Steamboat Pilot Mobile

Steamboat Springs — Excavating crews took advantage of the unseasonably mild weather this week to launch construction of a $374,000 extension of the Yampa River Core Trail on the city’s south side.

The city of Steamboat Springs is using grants from Great Outdoors Colorado and the Colorado Department of Transportation to add 3,200 feet to the trail. The new segment begins behind Walton Pond Apartments and the U.S. Forest Service headquarters and travels upstream along the river to Dougherty Road adjacent to the Steamboat Christian Center.

The trail will be paved in concrete to a width of 10 feet. The work includes restoration of wetlands along the river.

The new segment of the trail does not offer direct access to the river, Craig Robinson said. He supervises rodeo, ski area, trails and open space for the Parks, Open Space and Recreational Services Department.

“We’re definitely looking to complete the trail and replace wetlands this fall,” Robinson said. “If we can get the concrete done, that would be great.”

If concrete cannot be poured before winter weather sets in, the crews will aim to do that work next spring before high water. That would be necessary to meet the deadline specified in the GOCo grant.

The successful bidder on the trail work was Jag’s Enterprises, of Greeley, with offices in Steamboat.

Deputy City Manager Wendy DuBord said Jag’s has done a variety of projects for the city throughout the past several years.

The new construction will link the current southern terminus of the paved portion of the trail at the bridge over Walton Creek next to South Side Station.

A soft surface trail exists on the south side of the pedestrian bridge. It runs across an undeveloped commercial lot and then through open space in front of South Side Station convenience store and finally, the U.S. Forest Service headquarters.

The trail easement makes a 90-degree turn before it reaches the parking lot of the Steamboat Hotel — formerly Super 8 — and leads west through a lightly used portion of the parking lot at Walton Pond Apartments before reaching the river.

The existing trail turns right again and heads downstream, but Robinson said the new extension will make a left turn at that point and roughly parallel the river upstream behind the Bunkhouse Lodge, Majestic Valley townhomes and River Place residential subdivision until it reaches Dougherty Road. It is a private road at that juncture, and the trail dead ends there.