{"id":25576,"date":"2019-06-17T21:04:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-18T03:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.summitdaily.com\/news\/vail-trailhead-hosts-aim-to-educate-hikers\/"},"modified":"2019-06-17T21:04:00","modified_gmt":"2019-06-18T03:04:00","slug":"vail-trailhead-hosts-aim-to-educate-hikers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/local-news\/vail-trailhead-hosts-aim-to-educate-hikers\/","title":{"rendered":"Vail trailhead hosts aim to educate hikers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A new program from the town of Vail will station volunteer trail hosts at popular trailheads in East Vail, including Booth Lake Trail, which saw 31,000 visitors last year.<\/strong>
Vail Daily file photo<\/em><\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

VAIL \u2014 Moses Gonzales volunteers as a Vail Community Host in summer and winter, guiding visitors around Vail Village and Lionshead.<\/p>\n

This summer, Gonzales will have a bit of a locale change. He\u2019ll be providing info to hikers headed to local trailheads as one of a dozen or so Vail Trail Hosts stationed at popular hiking spots, including the perennial favorite Booth Lake Trail.<\/p>\n

It is part of the town\u2019s new Vail Trail Host program, which aims to create a better hiking experience and alleviate impacts to neighborhoods near popular trailheads.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so fun,\u201d Gonzales said. \u201cIf you make (visitors) have a good experience, they\u2019ll come back. And that\u2019s what we want \u2014 for them to come back and see us again.\u201d<\/p>\n

About 31,000 people headed up Booth Lake Trail into the Eagles Nest Wilderness last summer, according to the U.S. Forest Service. While that\u2019s a fraction of the 180,000 annual visitors to Hanging Lake Trail near Glenwood Springs, officials fear that the increasing crowds at Booth Lake Trail are degrading the wilderness experience for hikers.<\/p>\n

Vail has an economic stake in ensuring that the hiking remains a great experience. A 2017 study conducted by research firm Burke for the Vail Local Marketing District Advisory Council found hiking was the top activities for all three of Vail\u2019s target visitor personas: Active professionals (79% went hiking), Dynamic Families (87%) and Super Boomers (84%).<\/p>\n

Parking problems<\/p>\n

Another problem is the impact on local neighborhoods, particularly in the Booth Lake Trailhead area, where parking becomes an issue on busy summer days. The hosts will be tasked with providing the right parking info, and, when appropriate, encouraging guests to park in the Vail structures and take the free bus to East Vail.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll also provide info about trail descriptions, trail preparedness, dogs, and perhaps nearby trail alternatives that might be less crowded and just as rewarding, said Amanda Zinn, Vail Trail Host program coordinator.<\/p>\n

The current Vail Community Host program, which stations volunteers in Vail Village and Lionshead in summer and winter, assists some 60,000 people annually.<\/p>\n

To start, the new Trail Host volunteers will have a presence at the East Vail trailheads \u2014 Booth, Pitkin, Bighorn and Gore Creek \u2014 as well as along the paved Gore Valley Trail near the golf course, where they will roam on electric bikes. They\u2019ll be working Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love our trails,\u201d Zinn said. \u201cWe want to preserve them, and we want guests to enjoy them as well \u2014 just in the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n

For their efforts, hosts will be rewarded with a $350 credit toward town of Vail parking, Vail Recreation District activities and Vail dining. Vail is still seeking more Vail Trail Host volunteers.<\/p>\n

Besides the $16,000 to fund the volunteer trail program, another $10,000 will go toward installing portable toilets at the Booth Falls trailhead.<\/p>\n

The host program and toilets are short-term measures to alleviate the problem. The town and Forest Service are working on longer-term solutions, which eventually could include a reservation system, as was recently adopted for Hanging Lake Trail. Vail has approved $30,000 toward the longer-term study.<\/p>\n

Community chips in<\/p>\n

A new Forest Service program, the Front Country Ranger Program, will provide similar help on trails across Eagle County. Several municipalities across the county are providing $120,000 to fund four Front Country Rangers, as well as one additional person devoted to helping maintain trailheads and campgrounds, for this summer.<\/p>\n

Eagle County contributed $58,212 and Vail gave $38,748 toward the program. Avon, Gypsum, Eagle, Minturn and Red Cliff also contributed proportionately to their overall budgets.<\/p>\n

The Front Country Rangers \u201care focusing their efforts mostly on being good Forest Service hosts, patrolling and helping visitors understand what the rules are out there,\u201d said Paula Peterson, recreation staff for the Eagle-Holy Cross Ranger District of the White River National Forest.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll be patrolling several busy hiking trailheads near communities, including East Vail trailheads; Berry Creek to June Creek in Avon and Edwards; Homestake Valley; and Minturn, including Martin Creek and Grouse Creek<\/p>\n

Facing funding limitations, the Forest Service welcomes the community effort to help maintain a great experience for hikers, said Marcia Gilles, deputy district ranger for the Eagle-Holy Cross District. Local communities understand that trails are an important part of the visitor experience, and communities benefit from ensuring that visitors have a high-quality experience, Gilles said.<\/p>\n

The Forest Service also gets volunteer help from the Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance, a volunteer group committed to the health and preservation of three wilderness areas, including the Eagles Nest and Holy Cross Wilderness Areas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t do it without our volunteers, partners and community,\u201d Gilles said. \u201cWe share in managing our lands together.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest official numbers show that 12 million people visit the White River National Forest annually, but Gilles suspects the number is now closer to 14 million or 15 million.<\/p>\n

Gonzales has been in the valley for more than 40 years, and has seen the number of hikers at trails such as Booth Creek grow quite a bit, especially in the last 15 years. This year, he hopes he can help people continue to have great days on the trail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people who use those trails,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought it would be cool to be out there and give them some direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

This story is from VailDaily.com.<\/p>\n

via:: Summit Daily<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new program from the town of Vail will station volunteer trail hosts at popular trailheads in East Vail, including Booth Lake Trail, which saw 31,000 visitors last year.Vail Daily file photo VAIL \u2014 Moses Gonzales volunteers as a Vail Community Host in summer and winter, guiding visitors around Vail Village and Lionshead. This summer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[97],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-25576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-local-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-12 03:46:10","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KIFT - The LIFT FM","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25576\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kift\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}