Three Tuesday evenings in May, the Roaring Fork Outdoor Volunteers (RFOV) brought 92 community volunteers to the Red Hill trails for a focused stretch of trail work — and the results were significant. RFOV coordinated with the Red Hill Council to prioritize these impactful trail projects. Projects were completed on the Red Hill Sage Meadow, Blue Ribbon Trail, Mushroom Rock Trail, Three Gulch Trail, and Extra Credit Trail. With the 92 volunteers plus 17 RFOV staff and partners, the effort totaled over 450 hours of labor.
The community caught some fortunate timing as well. Rain the day before at least two of the three sessions left soil soft and workable — a contrast to drier years when compacted ground slowed progress considerably. The result was one of the most productive spring seasons Red Hill has seen.
The Work
The projects centered on three primary goals: managing water runoff, erosion control and trail boundary maintenance.
On the water side, crews focused on ensuring trails are structured so runoff flows off and away from the tread rather than down it, a primary driver of erosion and long-term trail damage. The numbers reflect serious effort: 27 existing erosion structures were maintained and 5 new ones installed, 9 rock steps were built or improved, and 135 cubic feet of rock armoring was placed.
Volunteers also worked natural trail markers into the landscape using native materials such as wood and stone in order to subtly outline the trail edge and boundaries. Additionally, just over 123 feet of social trails were closed (social trails are unofficial paths worn into existence by repeated foot traffic, never intended for use but sometimes hard to distinguish from the actual trail). Together, these efforts discourage off-trail wandering that damages cryptobiotic soils and the broader landscape, providing critical maintenance given the roughly 75,000 visitors who visit Red Hill each year.
In total, 5,470 feet of trail were improved across the three evenings.
A Partnership Worth Celebrating
None of this happens without people willing to show up — on a weeknight, after work, with a willingness to dig and haul and problem-solve in the dirt. Our important partner, RFOV, has the ability to organize and mobilize that kind of community effort, making projects like this possible, and the trails are better for it.
If you’ve walked Red Hill this spring, you may have already seen the results underfoot. And if you’re looking for a way to give back to the trails you love, find upcoming volunteer opportunities at rfov.org/calendar. If you can’t participate, please consider a donation on our website redhillcouncil.org or at the Carbondale trailhead.
Beyond the trail work itself, volunteers leave each session having shared something worth showing up for — fresh air, good company, and the satisfaction of seeing real, tangible results from a few hours of hard work together. And it doesn’t hurt that every session wraps up with pizza and drinks — or burritos, generously provided at cost by Dos Gringos to RFOV and Red Hill Council volunteers. Not a bad way to end a Tuesday.