2014-Tombstone Nature Trail Restoration at Steamboat Lake State Park

Start Date-End Date: 09/13/2014-09/14/2014 Land Manager Office: CPW - Steamboat Lake State Park Land Manager Contact: Julie Arington Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Help restore the popular Tombstone Nature Trail in the stunning and iconic Steamboat Lake State Park. Description: STEWARDSHIP SITE Steamboat Lake State Park hosts 350,000 visitors each year. The Tombstone Nature Trail is a one mile self-guided nature loop that offers beautiful mountain views as it winds through forest and open prairie. The trail includes informational postings about the natural and human history of the area, and serves as an introduction to nature and hiking for park users. Due to heavy use, this trail is in need of attention to help correct erosion and drainage issues. VOLUNTEER PROJECT- WHAT & WHY Volunteers will address erosion and drainage issues by widening and adjusting the slope of the trail. Work will also include the construction of water bars and timber steps. Volunteer efforts will help the popular trail remain sustainable and accessible year-round. PARTNERS & SPONSORS Colorado Parks & Wildlife- Steamboat Lake State Park The Boeing Company Oracle Xcel Energy REI ?Lockheed Martin Clif Bar & Company Helen K. and Arthur E. Johnson Foundation OTHER FUN STUFF Camping: Free camping is available Friday and Saturday night. Meals: Meals will be provided Saturday breakfast to Sunday lunch. Latitude/Longitude: 40.798660, -106.965376 Additional Information: Camping Available: Yes Physical Difficulty: Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 40 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 74 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 4 Total Volunteer Days: 78 Total Unique Volunteers: 41 Total Volunteer Hours: 581 Staff Hours: 40 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: Successes and Challenges: Lessons Learned: Special Notes: Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: As we move forward with a more strategic and deliberate planning process for our traditional/public projects, I think that this may be the type of project that we should think twice about. Although the list of accomplishments is long, it disguises that we were spending a lot of time figuring out what we could do to keep folks busy. This was because there were only a handful of high priority tasks on the trail, and the rest were small, busy-work type jobs. We had more than enough volunteers to accomplish our goals, and finished early on both days. The early finish on the first day was simply to preserve some work for at least a half day on Sunday. Simply put, the Tombstone Nature Trail was in pretty good shape overall, and there are other trails that I think demand our attention more. If we are committed to adressing more critical needs in the future, this should be a project type we consider turning down. I would be glad to hash this out during the 2015 planning process. Thankfully, the volunteer leadership team was in good morale throughout, and were willing to get creative in tasking volunteers on the project. That being said, I think that our volunteer leaders look for a higher level of complexity and a larger scope of work on projects. Doing a project like this too often may turn some of them off. Description of Accidents/Incidents: None! This went very smooth. Description of Work Completed: Volunteers spent the weekend adressing mulitple maintnenance needs on the Tombstone Nature Trail, a 1.1 mile interperative loop at Steamboat Lake State Park. The main issue addressed was drainage, as volunteers constructed numerous drainage dips, and de-bermed and out-sloped approximately a quarter of the loop, which will allow water to move off the trail properly and help control erosion. Volunteers also completed numerous restoration tasks. They added steps and a rock wall to repair eroded sections of trail, and repaired and restored a section of steps leading to a historic grave marker, the name-sake of the Tombstone Trail. They also closed, and revegetated two sections of obsolete trail. The first was a staircase that was abandoned when the trail was rerouted. Volunteers removed the old steps, and then closed the trail using downed logs and branches. The second was a section of road that makes up the northern end of the loop. Volunteers reclaimed an 85 foot portion of this road by transplanting, seeding and mulching to narrow the section to trail width (36") Finally, volunteers repaired 3 of the trail interpartive signs that were becoming loose in the ground by digging them up, and resetting them tightly.