Grand County National Public Lands Day

Grand County will celebrate its 19th annual National Public Lands Day tomorrow, September 28th. Grand County’s event, draws more participants, completes the largest amount of work and is the longest-running of any event in the nation.

Due to recent flooding on the Front Range, several other northern Colorado venues have had to cancel or delay events, but the show will go on in Grand County with a few minor changes.

Rocky Mountain National Park bowed out of this year’s event to allow their resources to assist with flood recovery in Estes Park. However, Headwaters Trails Alliance has added a project thanks to volunteers from the Girl Scouts of America and the Grand Foundation.

To participate in one of Grand County’s five NPLD projects, arrive at 7 a.m. at Camp Chief Ouray (YMCA) in Granby, grab breakfast and sign up for one of the following projects:

Colorado River Trail: Reroute a portion of new U.S. Forest Service trail on the west side of the Colorado River below AA Bar Barn.

Blizzard Pass Trail: Build two turnpikes near Grand Lake on FS Road 120. Project will also include general trail maintenance and drainage structures.

Vasquez Creek Trail: (Great for kids and soccer families) Meet at 10:30 a.m. at Hideaway Park pavilion and help pick up trash along the Vasquez Creek Trail to Confluence Park. If time allows, head to Wolf Park for a tree planting project.

Upper Colorado River: Clear a 15 mile stretch of the Colorado River of garbage, debris and river campsite improvement work.

Idlewild Trail System: Help build new non-motorized trail to increase accessibility and loop capability near the historic Idlewild Ski Area.

Children are welcome on all projects, and there are plenty of kid-friendly jobs for them.

At the end of the day, volunteers meet back at Camp Chief Ouray for pizza and lasagna dinner, dessert, live music and door prizes.

For more information and to download volunteer packets visit our webpage.


Jeff
RockyMountainHikingTrails.com