TPA Trail Crew- Hitch 3- Rampart Range summary of work completed
Hitch dates: 5/21 to 5/28/2025
Point of contact: Duane Zavadil
Where and what was done:
1. Pikes Peak Ranger District at Rampart Range
2. Trail miles ridden= 127
3. Trail miles maintained= 41
4. Trees felled= 0
5. Trees cut= 4
6. Drainages cleared= 2
7. New drainages built= 0
8. Reroute planning feet= 31,680=ft 6 miles
9. Reconstruction feet= 0
10. Debris removed feet= 85
11. Corridor clearing feet= 30
12. Signs installed/ maintained= 0
13. Truck miles= 14
14. Trail contacts= 87
15. Truck gas= 0
Trail names and numbers:
682,685,787,673,683,788,627,686,770
Projects and Duties performed:
● Layout and design new 50” trail- 6 miles worth of reroutes planned, probably 26 miles of hiking.
● Evaluate existing 50” trail damage for sustainable reroute options.
● Measure slope angles with a clinometer and map sustainable trail layout corridors.
● Incorporate sustainable trail design features such as grade reversals, low angle accents and descents.
● Incorporate trail features to create an interesting trail experience such as rock out croppings and scenic viewpoints.
● Removed hazards from ATV trails.
● Noted and reported severe erosion damage, where trails have become impassable.
● Educated trail users about trail maintenance and CPW OHV grant dollar usage.
● Discussed how OHV sticker money is used and why it is important to register OHV’s.
● Cut a massive tree off the trail.
● Cut out dangerous stumps on ATV trail (Noodles). Troy’s words on what was done:
Very unique project with the idea of laying out 6 new miles of potential new reroute. We started out by looking at a variety of aerial photographs and topo maps. We looked for terrain that would be successful to build it. While doing this we also looked for cool rock cropping and points of interest. We then put boots on the ground and began mapping out the new potential reroute. The reroute will consist of two separate 3ish mile sections of trail. We would be getting rid of a braided fall line trail that has lots of erosion and line options. We will be adding lots of reverse in grade and cross sloping to create natural runoff. The first day we got about 2/3rds of the first section all mapped out.
Continued work on the new trail layout. We started off the day where we ended the previous one. It is a tough drainage that drops down and climbs out. We searched around the area for the best possible place to put the new trail. We have two options presented and mapped to give the builder an option.We also did that at the top so that the land management has some options for where the trail would tie into the road or the trail head parking. We spent most of the day figuring a way up and out of the drainage by maintaining manageable grade for watershed. We ended up putting it through some really cool zones with lots of good options and features. It truly has the sense of an easy four wheeler trail in some pretty steep terrain. We finished the last third to complete the new layout of the 862 trail.
Continued to work on the planning for the new reroutes on 685. We scouted multiple starting points and came to the conclusion that leaving from the original trail head would be a good idea. We found a way to get off down the ridge into a lot more interesting and sustainable terrain. We were dealing with other trails in the same proximity as well as the forest boundary. We worked our way down below the ridge. in some of the easier building areas. We stopped a little over half way down the original trail because the next section gets very complex. a little over a mile and a half to two miles of new planning.. hoping to get thru the crux area tomorrow
We started the day riding the trails to stay off the road on the busy holiday morning. We made our way looking at the current trails on the ground to get an idea of the product we needed to keep and what we needed to get rid of. We did ride the one single track in the area 683 fern trail. The four wheeler pinch has gotten really bad. its eroded making the line impassible without a couple people. It was also very wet, so maybe in other conditions it's better. We then made our way over to where we had left off the day before in the trail layout. We worked around a very difficult sidehill little less than a mile to try to find some good crossings without getting anything too steep. got another big section of trail laid out and are confident about creating a good product. We bailed a little early because of the weather. Came back to do some maintenance on the bikes and the trailer.
Rode some of the trails out to the project site to get an idea of the trails we are wanting to replace and the style of the trails they want to keep. When riding the single track 683 we found that the four wheeler pinch is in really bad shape. Main line is gone and now the alt line is very difficult by yourself. pretty impossible if it's wet. We then rode trails into the project site, and continued hiking where we left off yesterday. We got to a very difficult steep section with lots of rocks. It took us the whole day to lay out about a mile of trail. We feel like we are out of the hardest part and on the home stretch. We have detailed pictures and notes explaining the options given on the ground and the reasoning for them.
Rode the trails into a good spot we had picked out to be able to hike back to them at the end of the day. We did some maintenance while walking to the project area. For the last day on this trail segment we started from the end and began to work our way back to the point we ended at the day before. We had a pretty good distance to cover, but relatively easy terrain to navigate. We worked our way back to our previous day's creek crossing by following good contouring lines and laid out the remainder of the trail. There are a few challenges that we have given other options for. Each challenge area has options, pictures and descriptions of each area. Laid out another 2 miles or so. We will have final number tally's tomorrow.
Duane requested we go check out noodles to see what kind of reroute they were expecting. We rode a good amount of single track over to it, doing work along the way. We removed some bad inside stumps that used to be to slow people down but now because of the eroding trail surface they have gotten to be dangerous. We did maintenance along the way as we saw it. The biggest was a brand new big tree that came down in the storms this week. it was fully closing the trail and pretty impassable. Our little chainsaw did great in handling a tree bigger than its bar. We then worked over to noodles to get eyes on it and continue maintenance back to the end of the single track. did some maintenance on the bikes, oil changes, made the bags better, a few small things. Also wrapped up the reporting needed for the trail layout of the two trails.