Mountain biking diehard Paul Adams recently received the Community Champion Columbine Award from the Colorado Parks and Recreation Association for his volunteer efforts advocating trails.
Adams was relentless in his leadership to create a hiking and mountain bike trail system at the Geer Natural Area in Cortez. He planned and help develop several loop trails, organized volunteer days to build the trails, conducted media tours, put up signs, and regularly rode the area to break in the trails.
“It was a nice pat on the back for all of the planning and a lot of physical work,” Adams said of the award.
Knowing his friend Keith Evans was interested in allowing public access onto his private land adjacent to Geer, Adams arranged introductions to city officials. A public access lease was soon negotiated between Evans and the city of Cortez, and the trail system doubled to about six miles.
Said Rachel Wysuph, supervisor of the state recreation association programs, “What separates Paul from the other recipients is his desire to make an untapped resource of the Geer Natural Area project into a destination area for mountain biking and hiking on the north edge of Cortez.
Paul volunteered his time and energy to leave a legacy of new trails.”
Adams is passionate about the community-wide benefits of local trails, and he has noticed increased use of the area.
“We all want more trails in town without having to drive,” he said. “I stopped the other day on a ridge and saw several people running, hiking and biking, so that is hugely satisfying.”
Adams is also a member of the Cortez City Park’s Recreation and Forestry Advisory board.