Opening of the Crossroads Trail in Hayden Meadows

This short but critical pedestrian/bicycle trail under US24 is the key to connecting trails and recreation on the east side of the Arkansas (and the high-speed highway) to big expanses of Forest Service and BLM public lands on the west side of the valley in southern Lake County. After three years of permitting, engineering design and largely volunteer labor, the Crossroads is now formally open. It's significance to the GARNA-sponsored Stage and Rail project is that we can now proceed to consultations with the BLM, USFS, Lake County and the City of Leadville, leading eventually to designation and signing of some 14 additional miles of the S&R route all the way from AHRA's Hayden Reservoir site to the Mineral Belt Trail in Leadville. Those miles are not yet signed but will lie along open and already available Forest and county public roads.