The Mancos Trails Group’s plan to add the spur to the Colorado Trail, including updated trail signs, appears to be making progress.
According to the Mancos Trails Group, the U.S. Forest Service has been placing posts for the signs, and one hiker shared a photo of one sign in place at the Sharkstooth trailhead.
The spur utilizes 23½ miles of local trails that include Chicken Creek, West Mancos and Sharkstooth as it travels from Mancos State Park and Jackson Lake and connects to the Colorado Trail near Taylor Lake. The Mancos State Park trailhead is set in a 7,800-foot-high ponderosa forest and travels through several climatic zones and ecosystems, including an abundance of alpine tundra. Eventually it passes over two passes at 12,000 feet before connecting with the Colorado Trail.
The plan doesn’t require building new trails because the current national forest trail system supports the entire spur.
“This has the potential to put the Mancos Spur on the map,” Robert Meyer, board chairman of the Mancos Trails Group, said in a news release. The plan doesn’t require building new trails because the current national forest trail system supports the entire spur.
Mancos State Park Manager Scot Elder said that the park “is very excited to partner with the U.S. Forest Service and Mancos Trails Group to improve this beautiful and important section of trail.”
For more information, see Mancos Trails Group website at http://www.mancostrails.org.