Trails 2000 still blazing trails after 20 years

DURANGO, Colo. – In 1989, when a group of trail advocates got together with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to coordinate trail access across jurisdictions, they set a goal of 200 miles of trails built by the year 2000.

With access to more than 350 miles of trails within a 30 minute drive or less of Downtown Durango, the initial goal has long been met, but the name and the non-profit organization – Trails 2000 – are still going strong.

“It’s created a name for itself,” said Mary Monroe who took over the helm three years ago when the founding executive director, Bill Manning, moved on to work on the Colorado Trail. “Across the country, other groups come to us to recognize the work we’ve done, or to see how we’ve accomplished different things. Nationally there are lots of things happening from the trails perspective, but we work locally… Our goal is to plan, build and maintain a sustainable trail network.”

Indeed, with “pedestrian-friendly” and “multimodal” becoming priorities in U.S. towns across the country to coax people out of their cars, Trails 2000 has become an integral part of establishing Durango as a sustainable community. Trail work to maintain the soft surface trails for hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders, remains a focus, but Monroe is now taking a bigger picture view to  establish “connectivity.”

Trails 2000 has been instrumental in the advocacy and planning of the Smart 160 Bike Path that will eventually connect Durango and Bayfield. Monroe and her board have actively worked with the City of Durango on the Animas River Trail, and still are, and are advocating for projects such as the Camino del Rio underpass that will connect the river trail with Downtown Durango.

“So bike path, road, trail connectivity,” said Monroe. “Durango ha a unique geographic set up that you really don’t need to get in your car to get to a trail. We can figure it out for recreationalists and trail users, and also commuters and kids going to school.”

This effort has earned Durango the distinction of being named a “Bicycle Friendly Community” by the League of American Wheelmen in Washington DC. Following an audit, the organization ranked Durango at the Silver level.

“A lot of it had to do with the trails and trail connectivity,” said Monroe. “And the things we could work on would be bike lanes and road connectivity. We have a ‘bicycle friendly’ coalition of groups, so we try to advocate for those types of things because we want to win the Gold the next time it comes around.”

Monroe is certainly “the face” of Trails 2000, but key to its success over the years is community support. While the City and CDOT, and developments such as Three Springs, take on construction and maintenance of the hard surface bike paths in the area, Trails 2000 takes on the soft surface trails.

“If a tree falls in the forest, who cuts it?” joked Monroe, explaining that her team of more than 400 volunteers clears an average of 80 felled trees a season blocking the 38 trails (110 miles) maintained by Trails 2000. Plus the group has adopted a 60 mile stretch of the Colorado Trail on the upper part of Junction Creek. Annual trail work begins usually in April, when the snow melts, and each year those volunteers donate in excess of 3,000 hours.

“The volunteer participation in Durango is off the charts,” said Monroe, who uses the winter months for fundraising and planning. “We do our own trail assessment, or we hear from the community about certain things that need to get done on a trail, which is really nice. For new construction, we have a kind of master schedule, or master map, and we’re looking at the connectivity. That’s how you build trails – piece by piece.”

When a new project area is identified, Trails 2000 doesn’t simply seek out the animal paths and call in the volunteers, Monroe and her team study a topographic map and determine inclines and switchbacks, identify the connection points to existing trails and confirm the user groups (hikers, bikers, horseback riders), as the latter determines the kind of trail. A proposed trail is flagged and re-flagged as the actual route is confirmed, then the brush is cleared.

“Then we’ll go in and flag it one more time, so when the volunteers are there, they know exactly the line of the trail,” said Monroe, explaining that the volunteers create the tread on the trail, so that water drains efficiently.

Volunteers who want to help construct or maintain trails needn’t be experienced – just show up for a trail work day with gloves. Monroe and her team provide the direction and instruction.

In season, every Wednesday, 5 to 7 p.m., a work session is held at a specified trail. Email alerts are sent on Monday night, and no r.s.v.p. is required to participate. Volunteers can simply show up.

“The thing is, it’s social,” said Monroe. “You’re out on a trail with 20 people and you’re giving back to the community. Two hours and you’re done, and it’s a visible difference. Then you can go back out there and say, ‘I worked on this trail.’”

For the Wednesday evenings, Monroe tries to focus on specific tasks that can be completed within the two hours. Larger, multi-day projects are organized as well, such as the annual work days on the Colorado Trail.

Education is a significant component within Trails 2000, including trail etiquette. Because most trails have multiple user groups that aren’t necessarily compatible, it is important to follow “share the trails” principles. Essentially mountain bikes are to yield to both hikers and those on horseback, and hikers yield to the horseback riders as well. Further detail is listed on the Trails 2000 web site.

This stewardship of the forest has not gone unnoticed, and the San Juan Public Lands Center nominated Trails 2000 for the Rocky Mountain Regional Foresters Honor Award for Recreational Partner of the Year – and Trails 2000 won. Monroe accepted the honor on behalf of her community volunteers.

“It really is the whole community. I’m not just saying that,” said Monroe of the trail system. “It is built by the community for the community. That’s the unique situation we’re in. I think it makes people appreciate it more, and grateful for the unique surroundings we have here.”

To learn more about Trails 2000 and the public trails in La Plata County, join as a member or sign up for email alerts, visit www.trails2000.org.

[email protected]