What a weird year so far!  The trails are melting out much faster but are still muddy in spots when the rain and snow moves through.  A big thing to remember this early is that the Winter Wildlife Closures are still in effect for 2 more weeks until May 1.  When you are out exploring remember to stay out of the spots in purple on the map and keep your dogs leashed in the orange areas.  Good spots to check out when the sun is out are south of town on the S 89 singletrack and down into Game Creek.  Sidewalk and Putt Putt and lower areas around the base of Snow King are also a good bet.  Check out the new connector trail from the Trail Creek pathway up to the bottom of Black Canyon as well.  Munger Mountain is also mostly dry and a good early season option.  Don’t forget to enjoy the pathways and to get up into the park to use the inner road this month when it is only open to pedestrians.  As you get out and explore shoot us an update if you see any down trees or other problems with the Trail Maintenance Request button at the top of our page.  Have fun and be safe out there!

Summer is here complete with afternoon thunderstorms!  The trails this week got a couple of good rain events to keep the dust down and help speed up the last of the snow melt.  There is still snow lingering on the highest ridges but most things are passable.  The crews worked on a new jump line on Parallel, cleared trees off of History, Crater, Arrow, and Phillip’s Canyon, fought weeds in Game Creek, Putt Putt, and Nelson Knoll, and stained benches.  Heads up the single log bridge on Arrow section A3 broke this winter.  We are working on funding some new bridge lumber to replace it and the last of the log bridges on the system with the dimensional lumber.   We have done a big push over the last 15 years to make sure there are no more water crossings on the frontcountry system.  So far we have built or replaced 41 bridges and 99 turnpikes, this helps improve the trail experience but also protects the many creeks and springs that the trails cross.  Thanks to all the folks who came out to National Trails Day events last weekend and helped with trail work!