The Silverton Singletrack Society has announced that it received more than $1 million in grant money that will enable the organization to begin working on the second phase of the Baker’s Park Trail System this summer.
Baker’s Park, the 7-mile trail network located less than a mile from downtown Silverton, was opened in 2024 after several years of planning and construction. Since opening, trail counters recorded nearly 3,900 individual users in the system’s first season, according to the society’s news release.
Phase 2 will add roughly 10 miles of new trail to the park, and mark the project roughly half-way complete. The new trails will be roughly 29% beginner, 53% intermediate and 18% advanced – designed for hikers, runners and mountain bikers, including class 1 e-bikes.
The end goal is 30 miles of single track trail that loops around the Storm Peak Massif.
The entire project was estimated to cost $2.6 million in 2023, but will likely end up costing at least several hundred thousand over the original estimate.
Roughly $2 million will have been spent following the completion of phase 2, and to finish the entire system will likely take an additional million, said Klemens Branner, SSS board chair.
Funding sources for phase 2 include $750,000 from Great Outdoors Colorado Community Impact Program, $250,000 from Colorado Parks & Wildlife’s Non-Motorized Trail Program, $100,000 from the Foundation for America’s Public Lands and $7,500 from San Miguel Power Association’s Sharing Success Program.
The project is exactly what the GOCO community impact program was intended to support, Mike Wright, southwest program officer for Great Outdoors Colorado said in written statement.
“This is a community that identified a real need, did the hard work to build consensus and prove the concept, and is now delivering lasting recreational infrastructure for residents who have had very little access to the outdoors close to home,” he said.
Planning for the project was completed in 2025, using a $69,652 Colorado State Outdoor Recreation Grant.
Construction is expected to begin in July, and end fall 2027.
Baker’s Park is the first of its kind in San Juan County. It was designed to provide sustainable, accessible recreation while preserving open space and boosting the local economy that has primarily relied on winter ski tourism.
It has definitely attracted more visitors to Silverton, Branner said. Although there are not any hard statistics supporting that, there are visual signs.
“All of a sudden, there are now cars with bike racks that we didn’t see five years ago in the same kind of numbers,” he said. “So, yeah, it’s definitely making a difference.”
jbowman@durangoherald.com
