National Public Lands Day Event Will Benefit Colorado's Monarch Crest Trail

For Immediate Release
08-18-08
Contact: Spencer Powlison, IMBA Field Programs Coordinator
spencer@imba.com
303-545-9011

Teresa Martinez, CDTA Field Operations Director
Continental Divide Trail Alliance
teresa@cdtrail.org
303-838-3760

More than 100 volunteers are expected to come together on the Monarch Crest trail, outside of Salida, CO, on Sept. 27, to celebrate National Public Lands Day. The effort will provide much needed attention to Monarch Pass, one of the most popular sections of the Continental Divide Trail National Scenic Trail. This section of the trail offers more than 30 miles of incredible mountain scenery.

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA), Continental Divide Trail Alliance (CDTA), U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Salida Mountain Trails group are partnering to coordinate this massive volunteer effort on the Crest. They expect to draw from a diverse group of volunteers from the Arkansas Valley, as well as the Colorado Front Range. The project will focus on maintaining and restoring the trail, which traverses the high peaks of the Rocky Mountains -- often well above treeline -- in the San Isabel and Gunnison National Forests.

Saturday's trailwork day will be followed by an evening festival. On Sunday, volunteers will have the opportunity to experience the Monarch Crest trail, which is one of the country's premier mountain bike rides. IMBA recently designated the Monarch Crest as an Epic.

For more information on this event, or to register, please visit the IMBA event page.