Wilderness Volunteer Program
FENW and the U.S. Forest Service are partners in this program.
Opportunities are available for people to volunteer for visitor education (talking with and helping visitors in the Eagles Nest Wilderness, Holy Cross, and Ptarmigan Peak Wildernesses), noxious weed inventory, and campsite inventory and restoration.
Volunteers will commit to at least 4 days of stewardship from the day after training in either May through September plus at least 1 training day.
Become a Ranger Volunteer
Download the Summit County application form:
Trail Crew Leaders Wanted!
Trail Projects for 2010
If you enjoy hiking or horseback riding in the Eagles Nest or Ptarmigan Peak Wildernesses, please consider giving back just one day of your time to keep the trails in good condition.
For all Trail Projects:
Please RSVP if you plan to come to a trail project. Signing up will help us to better plan trail projects and teams. If you have questions about physical requirements, the project and/or to sign up, call the person or email for each project.
Meet at 8 am at the Dillon Ranger District Office in Silverthorne (just north of 6th St. on Hwy 9). We will serve a light breakfast of coffee, bagels and juice and end the day with refreshments and a tailgate party. Volunteers should come prepared for a day on the trails with your hiking boots, water, lunch, raingear, long pants and gloves.
June 5 : National Trails Day. Horseshoe Gulch in Breckenridge
To celebrate National Trails Day we will join our friends at FDRD for a joint trail maintenance project at Horseshoe Gulch. We’ll be closing and re-vegetating social trails, building water bars and check dams (possibly a turnpike as well) and repairing the corridor. This will be a great opportunity for FENW volunteers to help maintain one of the non-wilderness trails we all use. The work sites will be only a short hike from the trailhead.
We‘ll meet at the Dredge Trailhead on Tiger Rd at 9:00 A.M. for coffee, bagels and orientation. Bring lunch and plenty of water. There will be a tailgate party at the trailhead when we finish at about 3:00.
IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND, PLEASE RSVP TO BILL REED AT Vol_RSVP or 970-513-9741.
What to Bring/Wear for FENW Trail Projects: Be prepared for weather changes with rain gear and warmer layers in your daypack. Wear work or hiking boots, long pants and long-sleeved shirt. Bring work gloves and eye protection. Sunscreen, insect repellant and any allergy medications will come in handy. Bring plenty of water, snacks and lunch. A light breakfast will be provided in the morning and tailgate snacks and beverages at the end of the day
June 19: Gateway "WaterWorks"
Our season start-up project scatters small crews to numerous wilderness area trailheads for light maintenance work. We focus especially on correction of drainage problems but will also remove smaller fallen trees and generally clean-up the tread. This is a great introduction to wilderness trail work -- with light tools and work beginning right at the trail head.
July 24: Campsite Rehab
We will send small crews to the heavier-use wilderness lake basins to remove illegal fire rings and generally clean-up campsite footprints. The work is hard and dirty but very satisfying as we remove the most egregious traces of human impact and set the stage for site recovery. This will be a very full day with potentially long hikes up to our most beautiful lakes.
August 21: Meadow Creek Bog Crossing
We will repair and re-construct collapsed sections of a low, log stringer bridge that crosses a boggy area along the Meadow Creek Trail. We'll also be correcting drainage problems below and above the bog site. There will be some heavy lifting, log bucking and muddy conditions but, if we do our work well, you'll be able to brag to your hiking grandchildren: "I helped build this." This site is a short hike from the trail head.
September 18 (tentative)
Trail Signage -- We will scatter small crews to various wilderness trail intersections needing repair and/or installation of signage. Individual sites could involve lengthy hikes carrying tools and sign materials.
