Hank Dart, Todd Byle, and John Kurtz at work on the Rotarun Trail Network last Wednesday night.

Area businesses and the trail advocacy group Big Wood Backcountry Trails are working together to bring more volunteers to the effort to build mid-valley trails. BWBT is inviting local businesses to get more involved in the hands-on construction of the BLM’s Rotarun Trail Network (RTN).

The RTN is a new system of trails being put in west of Hailey on BLM land and private property in Croy Canyon. The network of dirt trails will be 18 miles long when completed. Three miles of the system will be on existing dirt roads between Democrat Gulch and the unnamed drainage to the west of Bullion Gulch. The remaining 15 miles of trails will be single-track dirt trails. The trails built to the west of Rotarun will be for both motorized and non-motorized use - the trails to the east of Rotarun will be non-motorized.

The Hailey bike shop Sun Summit South is stepping up to help with the construction this Wednesday evening. Chip Deffe’, owner of the shop, has been a longtime advocate for more mid-valley dirt trails. Chip, his employees, and his patrons have often given their time and talents to working on trail projects up and down the valley. Now the people associated with Sun Summit South are pitching in with help on the 2.5 miles of RTN trails that will be hand-built.

Sturtevants and Smith Optics have also expressed an interest in getting involved in bringing volunteers to the construction of the Rotarun Trail Network. Please get in touch with BWBT Director Chris Leman if your business or group would like to pitch in with the volunteer trail building efforts. He can be reached at (208) 721-1691 or goodtrails@gmail.com.

Volunteers are being asked to meet at the end of Rodeo Drive (the road that accesses the Rotarun Ski Hill) at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night, August 13, for a two-hour trail construction work session. Wear sturdy footwear, long pants, long sleeved shirts, and eye protection. Bring water and work gloves. Please leave dogs at home. Volunteers should call or email BWBT’s Chris Leman (208/721-1691, goodtrails@gmail.com) so that he can get a pre-event head count - so that ample tools can be provided for.

A barbecue is being planned for all of the RTN construction participants. This celebration for the volunteers and their families will take place on Saturday, October 4th.

Hans Heaphy, Pete Heaphy, and Dan Henry working on a section of the BLM’s Rotarun Trail network.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 10th, 2008 at 11:59 am by Chris Leman and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.