Get the Latest Trail News from the Salida Mountain Trails Blog

Little Rainbow Trail Attracts All Levels

Methodist Mountain Trail System - download a map

The Little Rainbow is a 5-mile, non-motorized trail at the base of Methodist Mountain. This machine-built natural surfaced trail lies below the "powerline road", extending from Castle Gardens at the eastern terminus to County Road 110 at its western end. The trail is suitable for all skill levels of riding, from beginner to expert, as it winds through pinon pines on gentle slopes and carves through drainage features. With its smooth surface, 4-foot width and relatively shallow grades, the Little Rainbow Trail provides easy or exciting riding as you choose your level of exertion.

The Little Rainbow connects two existing trails, Racetrack and Skull Trails, and is an important linkage in the development of additional trails on Methodist Mountain. The trail lies entirely on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land and was approved in the 2008 Arkansas River Travel Management Plan. Appropriate uses of this trail include hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding.

Work was completed on the Little Rainbow late in 2010 with the help of Arrowhead Trails, a professional trail building company, Southwest Conservation Corps youth groups, and community volunteers. This meshing of professional and volunteer groups worked well to design and build a quality trail while keeping the cost down. The BLM has constructed two trailhead parking areas to allow access to this system. The parking areas are located at the end of "Burmac" road off Hwy 50 and on CR 110, 2.3 miles south of Hwy 50.

We extend our thanks to local BLM representatives for allowing mechanized equipment to be used during the initial rough-in phase. This markedly reduced construction time and allowed for more time spent on finishing work. The cost to build this trail was around $40,000. At this time we have secured funds from the City of Salida, Chaffee County, and private donations for approximately 90% of this cost. We are actively pursuing funds to pay for the remainder. You can help by participating in our "Buy a Foot of Trail" program or by donating directly to SPOT (Salida Parks Open Space and Trails) and designating your contribution to go to the Little Rainbow Construction Fund.

SMT thanks everyone involved in the creation of the Little Rainbow Trail. We're proud to have a trail on the south side of Salida that appeals to a large range of hikers, bikers and equestrians. Please remember that this is a popular multi-use trail; be considerate of other users.

The Vapor Trail 125 is an Ultra-Endurance Mountain Bike Ride through some of Colorado's most beautiful mountain scenery. The ride starts at 10:00 PM September 10 (Saturday) from the F Street Bridge in downtown Salida, proceeding to the Colorado Trail at Blank's Cabin, and then north to Chalk Creek in the pre-dawn darkness.

See the Vapor Trail 125 website for detailed information about the remainder of the course, or the last page of this flyer for information about public road usage.

The ride will be limited to less than 75 riders and inclusion is by invitation only. There will be an entrance fee of $125. The 2011 Vapor Trail 125 is not a race, and times will be saved only on an unofficial basis. The course will be marked, and there will be 4 aid stations.

This event is fully sanctioned and insured by the American Cycling Association. The City of Salida has been named as a rider in the insurance policy provided by ACA.

Each entrant will be given a CORSAR card, must submit to a pre-ride medical check, must sign a waiver, and must provide an adequate lighting system.

See the Vapor Trail 125 website for more details.

North Backbone Grand Opening

Saturday, December 11, North Backbone Trail Grand Opening. The Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for the North Backbone Trail took place Saturday morning at the CR175 parking lot that serves as the northern end of the trail. An SMT Kiosk was also installed to mark the CR175 trail head. The trail is now open from CR175 to CR173, where it links with the already established Backbone Trail that continues south to the Cottonwood drainage. With the completion of the North Backbone, the Arkansas Hill Trail System features a spectacular loop the winds from downtown Salida to the trails behind Tenderfoot Mountain, north to the Pinon Hills area and back to Salida. An updated map of the entire area will be posted in the kiosk, giving users information about the Arkansas Hills series of trails. Since it was a Shindig volunteer day, the volunteers worked on the last section of trail down to the parking lot, and then lunch was provided to the trail builders after the ceremony.

FUNDRAISER SUCCESS!

The Little Rainbow Benefit Concert was a great success. We raised over $3,000, thanks to the support of the community, and especially due to the generosity of Salida Café, the Groove Farmers, and the artists and businesses who provided door prizes and silent auction items. Those include Brinkley Messick, Kevin Hoffman, Lindsay Sutton, Carolyn Nelson, Jimmy Descant, Dave Hill of Victoria Cycles, and Jack Chivas for the silent auction donations. Door prizes were contributed by The Jug, Headwaters, Amica's, Vital Living, The Fritz, The Boathouse, Sunshine Market, Ploughboy, Mixing Bowl, Salida Mountain Sports, Absolute Bikes, and Arrowhead Trails. Additionally, Amica's donated a keg of Ute Trail, and Salida Café donated a portion of food sales as well as providing our venue and employee support.

Brink & Megan deserve a huge thank you for soliciting the donations for the door prizes and silent auction. They did a fantastic job!!

In addition, Absolute Bikes contributed $1,000 in proceeds from the Vapor Trail! Their constant support and generosity are invaluable and hugely appreciated.

New Trail Links Complete!

salida mountain trail crew The Frontside Trail and the new trail up from the burnpile to an intersection with Frontside are both complete!

A great volunteer turnout on Saturday, October 10 allowed SMT to complete Frontside.

This trail is a strategic link that will allow Arkansas Hills Trail System users to get to the kiosk without using roads.

The burn pile trail allows users to use an alternate trail, with only some road travel, and it will allow for a short loop up from the railroad corridor on one trail and down on the other.

Much thanks to Arrowhead Trails for donating a week of their paid crew's time to complete the trail from the Burn Pile up to the Kiosk and taking on some of the toughest obstacles to completing the last section of Frontside!

Nearly half a mile of serpentine trail winds up the side of Tenderfoot. Woo Hoo!

SMT Joins SPOT!

Salida Mountain Trails has joined forces with Salida Area Parks, Open Space and Trails (http://salidaparksopenspacetrails.org).

After collaborating on two successful grant applications, it seemed that our relationship was synergistic, and that we should become part of their organization officially.

After several positive years as part of the Arkansas River Trust, we decided that a change would improve our operating processes and would help us officially submit co-applications for grants, to move the SMT vision forward.

Frontside Trail is complete!

Thanks to the many FABULOUS volunteers who helped SMT get this finished.

A plan for building new singletrack on BLM land near Tenderfoot Hill north of downtown Salida has been approved, and building is underway! Contact Tom Purvis for details about how to roll up your sleeves and get with the program!

We've been working with the BLM since they started the Arkansas River TMP in 2004. Our trails master plan is part of it, and now that it's been implemented we are good to go! Check out some of our new projects, and then go up there and see them for yourself!

Salida Mountain Trails: where Salidans will make memories and teach their children to love the land

Along the slopes of S-Mountain, up Ute Trail, down Deadhorse and Cottonwood Gulches is an area literally in Salida's back yard. Trail runners, cyclists, hikers, and dog walkers know that there's treasure within minutes of downtown Salida.

Between Dead Goat Gulch and Longfellow Gulch north of downtown Salida is arid, rugged public land. The sandy, rocky soil that grows thin, tough vegetation makes the area perfect for trails. The soil drains well, and the terrain makes for interesting trail routes. And since this area is on the warm side of the Arkansas Valley, much of the land stays relatively warm and snow-free during the winter.

Many Salidans already love this area, and use the trails that exist on a daily basis. Why change anything at all? Why not simply work the existing trails into the new BLM BLM Travel Management Plan and continue using them as always? Because the trails are too steep, rocky, and difficult for many trail users, and it can be difficult to find trails and trail junctions since there are no signs and few "official" routes. The existing trails do not form a trail system.

We would like to plan and build a system of concentric loop trails. Options for easy, moderate, or more difficult trail routes will be available from two or more starting places. There will be maps, marked intersections, interpretive signs, and hopefully restrooms and a camping area.

Trail ready, printable Map - download

Why have a Trails Park?

We're proud of Salida. It's a friendly, pretty little town surrounded by some of the most beautiful country found in the Rocky Mountains. We celebrated our town's riverfront a few years ago by cleaning it up, building a whitewater park, and making the banks of the Arkansas into a place everyone, boaters and non-boaters, could enjoy.

A few hundred feet from the River Park, there is one gravel road and one singletrack trail that can be used to access miles and miles of beautiful public land. You have to know where to look for the singletrack trail to use it. The road is fine, but you have to watch for motor vehicles and you have to make your way past short hill-climb side-roads, trash, and broken glass to get to the natural public land.

People in Salida could not imagine seeing someone dump trash along the river, but that was common practice not so many years ago. The whitewater park is a source of civic pride. It would be unthinkable to degrade it. If we treat our close-in public land as a source of pride, a park, it will become unthinkable for people to dump trash, drive vehicles off the track, or otherwise degrade it. This will be a place to bring children and grandchildren for a walk or a bike ride. It will be a place to send visitors where we know they'll find the trail and get to explore the land we love and cherish.

Join our Mailing List