Since its inaugural year, Adopt A Trail has amassed over 80 teams and thousands of total volunteers. This summer, 601 volunteers spent 2,135 hours digging drains, improving tread, and removing trees, committed to stewardship and maintaining the trails we love. There is palpable dedication within our community to preserve the trails in Eagle County. Spanning from Mike’s Night Out and Elk Drop in Gypsum to Deluge and Pitkin Lake Trails in East Vail, all the way back to Iron Edge and McKenzie Gulch near Sylvan Lake, 85 teams have adopted 70 trails throughout the valley.
Teams spent time in dedicated Wilderness areas, battling encroaching noxious weeds, and on hot, dusty afternoons attempting to tamp the dry dirt of some of Eagle’s trails in mid-July. It was not without challenges but cold, post-trail work beers on a Friday afternoon were motivation and incentive for some. For others, the rush of sugar from a still-warm donut was enough to put a spring in our step for an 8:00 AM start time on a drizzly Monday.
Our goal is not only to preserve and maintain trails, but to develop a kinship to nature, appreciation for and respect to an environment that provides boundless opportunities for recreation. Individuals were asked, “How do you play outside?” No matter how you enjoy the outdoors, we appreciate the commitment to environmental stewardship and following Leave No Trace principles, both integral to the sustainability of trails.
Most Volunteer Days
Eagle River Water & Sanitation District
Most Volunteer Hours
Vail Club 50
Best Post Party Team
BG Building Works
Trail Project of the Year
Ladies Trail Crew
Rock Work Team of the Year
Wednesday Night Trail Crew
Adopt A Trail Team of the Year
Eagle County Dept. of Human Services
Overheard on the Trail: We asked teams to submit their “Quote of the Day.”
They did not disappoint.
Adopt A Trail is a fundamental part of VVMTA. At its heart are the volunteers who show up, regardless of a long day in the office, a difficult week at school. It is our volunteers that maintain hundreds of miles of trails for not only their personal use, but to make the experience incredible for everyone. During each AAT team event, a hiker, mountain biker, or runner would stop and ask what we were doing. Sometimes it was to get respite from the elevation gain on Booth Lake Trail or maybe just to chat in the shade of a Juniper tree on Boneyard. No matter what, there was a resounding “thank you.”
“Thank you for maintaining the trails.”
“Thank you for what you are doing.”
To our Adopt A Trails teams, thank you.
Molly DeLallo, Trail Stewardship Coordinator
Molly Wants You To Support our Adopt A Trail Volunteers:
Donate now to support our volunteers with:
- Swag: We want to give our volunteers some swag that they can wear on the trails and showcase their volunteerism throughout our community!
- Tools: Sharper tools, newer tools, and enough tools are needed to support our growing number of teams and volunteers!
- Food & Drink: Social hour after a hard but fun trail work project is (in our opinion) the best way to celebrate a great trail project with your friends and colleagues.
- Training: Our volunteers constantly yearn for more knowledge, training, and growing their trail work skills!
