to check active fire alerts before heading out on trails.

Because of the recent increase in fire activity in Colorado, COTREX is temporarily increasing the frequency of wildfire updates from once a day to once an hour to keep the public informed about active conditions around the state.

The COTREX app is a free app that provides trail information across local, state and federal agencies. More than 236 land managers have contributed data on 45,076 miles of trail across the state, according to CPW.

COTREX also works with land managers, parks and open spaces to ensure that the information on the platform comes from a reliable, trusted source.

CPW says that more than 36 agency partners use the COTREX app to post real-time advisories, including wildfire closures, safety hazards and other essential trail alerts.

COTREX also lists wildfire and prescribed burn alerts from sources like Inciweb and the National Interagency Fire Center. Alerts will automatically appear on the website and app, providing descriptions, boundaries and links to additional resources when available.

Users can also use the app to plan routes, view allowed-use types such as hiking, biking and OHV, download offline maps and see trip recommendations from participating partners around the state.