Salida Mountain Trails, or SMT for those with too little time to say or spell these three little words, has been steadily planning, designing and building new trails on S and Methodist Mountains in Salida, Colorado for the past 20 years.
A new, 0.75 mile natural-surface trail called “Maybe” opened on Friday, April 19th, providing an important connection in the Arkansas Hills Trails System.
“Maybe really ties the trail system together,” said Salida Mountain Trails (SMT) Executive Director Jon Terbush. “The trail fills what had been a gap in the network, creating a connection to link shorter routes and provide more singletrack options close to downtown Salida.”
Maybe replaces a decades-old, undesignated “social” trail that crossed private property. Working in partnership with the City of Salida and the Bureau of Land Management, Royal Gorge Field Office (BLM), SMT developed a plan to reroute the trail onto public land. James Flatten, a professional trail builder, constructed Maybe with support from SMT and City staff.
In 2023, an astounding 225,000 people entered/exited the Arkansas Hills Trails from the F Street parking lot, according to trail counter data. Increased use has led to increased congestion, something the new trail will directly address.
Not wanting to be upstaged by Terbush’s brief remarks, two bighorn sheep on the hill behind him collided dramatically, sending rock tumbling onto the trail that Cat Gruener–SMT Trail Manager– had just painstakingly raked for its big debut.
Bikers, hikers and their canine associates headed up the trail on a glorious spring morning, taking in the spectacular views of the snow-capped Sawatch range. While the trail’s name may sound inconclusive, it will undoubtedly become instantly integral to a growing multi-use trail system in Salida.
Other re-routes, connections and adoptions are in the works, and SMT is at the heart of discussions on a countywide Trails System & Conservation Plan that it hopes will bring additional opportunities.
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