Standing under blue skies on the Grand Mesa with hikers and bikers traversing the trail behind them, officials marked the completion of a decade-plus effort to create a 34-mile trail from the top of the Mesa to the town of Palisade.
The Palisade Plunge is officially open.
Representatives from federal and state land management agencies, local leaders and Great Outdoors Colorado all spoke to celebrate the accomplishment and congratulate everyone who worked together in partnership to get the trail built.
âTo look around this group and see people who are representing so many different aspects of public lands and private lands ecosystems across this landscape and celebrating it in a way where people come together,â Bureau of Land Management State Director Jamie Connell said. âI know there had to have been challenges.â