2016-Flatirons Cragmoor Connector Trail Restoration

Start Date-End Date: 08/25/2016-08/25/2016 Land Manager Office: City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks Land Manager Contact: Beau Clark Funding Partner: Programmatic Partner: Summary: Enjoy big sky views of Boulder's iconic Flatirons as you repair an unsustainable trail. Description: About the Stewardship Site The Cragmoor Connector Trail connects trail users from the physical Cragmoor Street (a popular cul-de-sac and neighborhood access point) to the North Shanahan Trail. This trail network takes hikers to a very special place that lies directly below the heart of the Flatirons. The Shanahan region is a unique forested mesa whose landscape is like nothing else in the Flatirons. The North Shanahan trail provides access to a number of key destinations including Fern Canyon and the North/South traversing Mesa Trail. Cragmoor is also a popular access point for climbers seeking adventurous routes away from the masses. About the Volunteer Experience On this severely eroded trail, volunteers will construct check steps, install necessary drainage structures, and restore unsustainable social trails (unofficial trails created by hikers walking off the established trail). Work may also include fence construction as well as trail surfacing with crusher fines. A light breakfast and lunch will be provided for all registered volunteers. About the Overall Impact The Cragmoor Connector Trail follows the fall-line, or the path that water takes when moving down the hill slope. In other words, this trail goes straight up and down the mountain which induces a large amount of erosion. The City of Boulder has determined that the trail will not be rerouted, so the work volunteers will do on this project will help ensure the trail is well-maintained and sustainable for years to come. Latitude/Longitude: 39.968653, -105.263196 Additional Information: Camping Available: No Physical Difficulty: Moderate High Altitude Project: No Desired Number of Volunteers: 50 Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 52 Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 1 Total Volunteer Days: 52 Total Unique Volunteers: 53 Total Volunteer Hours: 418 Staff Hours: 51 Stipend Hours: 0 Project Summary: VOC volunteers worked to maintain the very popular Cragmoor connector trail in South Boulder. The trail hooks into the Chautauqua system and is very heavily used by neighborhood residents; it was damaged by floods in 2013 and several social trails had popped up as a result. Fueled by delicious Beau Jo's pizza, VOC crews installed 42 new timber steps, restored 8 steps, and closed 400 feet of social trial. Successes and Challenges: One big challenge was parking; there's very little parking at the trailhead, so we really encouraged groups to carpool. Because this was a weekday project and there were tons of group registrants, most people managed to carpool, but it did slow down registration in the morning to have to wait for folks to park and walk several blocks to sign up. There wasn't much room at the trailhead, so volunteers had to spread out onto neighboring sidewalks and driveways to eat lunch. This project was also very technical, and the land manager requested that crews be kept very small as a result. This was tough because it's difficult to recruit skilled crew leaders for weekday projects, so the land manager ended up bringing out three of his own staff to assist with crew leading. In all, the land manager was happy with the work completed. Lessons Learned: After this project, we discussed with the land manager that it was difficult for VOC to recruit a large number of crew leaders for weekday projects, so it would work better to either a) have technical projects occur on weekends or b) stick with weekdays, but have less technical work for volunteers to do. If we continue to do very technical work with City of Boulder, either detailed construction notes, an email to crew leaders in advance, or a site walk-through with crew leaders would be helpful, because Boulder has very specific requirements and style of trail construction. Special Notes: Land manager expressed interest in being on the short list of potential sites for SWATs in 2017, as they often don't know what their needs will be until a few weeks out from a project. Here's a link to a video created by a volunteer from Apigee Denver:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRmuqaLw1RE Stewardship Education: Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers: Description of Accidents/Incidents: Description of Work Completed: 42 timber steps constructed, 8 timber steps repaired/maintained, 400 feet of rutted out trail maintained/social trail closed.