Mountain bikers are encouraged to break in the new Bean Canyon Connector trail in the House Creek Area of the San Juan National Forest.
A three-mile trail connects the House Creek Campground to the Bean Canyon trail. It was recently completed by forest crews and the Kokopelli Bike Club.
"It parallels the House Creek road from the campground and connects with the climb out of Bean Canyon," said trail volunteer Keith Evans. "It is pretty soft right now, so we need people to go and ride it and pack it down."
The trail is part of an expansion that links Dolores with House Creek and the Boggy Draw trail system.
Crews from the Southwest Conservation Corp will be building the first section of the Overlook Trail this Fall. The 6-mile trail will start next to the Dolores cemetery, switchback up the canyon rim, travel the mesa overlooking McPhee reservoir, then drop down into the House Creek campground. From there riders will be directed to the recently completed spur to the Bean Canyon loop system.
Forest fire crews did the initial brush clearing for the trail, the 20 volunteers using hand tools chopped in the rest.