Colorado’s public lands are the greatest source of mountain bike trails in the state. Think about your last ride. It was probably on open space owned by a city, a county, the state or the federal government. Ensuring these public lands remain a beautiful experience while allowing responsible recreation is a crucial task for Colorado mountain bikers.
Bicycle Colorado’s Trail Pros are leading the statewide effort to ensure mountain bike trails are sustainable and fun. By working with volunteers across the state, and by partnering with local mountain bike organizations and land agencies, we can make sure mountain bikers have spectacular places to ride.
Examples of our partnerships include:
An Assistance Agreement with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for a sustainable trail project in the Bangs Canyon Recreation Area (see below).
An agreement with the Bureau of Land Management and IMBA to join efforts to improve Colorado trails. We jointly hosted the first annual Colorado Mountain Bike Summit.
Teaming up with Diamond Peaks Mountain Bike Patrol to improve a key trail at Lory State Park near Fort Collins. Trail Pro Greg Mazu led more than 50 volunteers replacing an eroded trail with a fun, sustainable trail integrated into the landscape.
There will be additional trails that need your help in the future. No prior trail experience is required and it’s a fun way to give back for a great season of riding. Stay informed on volunteer trail projects with our free eNews service at www.BicycleColorado.org/get/enews
Special thanks to ColoradoState Parks and REI for contributing generous grants in support of the Bicycle Colorado Trail Pros program.
Bangs Canyon Work Completed
Bicycle Colorado’s
Trail Pros, through an Assistance Agreement with the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), recently completed work on a sustainable trail project in the Bangs
Canyon Recreation Area. The Assistance Agreement grew out of a Memorandum of
Understanding between Bicycle Colorado
and the BLM.
The Bangs Canyon project is located a short bike
ride south of Grand Junction.
It has more than 30 miles of singletrack, including the nation’s first freeride
trail on federal land. The city of Grand
Junction and local supporters also added a challenge
area near the trailhead to test and improve mountain-bike skills.
“This project begins to implement the vision that the public embraced during
the planning process for the Bangs
Canyon area,” said
Catherine Robertson, BLM Grand Junction field manager. “It’s a community-based
initiative bringing those who use public lands together to make things happen
on the ground.”
The work in Bangs
Canyon was possible only because
of years of involvement and support of many organizations. The BLM,
International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) and the Colorado Plateau
Mountain Bike Trail Association (COPMOBA) have been invaluable in developing
and implementing this project.
