Off-Road Business Magazine – TPA Article – July 2022

Reprinted with permission from Off-Road Business

See the full July 2021 Volume 4 Issue 7 here.

Trails Preservation Alliance (TPA) board members have over 125 years of trail riding experience in Colo­rado, and decades of experience effectively fight­ing for multiple-use access on public lands throughout the West. TPA is active in competitive events, promo­tion of Colorado enduros, and education of trail riding groups.They are an alliance of dual-sport, adventure, and single-track trail riders who work together to protect your access to public land. Lots of great new riding opportunities have opened up this year due to the active engagement of the Trails Preservation Alliance, and affil­iated clubs; these are a few highlights!

NEW MEXICO

The TPA was able to assist our friends in New Mexico with funding to help open the Elephant Rock Motorcycle Trail Network in the Questa Ranger District, Carson National Forest in Northern New Mexico. The Trail network was developed in cooperation with the USFS to designate miles of old molybdenum mining roads into a system of motorcycle-only trails. In total, the entire trail system consists of some 35 miles of intermediate and challenging trails. More information can be found at ADV Pulse

SALIDA/BUENAVISTA

TPA affiliated club Central Colorado Mountain Riders (CCMR) completed 6 miles of new single track in Chinaman’s Gulch, part of the greater Four Mile Travel Management Area. The new trail, DudBobs, nearly doubles the motorized single track in the area and allows users to connect, via single track, from Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land to United States Forest Service (USFS) lands existing Triad Ridge trails.This trail was made possible with the volunteer efforts of CCMR, their partnership with the BLM, and funding from the Colorado Parks and Wildlife Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Grant program. Additionally, CCMR and the BLM have been working diligently on a reroute of the Rainbow Trail to restore the connectivity that was lost as a result of flooding after the 2016 Hayden Pass Fire, and additional new single-track to BLM’s Texas Creek area.

GRAND JUNCTION

Two TPA affiliated clubs, Mountain Trail Riders Alliance (MTRA) and the Bookcliff Rattlers Motorcycle Club (BCRMC) members volunteered on multiple workdays with the BLM finishing the new 8-mile Windmill Trail in the Bangs Canyon area.This connects the Bangs Canyon trailhead to Windmill Road and the Gunnison River. In addition, MTRA and BCRMC split the $4400 cost of a Cultural Survey for the BLM-proposed new 3.1 mile Cedar Point trail, also in the Bangs Canyon area. Completion of the survey this winter will enable the construction of the trail in Spring/Summer 2021. Once completed, Cedar Point will allow riders to make a complete loop from the Third Flats trailhead over Rollover Ridge to the Billings Canyon access road.

RICO/DOLORES

A special thanks to TPA affiliated club San Juan Trail Riders (SJTR) for their involvement in the The Chicken Creek Trail Project. This project involves two trails, Deer Lick and the Owens Basin connection. Both trails are of very high value for motorcyclists and improve the opportunities for motorized multi­-use single track in the area by creating better looping opportunities and safer river crossing.

SILVERTON

The TPA, in partnership with the San Juan Trail Riders and leaders of the Colorado500, led a 3-year effort to reopen the historic Minnie Trail. After years of work, meetings, and coordination with the BLM, the project has been approved to move forward. Trail work is planned to begin in 2021, as soon as the snow melts. Read more on the TPA website.