Proposed New Environmental Education Trail - One Element of the Conservancy’s South Arkansas River Restoration Project

By Nathan Ward, Upper Arkansas Watershed Partnership Coordinator

Just off Highway 50, behind the Hampton Inn, lies a relatively undiscovered potential oasis. It might be hard to envision at first glance, and today if you walked through this area you’d find a row of five foot high weeds, a slew of tall cattails yellowed by the autumn freezes, some trash among the plants, a thin seldom-used trail along the river adorned with the remnants of the camp of an unhoused person or two. It’s unlikely you’d walk through here twice. 

However, squint your eyes and dream a minute on this little patch of land. Now see it as the site

for a small, but impactful environmental education trail looping around the cattail wetland and winding along the burbling, gurgling South Arkansas River. Instead of a line of weeds, see a wide trail with educational signage and a small observation deck overlooking the tiny lake. Imagine the bird species you can spot here. Now wind your way around to the river and picture students here looking for trout, turning rocks over to search for insects, and participating in river education classes just a couple of blocks from their inside classrooms. 

Central Colorado Conservancy, in partnership with the Collegiate Peaks Chapter of Trout Unlimited and the Upper Arkansas Watershed Partnership, is working to secure permission to plan and build this trail, exploring funding options for construction, and envisioning how to change this area from an underappreciated corner into an inspiring community resource. 

This environmental education loop trail is part of the Conservancy’s work on the South Arkansas River Restoration Project - 1.2 Mile Reach, the stretch of river that runs from County Road 107 downstream to the confluence with the Arkansas River.  Currently, we are working to secure trail easements from Lodgeco Hospitality, the Michigan-based company that owns the Hampton Inn, and from Conservation Legacy, the national organization that owns the wetland and property currently housing the Southwest Conservation Corps. Along with the final landowner, the City of Salida, all partners seem willing and eager to make this trail a reality.

Like many of our projects, it’s simple to dream, but difficult to make a reality. Just this simple trail mixes together the vision, legal wrangling, long-term agreements, funding challenges, public input sessions, insurance and liability discussions and policies, maintenance plans, educational sign designs, permits, construction and finally, the simple walk around the finished trail with eyes trained on the wetland and trees for birds, fish, and thriving plants. 

Unlike many of our projects, this may be one that we are able to start and finish in the short-term, and we’ll keep you updated on the Conservancy’s website and in future newsletters. This trail is just a small part of the bigger 1.2 mile project that will also include a longer interpretive trail through the former Vandaveer Ranch, improved fish and wildlife habitat, more native vegetation in the river corridor, reconnecting the South Arkansas River to its floodplain where possible, opening the tributary to fish migration from the mainstem of the Arkansas River, and much more. 

It’s challenging but inspiring work, and we thank you for supporting us. For more information, contact Nathan Ward at nathan@centralcoloradoconservancy.org.