Farmington, NM: Wavy Trails in Northwest New Mexico

The Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew supports the Farmington, NM bike club in preserving their local singletrack trails.

After identifying the beginning and ending points of the new reroute, the group split into two groups and flagged a fun and twisty trail.
Noel marks the trail with a pinflag into the sand. If this trail alignment is approved by the BLM, it won't take much to construct it in this environment.
After laying out the new trail alignment, the group walked the entire route to feel the flow of it and record the track on a GPS.
Four-year old Dominic had fun laying out the new trail, but after getting tired of walking tapped into Nat's sweet spot and asked him for a shoulder ride.

Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew leaders Nat and Rachael Lopes visited Farmington's local bike club, Velo de Animas, in late August. The bike club and the local BLM office are working together to improve the mountain biking experience in Farmington without excluding other trail users from the trails. One of the most difficult tasks is keeping popular singletrack trails narrow with the four-wheeled base of the ATV's allowed on all trails.

Limiting ATV access to some singletrack trails was a priority for the club and the BLM; however, the crew emphasized the need for creating fun trails to replace any trails that are taken away from this user group. Nat and Rachael taught an IMBA Trailbuilding School and led a group of volunteers in the design of a new .75-mile reroute trail along the Crab Apple Trail Loop to avoid a fire road section along the loop. A total of 40 volunteer hours were logged, and the club celebrated with a BBQ and a night ride under the light of the full moon.