Land Acknowledgment

This is a community stewardship day, which we acknowledge takes place on the traditional unceded territory of the Núu-agha-tʉvʉ-pʉ̱ (Ute), and Cheyenne Nations*. We acknowledge the painful history of genocide and forced occupation of their territory, and we honor and respect the many diverse indigenous people connected to this land on which our stewardship days take place.  

Location and Parking Details:

Volunteers will be parking in an area not open to the public so please follow directions carefully once you leave Highway 67 there is little to no cell phone service. To arrive at this location you will follow the driving directions below, a map link has been provided for reference. This is the location of the gate where a RMFI Staff member will meet you at and provide access for the workday only. 

Forest Service Gate (no public access)

Driving Directions:

Coming from Highway 24 you will be turning left off of Hwy 67 just after the entrance to Mueller State Park onto Teller County Road 62. The sign reads, "CR 62" and there is also a brown Forest Service sign that points you in the direction of the Crags; this sign reads "Crags C.R. 3 1/2". You will now be on a dirt road for the remainder of the drive. This road is accessible to non 4x4 vehicles though we recommend that you drive carefully. Approximately 1.6 miles up CR 62 you will reach a fork at the Rocky Mountain Mennonite Camp, stay to your RIGHT. You will continue up CR 62 for another 2.5 miles into a more forested section of the road. You will pass the Raspberry Mountain Trailhead, the Crags Trailhead, and will pass the Campground. Once you have passed the campground, the road continues, and past a large meadow on your right, there will be a dirt road on your left with a gate, you have arrived where a RMFI staff member will let you through. This is a passable steep dirt road that does not require a 4x4 vehicle. The road is free of obstacles though we do recommend a vehicle that has some clearance and tires that are in good condition as you will be parking up the road in a clearing.

If you run into driving issues and have service, a Field Phone number will be provided in a confirmation email that will route you to a RMFI staff member in Colorado Springs, as the staff at the work site will not have service. We recommend downloading driving directions prior to leaving. 

Time:

8:00 am - 3:00 pm

Please arrive by 8:00 am, we will then head to the worksite which is an approximately a 2-mile hike from the parking location. We will tool up and 2:00 pm (as weather permits) and head down to the parking location to have you back at your car by 3:00 pm. 

Registration:

Online registration will have a hard close at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, July 12th. Parking for this workday is not public access and a RMFI staff member will have to let you in and out of the gate we ask that ALL volunteers be available for the entire workday and leaving early or arriving late is not possible at this location.

Activity: This U.S. Forest Service Property within Pike National Forest has been a multi-year project for RMFI as we reroute the Devils Playground trail to the summit of Pikes Peak. These workdays will focus on the continued construction of the new trail. Trail construction tasks on this project can vary, please expect tasks to include mainly cutting and refining new trail tread. Other tasks may include moving natural materials like rock and timbers or assisting with installing other in trail structures with the direction of RMFI staff. This is strenuous but very rewarding work at high altitude. The work site is approximately 2 miles from the parking location; we recommend that all participants are prepared for a workday above 10'500 ft. 

If you have concerns about accessibility on this stewardship day, please reach out to us, or for your reference please use our Trail Terminology Guide to learn more about this activity.

For more information about what to bring for the stewardship day, visit our FAQ page.

*If you would like to learn about the native territories that each of our projects are located on, please follow this link: https://www.rmfi.org/projects.