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As the sun peaks over the horizon, birds are chirping and the smell of ponderosa pine fills the air. For years, trail users have walked across the flat caprock and through the open grassland and scrub oak at Castle Rock, Colorado’s Gateway Mesa Open Space. But, below the mesa hid an immersive world of a dense mature tree canopy, plunge-pool wetlands and unique rock formations. The new Legacy Trail, constructed by the Castle Rock Parks and Trails Foundation and Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC), unlocks that world and transports hikers to a hidden wonderland waiting to be explored.

Tucked in the eastern portion of town, Gateway Mesa is one of the community’s most precious properties. For nearly 20 years, trails and open space staff at the Town of Castle Rock envisioned extending the 275-acre property’s trail system to start on the caprock-covered grassland mesa and continue down into a coniferous forest with unique ferns and rare mosses.

“We knew Gateway Mesa had untapped potential for a unique trail experience,” says Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Jeff Smullen. “But, the terrain and hiking-only restrictions required a more hand-built approach to construction, which was not a small task.”

In 2018, this vision became possible with an anonymous $10,000 donation to the Castle Rock Parks and Trails Foundation. That donation was used to partner with VOC to recruit volunteers and build a two-mile route to connect to the existing Chuck’s Loop Trail.

Construction kicked off on National Trails Day 2019 when VOC crew leaders divided up 100 volunteers to work on 100-foot sections of trail. Conservation restrictions prohibited heavy machinery, so construction included removing vegetation, cutting in the trail bench along the hillside and moving large rocks to create trail steps.

With the help of VOC, four volunteer outings occurred in 2019, including a women-only workday and a corporate outing. In that first year, more than 275 volunteers contributed 2,316 hours, equating to a $58,896 value in service. But there was still more work to be done.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, scheduled summer workdays were cancelled. However, by the fall, VOC was organizing small group outings with masks and physical distancing to keep the project moving forward.

After four years of work, 15 outings, 574 volunteers and 4,590 hours, Legacy Trail was completed on October 8, 2022. The massive volunteer workforce saved approximately $124,000 in total project costs. The town earned VOC’s 2019 Land Manager of the Year Award, recognizing outstanding collaborations, support and continued dedication to outdoor stewardship.

“Projects like this [are] an opportunity to get people outdoors exploring their community,” says Smullen. “We couldn’t have done it without this partnership and the army of volunteers.”

The story of Legacy Trail is not just about the number of volunteers or the number of miles built. It’s about the passion of several visionaries, dedicated volunteers and committed philanthropists who worked to preserve this precious world for generations to come.

Lisa Sorbo and KerriAnne Mukhopadhyay are Communications Specialists for the Town of Castle Rock (Colorado) Parks and Recreation Department