Telluride Trails Planning Document
Telluride Mountain Club’s (TMtC) Trails Sustainability Plan is intended to be a guiding document for the next ten years for maintaining and developing non-motorized trails in the Telluride region. It is assumed that the trails and priorities in this document will change and morph over time. TMtC’s goal in this long-term planning effort is to meet twice a year with planing partners, regional governments and other stakeholders to continue discussing collaborative trail planning and implementation discussions for the Telluride region.
The plan establishes a vision to enhance quality of life and provide benefits to the community for outdoor recreation opportunities. The expectation is that the conceptual trails in the “Trails Sustainability Plan” would help disperse use, strategize for future growth in the Telluride region, enhance connectivity between existing trails, provide a more sustainable and environmentally conscious trail system that is easy to access and navigate, and increase the number of commuter options. The long-term vision for this project is to combine the “Trails Sustainability Plan” with other regional trail plans and ultimately create a master trail plan for the greater Telluride region in cooperation with other user groups, organizations, government agencies, land managers, and private land owners.
TMtC and the Trails Sustainability Plan partners worked diligently to identify land status but make no warranty as to the accuracy and completeness of the maps provided online or in this document. No assumption is made to have permission to construct any trails in the future until the proper process has been completed by each managing agency. Please respect private land and do not cross without owner permission. If any trails are proposed on private land, the proper easements will need to be secured and only with proper landowner permission. TMtC and the plan partners do not condone trespassing on private property.
Trails Sustainability Plan & Survey
View the Full Trails Sustainability Plan here: Trails Sustainability Plan, July 2019.
Give us your feedback on the Trails Sustainability Plan here: TSP Survey, Summer 2019
The purpose of the “Trails Sustainability Plan” is to provide an updated inventory of the existing trail network in the Telluride region and develop a proposal of non-motorized trails which would connect and build upon the current trail system. Outdoor recreation tourism continues to grow in Colorado, as well as in the Telluride region. Projections indicate that Colorado’s population is expected to increase by over 20% by 2026. This Plan helps identify and assess the existing trail system, address long-term maintenance and management of current and future trails, and identify the locations in need of new non-motorized trails and commuter opportunities while also preserving sensitive ecosystems and wildlife habitats. The trails in the Telluride region continue to become more popular, and as a result, more crowded each year. From 2007 to 2016, the daily average visitation growth during the summers increased by nearly 35%. The “Trails Sustainability Plan” aims to help address this need by dispersing use, reducing congestion, and creating a well-rounded trail system.
How do we plan to fund these trails? Learn more about our opportunities within the plan and, additionally, familiarize yourself with our new community-wide effort effort to directly support the ongoing and growing expenses associated with Telluride’s regional trails: Opt in for Trails.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many organizations and individuals contributed to the development of the “Trails Sustainability Plan” for the Telluride region in cooperation with Telluride Mountain Club. This project was made possible through the generous support of San Miguel County, Town of Mountain Village, Telluride Foundation, and San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation. Over 500 public engagement survey responses have been collected from two surveys which provided valuable feedback and helped form the conceptual trail proposals. The Telluride Mountain Club, San Miguel County, Town of Mountain Village, the Telluride Foundation, and the San Miguel Authority for Regional Transportation do not condone trespassing on private property. No San Miguel County funds were used to create maps, which reflect trails crossing private land without the permission of the landowner.
TMtC recently purchased a few trail counters to help us determine actual user numbers on some of our region’s most popular trails. The data collected from these counters will help us with grant writing and better understand use and how best to disperse users in the area.
