The first phase of the new trails in the Arkansas Hills are nearly complete. Salida Mountain Trails, FIBArk and the City of Salida invite the public to come and tour the trails on Sunday, May 17th. “Whether you hike, run or mountain bike, we hope you will join us to explore the new trails” said Shawn Gillis, owner of Absolute Bikes and supporter of Salida Mountain Trails.
Salida Mountain Trails members, with the support of the City of Salida, have been working hard in recent months to construct a number of new trails. The trails are being constructed on City and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands as part of the recently completed BLM travel management plan.
A ribbon cutting will be held at 2:00 p.m. at the new trailhead kiosk near the gate on Tenderfoot Mountain. This will be followed with a demonstration of the mini-excavator purchased by the City to facilitate the construction of new trails. Volunteers from Salida Mountain Trails will then offer a guided hike along the recently constructed Lil’ Rattler Trail.
A trail run will depart from the F Street Bridge at 9:00 a.m. and a mountain bike ride will begin at the Tenderfoot gate at 3:00 p.m. All three activities will be guided by volunteers from Salida Mountain Trails who can explain the routes, sustainable trail building techniques, volunteer opportunities and plans for future trail construction.
Attendees of the ribbon cutting and hike are encouraged to walk or carpool to the gate on Tenderfoot due to limited parking.
This event is a membership drive and fundraiser for the non-profit Salida Mountain Trails. Volunteers will be on hand to sign up new members and sell raffle tickets in support of the trail-building efforts. FIBArk, Absolute Bikes and Keen Footwear will offer prizes for the fundraiser.
If you can not make it to the on-trail activities, join Salida Mountain Trails at the Boathouse Cantina, 228 N F Street, at 4:00 p.m. Beer available for participants brought to you by New Belgium Brewing while supplies last. Raffle results will also be announced at the Boathouse Cantina.
The new trails will be featured during the New Belgium FIBArk festival as part of the Sunday 10K Trail Run and the new mountain bike event on June 21st.
Volunteers have been working since last fall on building new trails. Absolute Bikes has provided tremendous support in these efforts by allowing staff to devote many paid hours to this project. The City of Salida provided additional support through the use of voter-approved 2B occupational lodging tax funds. Funds were used for the purchase of a mini-excavator trail building machine. The City also employed youth through the Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC) for six weeks of trail building efforts. The SCC completes their time on this project on May 14th.
Contact Dara MacDonald or Shawn Gillis for additional information
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