Description
Start Date-End Date: 05/12/2018-05/12/2018
Land Manager Office:
Land Manager Contact: Kris Wahlers
Funding Partner: Plante Moran (formerly EKS&H), BOK Financial (formerly Colorado State Bank and Trust)
Programmatic Partner:
Summary: Improving the trails around the Discovery Pavilion and Cigar Pond on the southern end of the park.
Description: About the Stewardship Site:
Chatfield State Park is located southwest of Denver and is a popular destination for those hoping to make a quick getaway from the city. The park is open to nearly every type of recreationist including cyclists, hikers, horseback riders, boaters, and fishermen. It is also home to an abundance of wildlife, including over 300 species of birds, which is why the Audubon Society of Greater Denver operates an Audubon Center at the park's historic Atchison Ranch.
About the Volunteer Experience:
In this moderately sized project of no more than 55 people, volunteers will perform much-needed maintenance on the trail system around the Discovery Pavilion and Cigar Pond at Chatfield State Park. After a light breakfast, volunteers will break into groups to spread aggregate "crusher fine" material along the trail, improving its durability. Lunch will also be provided by VOC.
About the Overall Impact:
More than 1.5 million people visit Chatfield State Park each year. Through this project, volunteers will help to define the trail corridor and create a more sustainable and durable trail for the hikers, horseback riders, and fishermen who frequent it.
NOTE: MINORS ON VOC PROJECTS
Youth under 16 must be accompanied by an adult 21 years or older on single-day project
Latitude/Longitude: 39.515519, -105.081478
Additional Information:
Camping Available: No
Physical Difficulty: Easy, Moderate
High Altitude Project: No
Desired Number of Volunteers: 50
Total Adult Volunteers Attended: 15
Total Youth Volunteers Attended: 7
Total Volunteer Days: 22
Total Unique Volunteers: 22
Total Volunteer Hours: 88
Staff Hours: 10
Stipend Hours: 0
Project Summary: On Saturday, May 12th 22 volunteers from EKS&H and Colorado State Bank and Trust came out to Chatfield State Park with VOC and CPW to help build a new crusherfine trail and do some invasive species removal on the South West end of the park near Cigar Pond. The volunteers split into two groups, some working on the trail others working to remove thistle and mullein from the surrounding area.
The group doing invasive species removal removed close to 3 acres of weeds, while the group working on the trail built just over 300 feet of a wider (than usual) crusherfine trail.
After the work was complete, volunteers all gathered to share a nice lunch near the Discovery Pavillion.
Successes and Challenges:
Lessons Learned:
Special Notes: For crusher fine projects, Chatfield has a "frame" that they use as their depth and width gauge. Once volunteers got the hang of it, it worked really well and help produce very uniform sections. It should be noted that this frame makes for a wider trail than VOC normally does, but this is the width they are hoping to get for all their trails due to the large number of users.
Stewardship Education:
Key Concerns or Comments from Staff or Volunteers:
Description of Accidents/Incidents:
Description of Work Completed:
Details
| 8 and older |
