CMC Seasonal Stewardship Trail Crews Plan to Hit the Ground Running

On June 1, three crews will arrive at CMC Basecamp in Golden to begin training for CMC’s upcoming summer seasonal Stewardship Trail Crews. CMC Conservation Director Brian Bergeler and I will take our crewmembers through the essentials of trail maintenance while conducting extensive hands-on learning at Basecamp as well as at Brainard Lake Recreation Area where one of the crews will be based. It will be an exciting week for CMC! 

This year, CMC’s Stewardship Trail Crew program is significantly bigger than in past years. In 2024, CMC had two crews of two members operating on the Gunnison National Forest as well as on the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. In 2025, CMC had one crew of four operating throughout the Gunnison. This year, CMC is tripling that number with three crews across Colorado! Thirteen crew members across CMC’s three crews are excited to take on the planned work. It has taken lots of work from our Conservation Department and funding partners, and CMC is incredibly excited to expand the impact that CMC has on the stewardship of Colorado’s trails. 

The first crew, as mentioned, will be based at Brainard Lake Recreation Area in the Boulder Ranger District of Roosevelt National Forest. They will be conducting major maintenance projects on the Waldrop and Little Raven Trail, both of which were originally built by CMC members in the last century. CMC is excited for this crew’s opportunity to contribute to CMC’s legacy in this region as well as better one of our state’s most beloved places. CMC is also excited to welcome volunteers to this project. Look out for volunteer opportunities to help the Brainard Crew! Volunteering on this project is a great way to give back to the places we all recreate regularly and is also extremely fun and rewarding work! 

Our second crew will be based in Gunnison, operating throughout the Gunnison National Forest between the Gunnison and Paonia Ranger Districts. This crew will have a few different projects including extensive maintenance on the Throughline Trail in the West Elk Wilderness, on the Skyline Trail in the La Garita Wilderness, as well as further work on the Colorado Trail/Continental Divide (CT/CDT) Trail near Cottonwood Pass.  

An additional project will take our Gunnison Crew on the CT/CDT in the Salida Ranger District of the San Isabel National Forest. Keep an eye out for volunteer opportunities for this project! 

Our third crew will be based in northern Colorado completing deferred maintenance throughout the Mt. Zirkel Wilderness, Huston Park Wilderness, and Encampment River Wilderness in northern Colorado and southern Wyoming’s Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest. They will be traversing some of the region’s most remote and beautiful landscapes clearing downed trees and conducting spot maintenance as they go. 

If you are interested in this work and have current availability through late September, CMC is still looking for one more crew member for this season. Check out the listing here or email conservation@cmc.org if interested. 

Additionally, if you are interested in volunteering on any of our crews this season, look out for opportunities or inquire with us at conservation@cmc.org.