Is it just me or have we lost the meaning of our local trails? It seems that recent trail work done by Trails 2000 is destroying the classic Durango singletrack by using heavy equipment to perform unnecessary trail re-routes. The best example of this can be seen in many locals favorite trail system in Horse Gulch.
Recently, Stacys Loop was rerouted because the trail followed an old heavily eroded stock trail, which essentially had turned into a drainage. Trails 2000 re-routed the trail using heavy equipment to make the trail a series of switchbacks and traverses instead of a descent. This not only destroyed the trail but also destroyed many thick stands of oak to make room for the new trail.
To me, trails have always been a form of minimal impact where hikers and bikers can practice leave no trace ethics. Using heavy equipment to re-route trails that needed only a small amount of dirt and maybe a little water re-routing to slow erosion is the opposite of leave no trace. Similar projects have been done on the Colorado Trail, and I hope to see an end to these unnecessary re-routes. Protect our woods, protect our trails.
Mike Remke
Durango
