Our Mission

WHAT WE DO – WHO WE ARE.

Gunnison Trails is a non-profit trail advocacy organization established to assist land managers and other organizations and stakeholders, in maintaining existing trails, educating users on responsible trail-based recreation and pursuing new opportunities for biking, running and hiking trails which promote sustainable trail use throughout Gunnison County.

Foundation elements are:

  • Assisting and working closely with local land managers from the Bureau of Land Management, the United States Forest Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife on trail related projects and issues.
  • Maintaining existing trails and trail infrastructure.
  • Educating trail users and promoting responsible use of Gunnison area trails.
  • Proposing, gaining consent and approval for, and constructing new trails and new trail systems.
  • Working closely with other users of public lands and stakeholders including the ranching community, wildlife advocates and motorized trail users.
  • Providing meaningful and substantive employment opportunities as a part of our Trail Crew; full-time trail builders working over 2,000 hours each summer to build and maintain trails throughout Gunnison County.

Since organizing in 2006, Gunnison Trails has:

  • Racked up countless volunteer hours working on trails in the field; educating trail users; attending meetings with the public and with land managers; creating and presenting proposals for trails improvements on public lands near Gunnison, CO; as well as other trail advocacy tasks.
  • Maintained the more than 40 miles of trails in the Hartman Rocks area on BLM public lands, most of which had never been maintained before. A component of this maintenance has been to construct substantial and robust trail features that armor the trail against the elements and use.
  • Assisted the BLM in rerouting several trails that were in areas of natural resource concern and helped educate trail users about why these trails had to be moved.
  • Worked closely with land managers at the BLM and Forest Service on the recently completed Travel Planning Process.
  • Proposed a new trail system in the Signal Peak area, a plan over 10 years in the making that was approved in the summer of 2018. The Signal Peak Trail System will add over 20 new miles of single track on BLM lands just outside of Gunnison City limits.
  • Helped trail users to understand and honor seasonal trail closures for wildlife protection, including the Gunnison Sage grouse and wintering elk and mule deer.