Cottonwood Park, off of Spruce Street on the southwest side of Mancos, will get about $60,000 worth of improvements this spring, Town Administrator Andrea Phillips said.
About $42,000 of the project cost will be covered by a grant from Great Outdoors Colorado. The rest will be paid out of the town’s conservation trust fund, Phillips said.
The 13-acre park has a loop trail and some picnic tables, but the trail surface needs repairs and the park could use more basic amenities, Phillips said.
“We want to spruce it up there,” she said. “We want to keep it natural but make it more user-friendly.”
The Mancos River goes through the park, which can be accessed from the east via Spruce Street or from the north on Cedar Street. The park is a designated off-leash dog area.
The mulch trail surface will be replaced by a harder, more level surface with better accessibility, Phillips said. A trail that bisects the existing loop will be added, as well as one that leads to the picnic area, she said.
More picnic tables and benches will be added to the park, as well as more trash cans, dog waste bag dispensers and fencing. Some tree stumps also will be removed and filled in, Phillips said.
The park is the site of the Mancos Brewfest, which will occupy the space once again on Aug. 13. Phillips said the town hopes to have most of the improvements completed by that event.
Workers from the Southwest Conservation Corps will assist with the construction. The town also is coordinating with the Mancos Trails Group to complete the project, Phillips said.
The Cottonwood Park improvements are part of a larger parks master plan, which includes developing a River Walk trail from east to west through Mancos. Cottonwood Park is the western trailhead of the River Walk, which would continue through town to Boyle Park, on the east side. Phillips said the town is still working with property owners to secure easements for the River Walk.
Sometime town the line, the goal is to connect the river trails to the Paths to Mesa Verde trail, Phillips said. That proposed project would see a bike trail connect Mancos to Cortez. The Mancos parks master plan also includes potentially developing hiking and mountain biking trails on the north side of town, Phillips said. “There’s lots potentially happening,” she said. “It’s exciting.”