Spring cleanup at Hartman Rocks helps prevent erosion

Lunch time rolled around on Saturday at the annual Hartman Rocks Spring Cleanup and local volunteers began trading their puffer jackets for t-shirts, welcoming in an early-season farmer’s tan. Locals sat around the picnic area at Hartmans, chatting, laughing and sharing in the joy of community connection. 

Organized by Gunnison Trails, the event brings locals young and old to Hartman Rocks for a day of maintenance. As if the draw of helping the community and trails flourish wasn’t enough, Gunnison Trails was also handing out free hats to all volunteers. 

Volunteers spent the day picking up litter and assisting Gunnison Trails with some much-needed maintenance. Focus was shifted mainly this year to trail widening and erosion prevention. 

Children ran around with Tim Kugler, the executive director of Gunnison Trails, and organizer of the trail maintenance event, placing signs along the trails, hopefully reminding riders to stay on the designated lines. 

City Councilor Matt Schwartz, a seasoned trail maintainer, mentioned that the intent with trail widening is to make Hartmans more accessible to handbikers. Gunnison’s favorite pastime just got that much better. 

Councilor Schwartz, who has sponsored and maintained a section of the Colorado Trail for the past 12 years, spent the majority of the day assisting with “dead planting,” an anti-erosion technique. Schwartz said that Kugler helps him every year with the maintenance process. 

Volunteers passed dead sage-brush plants from the backs of trucks, over the fence and began planting them along the trails. 

Volunteer Cathy Kissinger shared some of the benefits of this technique. Though the brush is technically dead, they help other plants grow in their shadow, creating more biodiversity, and helping the soil stay firm, preventing deeper erosion in the area. Not to mention, it helps keep riders on designated trails. 

“It’s important to me to give back to this place because I spend so much time here,” said councilor Schwartz. “It’s 10 minutes from my house yet it’s miles away.” He went on to emphasize the strides the recreation area has taken in the past 25 years. With the help of Gunnison Trails, Hartman Rocks has been drastically cleaned up and more amenities have been developed. Hartmans is one of the backbones of Gunnison’s local economy, “the more we can do the better,” said Schwartz. 

Every year, more people are attracted to the event, aiding in the protection of the beloved trails. 

“It’s one of the best community events of the year,” said Schwartz as dug a shovel into the already dry earth, making way for more brush. 

This year’s cleanup, though Hartmans has been open for over a month, is three weeks earlier than normal. The unseasonably warm weather and generational lack of snow have sped up this spring drastically.