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Sugar Trail opens in Horse Gulch

New link connects to Skyline Trail
About two dozen riders showed up at the Horse Gulch trailhead for the official opening of Sugar Trail, a two-way, multi-use trail connecting Skyline Trail to Horse Gulch Road. Trails 2000 Executive Director Mary Monroe said the 1½-mile trail was built as an alternative to Hyper Extended Ridge, which is much more technical.

Trails enthusiasts on Wednesday celebrated the grand opening of the 1.5-mile Sugar Trail, which now provides easier connectivity between Skyline Trail and Horse Gulch.

Mary Monroe Brown, executive director of Trails 2000, said the organization first secured the easement for Hyper Extended Ridge in 2008, which was on private land.

That led to the building of Skyline Trail, which is located on Bureau of Land Management property.

“We always wanted to come over from the ridge onto Horse Gulch Road as an alternative access since that ridge is pretty technical,” she said.

Now, the two areas are joined by a two-way, 8 percent grade, multi-use connector: Sugar Trail.

The name is an acronym for Skyline to Horse Gulch Road, or “SHGR.”

Monroe said Trails 2000 worked with the city of Durango to gain access to the land, and the trail was designed by Daryl Crites. A group of Trails 2000 crew members and volunteers did trail work.

“There was a great community effort to get this trail complete,” she said.

The opening of Sugar Trail marks the fourth new trail the organization has installed this season. Trails 2000 finished Medicine Trail and Chapman Trail earlier this summer and expects work on Purgatory Flow to be finished within the next two weeks.

“That’s a high number of trails in any community,” Monroe said.

jromeo@durangoherald.com



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