Thank you Mancos Trails volunteers! On National Public Lands Day, you came out to show your love and support for our public lands. We were able to post 6 more signs along the Mancos Spur and enjoy some beautiful fall colors while we were at it. The Mancos Spur signage project is now about 75% complete! As a thank you, NEEF and San Juan Mountains Association provided us with National Public Lands Day T-shirts for all volunteers. 

Again, thank you! 

The fall colors along the Mancos Spur are really popping right now! We checked out a section between Transfer and Golconda and WOW. Plus it's fun and satisfying to see our new signs with such a vibrant background.


Where have you been going to enjoy the fall colors?

Almost all the closures around the Burro Fire in Bear Creek Canyon have been lifted! The only parts that remain closed are a section of the Aspen Loop, the Grindstone Trail and a section of the main Bear Creek Trail where Polly Creek had a debris flow that washed out the trail. The Dolores Ranger District will be working on this section and hopes to have the trail passable within a week or so.

In addition, closures in the area of the 416 fire are slowly changing. See the link below for more information.

For more information see:
San Juan National Forest Burro Fire Closure update
San Juan National Forest 416 Fire Closure update

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The next Mancos Trails work day is coming right up! This Saturday, August 4 we will be setting 7 posts for new signage in the Golconda area of the Mancos Spur. All are welcome to attend.

Where, when and what:
We are meeting at 8:00am at Boyle Park in Mancos with USFS Trail Crew member(s) for a safety briefing.  We’ll then caravan up the Echo Basin road #566 to the #566A road. The end of #566A is the the trailhead for Trail #173. There is limited parking space at this trailhead so please carpool. The tool trailer and Mancos Trails banners will be at the trailhead. Trail #173 is motorized for vehicles up to 50” wide and we will be making use of a volunteer’s OHV to help ferry in tools and posts about half of the distance we need to travel. Volunteers can expect to hike a total of 4 or 5 miles depending on which intersections they work at. We will work in groups of 3-4. If you show up late, please hike down trail #173 and check in with a crew leader.

We will have some tools from the USFS and SWCCA, but if anyone has digging bars, post hole diggers, loppers, or any other various trail tools, feel free to bring those as well! There are some limited opportunities for other trail work. There is one 4” tree down and several short sections that would benefit from loose rocks removed from the trail.

What to wear and bring:
Be sure to wear sunscreen, sturdy shoes, work clothes, and bring gloves. Bring bug spray as there may be flies. And pack plenty of water as well as snacks or a lunch to eat around noon & get you through till the burgers!

We’ll aim to be back at the tool trailer by 2pm. Mancos Trails will provide burgers & refreshments.

Invite your friends!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

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Hello Mancos Trails Group Volunteers and Supporters!

Thank you all for such a wonderful year thus far.  We have seen a huge rise in the support and fundraising efforts put into the Mancos Valley trail systems.  

• We are having another Volunteer Workday on Saturday, August 4th.  We will continue the signage of the Mancos Spur of the Colorado Trail and trail maintenance. Meet at Boyle Park at 8:00am to carpool up to the sites. More information will be posted here soon.
• The Mancos Trails Group is having our monthly meeting open to the public Tuesday July 31st @ 7:00 pm at the Mancos Library. The agenda can be read here. 

Thank you again for all your support!

The next Mancos Trails work day is coming right up - this Saturday, July 7. We'll be setting the first posts for the Mancos Spur signing project.

We'll meet at 8:00am at Boyle park in Mancos, in the south parking lot near Hamburger Haven. We'll figure out carpooling up to the Transfer area from there. We will provide the posts and some digging tools: digging bars, post hole diggers, and hole shooter shovels. If any of you have similar tools, please bring them!

Post hole digging can be hard, but many hands make for light work. There will be some opportunities for some brushing if some volunteers are limited to light duty work.

If you don't make it at 8am, just drive up to the Transfer area (about 15 minutes up County Road 42 from the intersection with Hwy. 184 in Mancos) and look for the Mancos Trails banners and the SWCCA tool trailer.

Be sure to wear boots, work clothes and bring gloves. And a lunch or heavy snacks to eat around noon if you'll be hungry before we are finished working.

We should be back at the vehicles by 2. We'll provide burgers & refreshments.
Looking forward to seeing you there!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1669242909838034/

The 2nd Annual Mancos Valley River Film Festival is this weekend and Mancos Trails is one of the beneficiaries of this fundraising event. Come on out on tomorrow and Saturday nights to support Mancos Trails! This event is sponsored by Alpacka Rafts and Mancos Valley Resources. From their Facebook event page:
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Friday, June 29th at 6pm is a FREE Local’s Night at Outlier Cellars 
Saurday, June 30th at 6pm is the Main Film Night at Mancos Opera House

The Event:

Mancos Valley Resources, in partnership with Founding Sponsor Alpacka Raft, Class V Sponsor Specialized Bicycles and Class IV Sponsor Osprey Packs, is holding the 2nd Annual Mancos Valley River Film Festival June 29-30, 2018. One hundred percent of the proceeds of this fest will support local nonprofits in Montezuma County, Colo. Last year’s event raised $9600 to benefit the 100 Excelsior Plant fire victims who lost their jobs when the Mancos-based plant burned down May 2017. This year, funds will be split between MVR and the Mancos Trails Group, an organization that seeks to enhance the hiking, biking, and river trails in Mancos. 

The Presentations:

This year’s Friday night schedule includes a multi-media show by Ashley Carruth on “Bikepacking Through the Bears Ears National Monument.” On Saturday night, a variety of short films will be featured on urban bikerafting in Portland, 2 fly fishing films featuring Wyoming and Alaska, mountain biking in British Columbia, packrafting in India, and more. Also, Mancos Trails Group will do a presentation on their local projects, and American Rivers' Sinjin Eberle will talk about the 5000 Miles of Wild Campaign, an effort to preserve 5000 river miles and gather 5000 river stories. Conservation films will include “Blue Heart: The Fight to Save Europe’s Last Wild Rivers,” along with a short film about Dolores River conservation efforts.

Other generous sponsors include Revelate Designs, Durango Cyclery, The Wells Group Real Estate Brokerage, First Southwest Bank, KSUT, Adventure Pro, The Gulch, Bedrock Bags and Packs, Guy Drew Vineyards, Mancos Brewing Company, Absolute Bakery & Cafe, Outdoor Research, Patagonia, Painted Turtle Studio & Gallery, Kleen Kanteen, The Journal, Aqua-Bound, Werner Paddles, Julbo Eyewear, SolGear, P & D Grocery/Mancos Pizza, Zuma Natural Foods, 

Check out all the details and watch trailers of the films here
View the film lineup here

Want to get involved? Join fellow trail lovers on Tuesday June 26 at 7pm for our next business meeting.

As of Thursday, June 21 at 3pm the San Juan National Forest has reopened! That means that we can again recreate on many area trails. However there are a few things to keep in mind. 
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• The area around the Burro and 416 Fires remains closed. See map below for closure area.
• Stage 2 Fire Restrictions are still in effect! This means that you'll have to be extra-careful about what you do when you are out there in our bone-dry forest. Some of the activities that are restricted during Stage 2 include open flames and fires including charcoal grills and liquid-fuel stoves and lanterns, smoking, operating chainsaws, ATVs and generators without a spark-arresting device, discharging a firearm, and operating motor vehicles off of established and maintained roads and trails. See here for all the details. 

Thank you to all of our responsible forest users for keeping our forest safe!