The Cheesman Canyon section of the South Platte is located in Colorado, in the Pike National Forest, about 50 miles southwest of Denver. It has long been a favorite fly-fishing destination for generations of anglers. The canyon below Cheesman Reservoir is approximately 3.5 miles long and roadless; one of the few sections of canyon in the Colorado Front Range that hasn't been "improved" by adding a road. The only foot trail into the canyon area is the Gill Trail, which is at least 40 years old.

Volunteers pose for a photo at a reconstructed portion of the Gill Trail.

Surprisingly, the trail was never completed all the way to the dam at Cheesman Reservoir, which is located at the head of the canyon. The route ends about two miles into the canyon where a series of rabbit-runs branch off in numerous directions. Not only was the trail not finished, but also most of it has seen little maintenance over the years. An estimated 25,000 anglers, as well as other hikers, use the canyon every year and the number of visitors might well increase significantly over the next 40 years. As a result, the trail is in need of major repair and restoration to prevent further erosion from taking place; erosion which sends sediment into the river, impacts the quality of the fishery, and is degrading water quality and the overall health of the watershed. Additionally, the damaged trail is also creating ever more serious safety problems for those who use it. Currently, numerous steep and ill-defined sections of the trail cross slick rock and slopes of loose, decomposed granite known as grus (pronounced "gher-uss").

The Cutthroat Chapter of Trout Unlimited began the Cheesman Canyon Restoration Project (CCRP) a couple of years ago in order to complete the backlog of maintenance on the existing sections of the Gill Trail, and to complete a standard sustainable all the way to the gauging station below Cheesman Reservoir. Another of the project goals is to build a series of new well-defined and sustainable access trails down to the river from the main trail. In their attempts to access the river, anglers have worn countless "social" trails, which branch off the main trail. Many of the social trails run directly down the fall line and runoff is captured and channeled into these routes forming gullies. In other areas, this bushwhacking denudes the slopes of already-thin vegetation, which causes additional soil erosion and unnecessary sedimentation in the river channel. A well-designed trail route and sound construction work by volunteers will improve the trail and allow access through now dangerous areas of the canyon. This work is being done carefully to preserve the natural integrity of the canyon.

A professional trail designer did most of the original layout and planning work for the project, but volunteers have been doing most of the work. In 2001 alone, Trout Unlimited members all along the Front Range and volunteers from other organizations in the community devoted 1,750 volunteer-hours to the project. Currently, the project is a collaborative effort between all the Front Range chapters of Trout Unlimited, Denver Water, the United States Forest Service and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado. Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) is a 20-year old Denver based non-profit volunteer organization whose specialty is trail design, construction, and maintenance. A couple of years ago, one small group of VOC volunteers built a new segment of the trail near the Wigwam Campground as a training exercise. However, they are devoting considerable volunteer resources to the project this year and will be working side by side with Trout Unlimited.

Another important goal of the project is to protect crucial habitat of the Pawnee montane skipper. The skipper is a small endemic butterfly that is a federally listed endangered species. The many social trails, which run erratically throughout the canyon, now bisect much of the skipper's habitat. Traffic along these trails is killing the plants upon which the butterfly depends. The tragic Schoonover and Hayman fires of 2002 destroyed or affected about 40% of the existing skipper habitat, most of it upstream or surrounding the reservoir. As a result, the surviving skipper habitat in the canyon is even more important. By renovating the main trail and constructing well-defined and sustainable access routes to the river, the volunteers working on the project hope to stop future the loss of skipper habitat. Volunteers will also be working to rehabilitate the damaged side slopes and restore native vegetation that is used by the skipper to lay its eggs. They plan to collect and plant seed from local grasses in the revegetation work to help preserve the genetic integrity of the plants.

The Cheesman Canyon Restoration Project is also designed to encourage development of a strong environmental stewardship amongst the volunteers and everyone who uses the canyon. After the project is completed, the Cutthroat Chapter will monitor the condition of the trail and conduct maintenance to prevent it from lapsing into an unsafe state again. If you would like to volunteer to help on the project, please visit the VOC website at www.voc.org and look for the list of 2003 projects. The CCRP will be listed there and you may register on-line. If you would like to register by phone, you may do so by calling 303-715-1010 or 1-800-925-2220. Be sure to give the name, address, and phone number for each person who wishes to register. If you have an e-mail address, please be sure to provide that as well.