The pickaxes and shovels were temporarily set down on August 19, when the Larimer County Conservation Corps/NoCo Places trail crew received visitors at their work site. As the crew worked to close and rehabilitate an unauthorized trail in Rocky Mountain National Park, a group of NoCo stakeholders and partners arrived to greet them and admire their work.
The NoCo crew was assisting a Rocky Mountain National Park trail crew in addressing significant trail braiding and off-trail travel along the Park’s Gem Lake Trail. The NoCo crew worked to better define the trail by decompacting soil and covering it with downed vegetation (logs) and duff. The crew also worked on drainage issues in a few locations while the Park crew built stair structures to better define and address the trail grade in a few areas. This work covered about a 3/4 mile section of trail.
The trail work addressed major braiding and off-trail travel issues along this segment. The trail had become wide and undefined in several areas, causing drainage and erosion issues. This also created new areas of bare ground around the trail and trampled vegetation, which led to erosion.
This joint effort was hugely helpful to the Park, allowing them to focus on specialized trail work, such as building stairs and other trail infrastructure, while the NoCo crew addressed bare ground, braiding, trail definition, and drainage issues surrounding the trail. The NoCo crew’s efforts have better defined the trail route, allowing bare ground to recover.
One of the biggest benefits of the project was the learning component for the NoCo crew members, who worked alongside a more experienced trail crew, gaining new knowledge and developing new skills. While the crew’s main focus is addressing undesignated trails, there are also professional development opportunities for these young adults.
To learn more about this effort, visit our project page.
