GOCO Dedication
For Immediate Release
Contact: Bonnie Asplin, 719-657-2827
DEL NORTE COMPLETES TRAIL ENHANCEMENT PROJECT
The Town of Del Norte completed the Visibility Impact Project in June, which enhances its trails systems by constructing various trailheads and parking areas, and installing informational kiosks in strategic locations. The project was funded by a $144,735 Colorado State Trails Grant, a program that receives annual support from Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO).
The scope of the work completed has made the town’s trails safer, more visible, and more accessible, while educating the public. The expansion of trails has provided families with attractive and safe places to walk, run, hike, and bike. This project is the first phase of the Del Norte Trails Master Plan that was developed over several years via about 15 public meetings where citizens provided their ideas for recreation and trails in Del Norte. One of the primary goals of the grant was to encourage outdoor activity and expand the town’s trails diversity, aiding in safe access to and use of the Lookout Mountain Trails.
The project grant involved the construction of five trailheads with kiosks and parking areas for the town’s Lookout Mountain Trail System and the RiverWalk trail on the Rio Grande. The project also called for an informational kiosk at each of the three gateway entrances to town. The biggest gateway is on the west end entrance, the Lookout Mountain Gateway, a trailhead, lots of parking space, benches, picnic table, and a large pergola having three information panels, including a map of the town. At the corner of US Hwy 160 and CR 14, the trailhead starts with a Class II ADA trail making it safe for hikers, runners and wheelchairs to have a path to the Rio Grande Hospital and the Lookout Mountain Park and Trails.
For four weeks last summer, crews from the Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC) worked on the grant project. These crews of eight young men and women installed the 29 directional and informational trails’ signs, slashed and re-vegetated three damaged areas of two-track, widened the Wellness Trail behind the Rio Grande Hospital, and constructed half of the ADA trail.
The new kiosks around town now offer tourists and trail users the benefit of viewing professional town maps and trail maps and reading about Del Norte Trails and Recreation and regional ranching heritage. Other signage includes “Be Watchful” and “Trail Etiquette and Regulations.”
Generous trail easement donations from Off Island Ranch and Cristi Larsen, cash matches from Rio Grande County and Rio Grande Hospital, in-kind matches from the Southwest Conservation Corps, the USFS, and local professionals and businesses helped make this project possible.
The Del Norte Trails Organization (DNTO) was instrumental in the development of the Trails Master Plan, which was funded via a GOCO grant. Marty Asplin, board member of DNTO and mayor pro-tem of the Town of Del Norte, re-wrote the VIP grant in 2009 that was awarded by Colorado State Parks. The SCC youth crews, the town works department, and area companies did all of the constructions and installation of amenities.
Since 1971, the Colorado State Trails Program has helped develop recreational trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding, wildlife-watching, cross country skiing and other uses. GOCO funding provides a substantial boost to the State Trails Program each year – approximately $57 million in Fiscal Year 2012 – and awards grants to local governments and land trusts, and makes investments through the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife.
