15 Jul 2015
New multi-use cross country trails planned for Logchutes, San Juan National Forest
Two new multi-use cross country trails have been approved for tread reconditioning in the Logchutes Loops Trail System on the San Juan National Forest, said Jed Botsford, Recreation Staff Officer for the Columbine Ranger District.
The tread work was cleared through a categorical exclusion, which permits the tread reconditioning in the area on old logging roads, without the need for any further NEPA work, said Botsford.
The first trail would be a lolly-pop style loop that would start and end at the midway point of the downhill trail off of Junction Creek Road 171 where the old tank trap is, he said.
The second trail that will be reconditioned is on a closed logging road that starts or ends on the downhill side of Junction Creek Road 171, just below or before Animas Overlook, which connects with a user-created route along the cliff line to the east, and heads south to connect with the existing Logchutes 2 Loop, said Botsford.
Botsford and a trails coordinator with Trails 2000 walked the alignments in June, to discuss implementation logistics of the tread reconditioning on the old logging roads and the cliff edge on the east side.
“The project has been in the works for a while,” said Botsford.
Trails 2000’s Executive Director Mary Monroe Brown has not responded to this blogger’s emailed question about when the project will start.
Oh boy! Instead of a new DH trail or even the chance to maintain the old one, we get some XC, logging road trails. Durango is SOOO progressive
fresher
July 15th, 2015 at 7:15 pmpermalink
If I was in charge, I would let people maintain the popular DH trail there.
I guess you can ask San Juan National Forest Supervisor Kara Chadwick why she axed the progression of the Log Chutes Downhill Mountain Bike Zone Environmental Assessment after all of the staff hours that the Columbine Ranger District put into that document.
Adam Howell
July 15th, 2015 at 7:43 pmpermalink