Gary's Trail is located at Easter Seals' Rocky Mountain Village near Empire at the eastern end of the Corridor.  Gary's Trail has three purposes. The first is to test how grade, cross-slope (requirements found in the 1993 Recreation Access Advisory Committee guidelines) and surface material determine the level of difficulty for a trail.  The second is to test various trail surfaces and see how they react to Colorado's weather. The third is simply to provide a trail for enjoyment by visitors to Rocky Mountain Village.

 

Each section of trail is approximately 100 feet long and has a different combination of grade, cross-slope, width and surface material.  Additional information about the trail can be found by linking to Gary's Trail Information. The trail was laid out on the ground by students form the Colorado School of Mines. Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado (VOC) built the first section of trail in September 1998. The second section was built in September 1999 by volunteers from VOC and Colorado, New Mexico, and California.

 

Our research trail was named after Gary E. Cargill because he was a leader in opening public lands to persons of all abilities. Gary served as Regional Forester of the Rocky Mountain Region of the United States Forest Service from 1986 to 1992. He was responsible for 22 million acres of National Forest in Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota and Nebraska, as well as grasslands in Kansas. 

 

The information learned from Gary's Trail will be used as PAW and our partners create a new educational trail for universal design at the Empire PAW Site.  The new Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) Guidelines for Outdoor Developed Areas  is an important part of the educational experience found along our interpretive trail and at our tactile exhibits.