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
Jennifer Heaslip, Times-News
Ten years ago, Conserving Carolina Trails Specialist Peter Barr was crawling hand-over-hand up boulders and rock faces and navigating steep cliffs to reach some of the most spectacular views the veteran hiker has seen in the region.
Struck by the beauty of the massive viewshed overlooking Lake Lure, Rumbling Bald and the Hickory Nut Gorge, Barr left with a mission - to preserve the private property and open it to the public.
Wednesday morning, Barr and Conserving Carolina celebrated the culmination of the first phase of his mission with the grand opening of the 2.1-mile Youngs Mountain Trail near Lake Lure, which takes hikers to the summit of its namesake.
“The Youngs Mountain Trail is Conserving Carolina’s most spectacular trail project yet, and it will serve as a crown jewel segment of the budding Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail network, Trails Specialist Peter Barr said. Its overhanging rocks and dramatic cliff ledges offer stunning vistas of the surrounding mountains, including Buffalo Creek Park and Chimney Rock State Park. With the opening of the Youngs Mountain Trail, this breathtaking landscape is one step closer to being linked together by the Hickory Nut Gorge State Trail.”
The trail passes through 437 acres of forever-protected land that provides a haven for biodiversity, including numerous rare or endangered plants and animals. The mountain is home to bear, deer, bobcats, turkeys, and many other kinds of wildlife. The lower part of the trail crosses several beautiful brooks while the top of the trail passes over sheer rock with a lush community of mosses and lichens.