CMC's 2026 Stewardship Trail Crews start their season strong

In the first week of June, CMC’s Conservation Department hosted the training week for its 2026 Stewardship Trail Crew. Nine members of the crew arrived at Basecamp in Golden on June 1st to learn the basics of trail maintenance, as well as CMC’s history and mission of conservation and stewardship. Combining classroom and in-field learning, our crewmembers were ready and eager to start on their first hitch the following week. 

Since CMC’s establishment in 1912 and 111 years after its landmark advocation for the establishment of Rocky Mountain National Park in 1915, CMC’s conservation and stewardship program is going strong at a recently unprecedented pace. For many years, CMC has operated trail crews throughout some of Colorado’s most legendary and rugged landscapes. And while their efforts have been significant, their numbers have been small. For example, in 2024 CMC operated two monitoring crews of two crewmembers on the Gunnison National Forest and the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. In 2025, a year with extremely limited federal funding and resources, CMC operated one maintenance crew of four crewmembers on the Gunnison National Forest. This year, CMC was able to hire 15 crewmembers to make up three maintenance crews operating on the Gunnison National Forest, San Isabel National Forest, Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest, and the Roosevelt National Forest. CMC is incredibly excited to see the impact that these crews have on our great state’s trails! 

Training Week 

The first day of training week saw lots of classroom learning, focusing on the “what” and “why” of the work CMC trail crews do. Long-time CMC member and conservation volunteer Steve Bonowski stopped by to teach the crews about the history of CMC’s conservation and stewardship efforts; everything from digging new trails, to helping write federal recreation policy, to the aforementioned founding of one of America’s most beloved national parks. Steve’s own involvement with many of CMC’s conservation accomplishments was amazing to listen to, and crew members and CMC Conservation staff learned a lot about the impact of the work they do. 

The rest of day one and the first half of day two covered the basics of trail maintenance, essential trail safety, as well as getting familiar with CMC crew trucks. Staff from CMC came to speak to the crews to give them further insight on the current activities of the Club and what being part of it means, including Graham Ottley and Ashley Kramer from Adult Programs, Zach Jump from Operations, and Ashley Hanlon from Communications. The stewardship crews joined the rest of CMC staff, including Youth Program seasonal employees for an organization-wide lunch on the patio at basecamp. It was a great opportunity to mingle with the rest of the CMC! 

On the afternoon of day two, trail crewmembers packed up and set off for the in-field portion of training. The crew caravaned into the mountains from Golden and arrived at Brainard Lake Recreation Area, one of the crew’s worksites for the entire season. The crews met with Forest Service employees at the gate to be let into the Pawnee Campground as the recreation area and the campground were not yet open to the public for the season. That evening, everyone went for a short hike around Brainard Lake, stopping at the historic 1928 CMC cabin before testing the lake water and deciding it was far too cold to swim in. 

The next morning, the crews prepared to grab tools and start getting their hands dirty. Starting a project that the Brainard Lake crew would continue, they met up with Forest Service staff to begin working on a new section of the Little Raven Trail (which was originally built by CMC members) to bypass a mandatory on-road section of hiking. While the Forest Service worked ahead of our crews to clear trees, our crew members used the skills learned in training and began to cut the new trail. Using tools for the first time in the field provided excellent opportunities for problem solving and understanding concepts of trail design. After a full day’s work, the trail started to take shape! It was incredible to see how far the crews’ work came from just one day of work. That evening, crew members gathered around a campfire and made s’mores to celebrate the final night of training week. 

The following morning, the crews returned to the worksite to look over the work they had completed. The length of the work that had been completed was about 1/10th of a mile, which may not sound like much but truly is a lot for one day of work! The remainder of that trail will take shape over the course of the season with the Brainard Lake Crew continuing to build it. At the end of that day, all of CMC’s crewmembers were well-equipped to start working in the field and conduct excellent trail maintenance and construction! 

Going forward 

On June 8th, CMC’s three crews set off into their respective Forests to officially kick off their field seasons. After that first three weeks, significant work has already been done! Up in northern Colorado, CMC’s Medicine Bow-Routt Crew cleared over 300 trees on trails in the Mount Zirkel Wilderness. The Gunnison Crew cleared a significant distance of overgrowth and installed many drainage structures on the Skyline Trail in the La Garita Wilderness. And the Brainard Lake Crew continued to build more of the new trail started during training. CMC’s remaining crew members have started to filter in with four more joining since the first hitch. They will help to bolster the work CMC crews will do and increase the impact they will have on Colorado’s recreation community. 

Want to be part of the work? 

CMC Conservation is looking for volunteers to help with trail work this summer! Wednesday Workdays at Brainard Lake are available to register for on CMC’s website. If you are interested in volunteering outside of a planned volunteer day, feel free to reach out to conservation@cmc.org. Areas that our crew will continue to work include Brainard Lake, throughout the Mount Zirkel Wilderness, the Encampment River and Huston Park Wildernesses (southern Wyoming), the Throughline Trail in the West Elk Wilderness, and in various sections of the Colorado Trail/Continental Divide National Scenic Trail in south/central parts of the state.