Reghan Cloudman
Public Affairs Specialist
Forest Service
Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland
p: 970-295-6770
[email protected]
After more than seven years, the Young Gulch Trail, located on the Canyon Lakes Ranger District in the Poudre Canyon, is back open to the public thanks to amazing volunteers and dedicated Forest Service staff.
The Young Gulch Trail was first impacted by the High Park Fire in 2012. Volunteers worked to get the trail reopened a year later only to have it even more dramatically impacted by the September 2013 Flood just days later. Most of the trail was washed away by these monumental rains.
Over the years many organizations, including Wildlands Restoration Volunteers, Poudre Wilderness Volunteers, Overland Mountain Bike Association, Colorado Addicted Trailbuilders Society and others, came together to design and reconstruct this incredibly popular trail in a more sustainable, resilient way. This includes reducing the number of stream crossings from 44 down to 26. In 2019 alone, volunteers provided 10,290 hours of their time and dedication for the final push to get the trail opened to the public before the end of the calendar year.
Along with Forest Service time and funding, Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the National Forest Foundation, Great Outdoors Colorado, Overland Mountain Bike Association, REI, Odell Brewing, and Mishawaka Amphitheatre provided funding and in-kind donations over the last few years.
The Forest Service and our many partners will gather together for a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Dec. 13, 2019, at 1 p.m. Everyone is invited to come to celebrate this great achievement of teamwork and perseverance.