Teocalli Ridge trail closed to bikes and motos for restoration

Trail #557 will be fixed up soon

The Forest Service closed the Teocalli Ridge Trail early last week. It will remain closed temporarily until repair work on the degraded trail is completed. That shouldn’t be any later than the summer of 2013.

The trail has some of the biggest ruts of any trail in the area. Motorcycles, mountain bikers, hikers and equestrians all use the trail and, given its location and part of its fall line, the ruts are only getting worse.
“Essentially,” explained Gunnison Ranger District trails manager Greg Austin, “we are implementing the Trail Management Plan that was approved last year. We said in that plan the trail would be closed temporarily until we mitigated some of the issues up there. Given the fall line, there are sections that are pretty cut up.”
The Forest Service located some signs at the trail last week informing the pubic about the closure to motorized and mechanized uses. The signs state that “a state off-highway vehicle grant has been obtained to help repair or mitigate these issues.”
“We are lucky with this,” said Austin. “Sometimes, a trail might be closed ‘temporarily’ but if there is no funding to fix the problems, it could be ‘temporarily’ closed for a decade. This won’t last long, comparatively speaking, at all.”
Austin said the agency tried to “discreetly” close the trail since some citizens were asking when the trail would be closed. “Others were shocked about it but this was discussed over a five-year period,” he said.
Austin said the agency is fortunate to have obtained state funds for some realignment and drainage work. “We hope the contract can be awarded and the work completed next summer but it shouldn’t take beyond the summer of 2013 at the latest,” he said. “Right now, people can hike it but it is officially off-limits to mountain bikes and motorcycles. Some of the ruts feel like they are up to your armpits and getting worse.
“The gist of things is that we are implementing the record of decision,” Austin continued. “The signage is asking people to please not use it anymore until we fix it up. We are asking the people to be patient and it will be fixed in the near future. In that sense, we are fortunate.”