Please join Trails 2000 for Trailwork on Wednesday, May 9, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. on Big Canyon Trail. All weekend warriors, trail blazers, wanderers and trail lovers alike are invited to come volunteer for trail maintenance and give back to the trail. No experience is necessary for trailwork, and Trails 2000 will provide the necessary instruction and safety tool talk, all tools, gloves, and water and snacks for the entire crew.
Trails 2000 Trailwork Party
When: Wednesday, May 9, 2018, 4:00 – 6:30 p.m.; please come for as much or as little time as your can. Where/Directions: Big Canyon Trail, meet at the Big Canyon Trailhead off Highway 550/160; from Durango, take Hwy 550/160 south (Camino del Rio) to Dominguez Drive (intersection at Walmart) and turn left onto Dominguez Drive. At the stop sign, turn left and follow the road to the Big Canyon parking lot where you will see the Trails 2000 truck parked. Sign in at the work truck for directions and details. What to wear: Volunteers should wear closed toe shoes or boots, long pants, shirt (long or short sleeved), sun hat, sunscreen, and bring a water bottle and rain jacket (optional). Trails 2000 will provide all tools, instruction, water and snacks.
Trails 2000 will host public trailwork each Wednesday, as well as other announced days and times, throughout the trail season. Sign up for our FREE Trail Talk E-Newsletter in the upper right hand corner of our website for details and announcements.
Trails 2000 is pleased to invite volunteers to the 2018 Trailwork Kickoff Party on Wednesday, April 18, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. on Skyline Trail. All weekend warriors, trail blazers, wanderers and trail lovers alike are invited to come kick off the 2018 trail season. No experience is necessary for trailwork, and Trails 2000 will provide the necessary instruction and safety tool talk, all tools, gloves, and water and snacks for the entire crew.
Trails 2000 Trailwork Kickoff Party
When: Wednesday, April 18, 2018, 4:00 – 6:30 p.m.; please come for as much or as little time as your can. Where/Directions: Skyline Trail; meet at the Skyline Trailhead parking lot at the end of Jenkins Ranch Road. From Durango, take College Drive to 8th Avenue and continue straight through the stop light. College Drive turns into Goeglein Gulch Road; take this past the round-about to Jenkins Ranch Road. Take a right and drive down Jenkins Ranch Road to the end of the pavement, where the trailhead is located on the right. Sign in at the work truck for directions and details. What to wear: Volunteers should wear closed toe shoes or boots, long pants, shirt (long or short sleeved), sun hat, sunscreen, and bring a water bottle and rain jacket (optional). Trails 2000 will provide all tools, instruction, water and snacks.
Trails 2000 will host public trailwork each Wednesday, as well as other announced days and times, throughout the trail season. Sign up for our FREE Trail Talk E-Newsletter in the upper right hand corner of our website for details and announcements.
Trails 2000 invites volunteers to join us for a Year End Trailwork Party at Three Springs Trails on Friday, December 15, from 12:00 to 3:00 p.m. Come for FREE hot cocoa and candy canes! Volunteers should meet at the Trails 2000 work truck in Three Springs via the directions below. No experience is necessary, and all tools, instruction and safety, gloves, and water and snacks will be provided for the entire crew.
Trailwork at Three Springs Trails
When: Friday, December 15, 12:00 to 3:00 p.m.; please come for as much or as little time as you can. Where/Directions: From Durango, take US Highway 160 east and turn left onto Three Springs Blvd. Stay right at the first roundabout. At the second roundabout, turn right and follow the dirt road north for less than a mile. Stay right and cross a cattle guard. When you pass a red barn, turn right on the next dirt road. The Trails 2000 truck will be straight ahead where you can meet crews for details and instructions. What to Wear: Volunteers should wear closed toe shoes or boots, long pants, shirt (long or short sleeved), sun hat, sunscreen, and bring a water bottle and rain jacket (optional). Trails 2000 will provide all tools, instruction, water and snacks.
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Trails 2000 invites volunteers to Trailwork at Three Springs Trails on Thursday, December 7, from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. Volunteers should meet at the Trails 2000 work truck in Three Springs via the directions below. No experience is necessary, and all tools, instruction and safety, gloves, and water and snacks will be provided for the entire crew.
Trailwork at Three Springs Trails
When: Thursday, December 7, 12:00 to 4:00 p.m.; please come for as much or as little time as you can. Where/Directions: From Durango, take US Highway 160 east and turn left onto Three Springs Blvd. At the second roundabout, turn right and follow the dirt road north for less than a mile. After you cross a cattle guard and pass a red barn, turn right on the next dirt road. The Trails 2000 truck will be straight ahead where you can meet crews for details and instructions. What to Wear: Volunteers should wear closed toe shoes or boots, long pants, shirt (long or short sleeved), sun hat, sunscreen, and bring a water bottle and rain jacket (optional). Trails 2000 will provide all tools, instruction, water and snacks.
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Trails 2000 invites volunteers to Trailwork on Smokejumper’s Trail on Saturday, November 4, from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Come help build the new trail (learn more), which will start at the top of Skyline and run north from Raider Ridge. Volunteers should meet at the top of Skyline Trail (see two access options below); please note: it takes a bit of planning to get to the work site so plan accordingly. No experience is necessary, and Trails 2000 crews will be on site with all tools, instruction and safety tool talk, gloves, and water and snacks.
Trailwork on Smokejumper’s Trail
When: Saturday, November 4, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.; please come for as much or as little time as you can. Where/Directions: Meet at the top of the Skyline Trail; Two access options (please note: both options require a bit of planning to get to the work site):
Option 1: From the Skyridge Neighborhood, head up Skyline to the top, where you’ll see trail flags heading north to the work site. To get to Skyline: Take Florida road north to College Drive, head up to the Skyridge Neighborhood, turning left onto Jenkins Ranch Road. Drive down the road to the end where there is a ten spot parking lot and hike or ride to the top. It takes 45 minutes to walk up Skyline and another 10 minutes from the intersection of Skyline and Smokejumper’s to the work site
Option 2: Park at the Horse Gulch trailhead and ride up Horse Gulch road to the Sugar Trailhead (the Trails 2000 truck will be parked there, the trail has a large rock cairn); ride up Sugar to the flagged trail on your right to the end where it intersects with Smokejumper’s and Skyline. Head north on Smokejumper’s for 10 minutes and you’ll see the crew.
What to wear to Trailwork: Volunteers should wear closed toe shoes or boots, long pants, shirt (long or short sleeved), sun hat, sunscreen, and bring a water bottle and rain jacket (optional). Trails 2000 will provide all tools, instruction, water and snacks.
Approval received following in-depth analysis of Smokejumper’s Trail and Sugar to Skyline connect
Trails 2000 will build two new trails—the Smokejumper’s Trail and a connect from Sugar to Skyline Trails—in Durango during the late fall of 2017. In late September, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) signed off on the environmental analysis (EA) required for trail proposals on federal lands, marking the final step required to start building the new trails. Find out how you can help out at trailwork.
The Smokejumper’s Trail, which will start at the top of Skyline and run north from Raider Ridge, is in honor of Joseph Philpott who died in an avalanche in 2013. Philpott grew up in Durango and went on to major in Forestry at NAU and CSU. He worked for the BLM as a smokejumper based in Boise, Idaho. Joe was an adventurous, conscientious young man and his parents were interested in honoring him to capture hisdynamic nature.
Joseph Philpott.
“When we came to Trails 2000, Mary [Monroe Brown, executive director] suggested that we work on a trail that would reflect Joe’s amazing life and personality with a trail from Raider Ridge north on the BLM land. When we walked it, it felt like Joe,” said Margo Philpott, Joe’s mother. “It has beautiful ridgetop views, it’s rugged and is part of a long traverse that he used to run and train on.”
In 2014, Trails 2000 completed the Sugar Trail, connecting Skyline to Horse Gulch Road. (The Skyline Trail was built by Trails 2000 in 2009 to connect the Skyridge area to Powerline and the top of Hyper Extended Ridge.) Trails 2000 hoped to connect Sugar directly to Skyline at that time, but a portion of the trail would need to cross BLM land.
Trails on federal lands (Forest Service and BLM) require a level of environmental analysis necessary for NEPA—the National Environmental Policy Act. Trails 2000 entered into the proposal process and hired local environmental consultant, Heidi McGrath, a good friend of Joe’s and the Philpott family, to help see it through to completion.
“EAs are a lot of work and require analyzing various environmental impacts, from wildlife and plants to soils and recreation. It’s a time consuming process and a bit arduous, especially for small nonprofits. In Durango, we are surrounded by 60 percent of public lands, and trail proposals like that of Trails 2000 are an important economic driver for our community,” said McGrath, owner of Columbine Environment based in Durango. She added, “I was excited to be involved in this project since I knew Joe and the Philpott family would love the trail.”
The analysis also included a cultural resource survey to assess any artifacts that may exist on the trail. The cultural study, of which no artifacts were identified, was donated by ERO Resources, an environmental consulting firm based in Denver with a satellite office in Durango. “Trails 2000 does so much for our community, and as a trail user who owns a company in town, I was happy to find a way to give back by donating the analysis,” said Sean Larmore, principle investigator of ERO Resources in Durango.
In general, the process of how a trail becomes a trail can take anywhere from two to five years to complete. It requires involvement from various land managers and stakeholders, many of whom are long-time partners of Trails 2000, and involves idea development and research, to proposal and review, and finally to approval and building. (The Trails 2000 infographic, How a Trails Becomes a Trail, helps to illustrate this in-depth process.)
“The process [of how a trail becomes a trail] is complex; it requires vision, strategy and a certain level of tenacity,” said Trails 2000 board member, Christina Rinderle. “You need an organization like Trails 2000 out in front, gathering feedback, and keeping in touch with the community so you can devise a plan and see it through to completion.”
Trails 2000 will start building the trails, October 30 through November 2 (9 am to 5pm each day), and seeks volunteers to help out at trailwork. Details can be found at Trails 2000 Online Calendar and RSVP on Facebook. Volunteers are invited to come for as long or little as they can, and no experience is necessary as Trails 2000 crews will be on site with all tools, instruction and safety, and water and snacks for volunteers. The Philpott family plans to install the commemorative sign for the Smokejumper’s Trail in November.
“We feel grateful and honored to be part of helping expand the Trails 2000 trail system. We feel like it’s a way to give back to our community, by helping create something lasting, as well as to remember and honor Joseph,” said Margo Philpott.
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Trails 2000 invites volunteers to Trailwork at Hidden Valley Trail in Overend Mountain Park on Wednesday, October, 18, and at Twin Buttes Trails on Thursday, October 19, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. each day. No experience is necessary, and volunteers are invited to come for as much or little time as they can. Trails 2000 crews will be on site with all tools, instruction and safety tool talk, gloves, and water and snacks for the entire crew.
Trailwork on Hidden Valley Trail
When: Wednesday, October 18, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.; please come for as much or as little time as you can. Where/Directions: Hidden Valley Trail in Overend Mountain Park; from downtown Durango, take Main Ave. to 25th St. and turn left. Head past Miller Middle School and turn left on Clovis. Go to the the top of the hill on Clovis and turn left on Borrego. At the end of the street, it Ts and you’ll turn right onto Hidden Valley and head to the top of the cul de sac where you’ll see the Trails 2000 truck.
Trailwork on Twin Buttes Trails
When: Thursday, October 19, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.; please come for as much or as little time as you can. Where/Directions: Twin Buttes Trails, meet at the water tank in Twin Buttes; from Durango, head west on Highway 160 to the Twin Buttes main entrance (about 2.5 miles) and turn right at the bridge (signs to Twin Buttes). Cross the bridge and continue on Tipple Avenue past the gardens and Historic Tram Park on the left. Turn right on Larkspur Avenue, then right on Twin Buttes Avenue. After a very short distance, take the first left turn (paved beginning then turns to dirt road) and head up the hill to the parking lot below the water tank. Park there and sign in at the work truck for details and directions.
What to wear to Trailwork: Volunteers should wear closed toe shoes or boots, long pants, shirt (long or short sleeved), sun hat, sunscreen, and bring a water bottle and rain jacket (optional). Trails 2000 will provide all tools, instruction, water and snacks.
Join Trails 2000 for Stop ’N Lop Trailwork on the lower Colorado Trail on Wednesday, October 11, from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. Crews will work on lopping overgrown oak brush along the corridor to clear the trail and improve the line of sight and overall experience for all trail users. No experience is necessary for trailwork, and Trails 2000 will provide the necessary instruction and safety tool talk, all tools, gloves, and water and snacks for volunteers.
Stop ’N Lop Trailwork offers a great option for the community to give back to trails, whether they’re out on the trail and want to stop by and work for 30 minutes or an hour, or if they can commit to the entire work time. Volunteers can simply stop along the way while riding, running, hiking or walking the dog on the lower Colorado Trail, and Trails 2000 crews will have additional loppers available at the work site for folks to help out. Those volunteers wanting to give more time should meet at the work truck at 4:00 p.m. at the lower Colorado Trail trailhead and work until 6:30 p.m. Parking is limited, and Trails 2000 encourages volunteers to ride bikes or carpool to the trailhead, located three miles up Junction Creek Road in Durango.
Trails 2000 Trailwork on the Lower Colorado Trail
When: Wednesday, October 11, 4:00 to 6:30 p.m.; please stop by on your ride, run or hike to work for 30 minutes or an hour, or join us for the entire work time. RSVP on Facebook; add to GoogleCal, iCal/Outlook) Where/Directions: Colorado Trail; lower Colorado Trail trailhead, located three miles up Junction Creek Road. From Durango, head north on Main Avenue and take a left at 25th street (by the Texaco). The road winds through a subdivision and turns into Junction Creek Road. Once you cross a cattle guard, you’ll see the parking lot for the lower Colorado Trail and the Trails 2000 work truck. What to wear: Volunteers should wear closed toe shoes or boots, long pants, and a shirt (long or short sleeved). Optional: Bring a sun hat, sunscreen, water bottle and a rain jacket. Trails 2000 will provide all tools, instruction, water and snacks.
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