Colorado Offering Trail Construction and Maintenance Grants

The Colorado State Trails Program is pleased to announce the opening of the 2021 Non-Motorized Grant Cycle. The grant cycle is open now through Thursday, October 1, 2020.

To continue the goals of Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the State Trails Program to improve trail recreation opportunities while protecting wildlife, habitat, and cultural resources, we are offering three categories for this year’s grant cycle:

Construction: Up to $250,000
New Trail or Trailhead Construction – New trail or trailhead construction, including the installation or creation of new facilities where none currently exists.

Maintenance: Up to $250,000
Maintenance, Re-route or Reconstruction of Existing Trails – Enhancement or improvement of current trails to address resource damage or visitor safety concerns.
Enhancements or Upgrades to Existing Trailheads – Improvement of current trailhead facilities.

Planning/Support: Up to $45,000
Planning – Trail layout, design, engineering, feasibility studies, inventory, use studies, analysis of existing and proposed trails and master plans.
Support – Building and enhancement of volunteer organizations, increasing volunteer capacity, and implementing trail training and education.

While funding is available for all three categories, the program is placing an emphasis on maintenance projects for this year’s cycle to address the increased need to repair and improve existing trails in the state. Applicants may submit two applications for a State Trails grant: one can be for Construction or Maintenance work and the other one must be for Planning/Support.

All applicants must contact a Colorado Parks and Wildlife Area Wildlife Manager by Tuesday, September 8, 2020 to discuss their project. Please email a basic project scope and site map to the appropriate Area Wildlife Manager and copy dnr_trails@state.co.us by that date to be eligible for project review and scoring.

Please visit our website for grant instructions and requirements.

We will also be hosting two webinars in the coming weeks to go over our program policies, application requirements, and go over commonly asked questions. To register for a webinar, click on your preferred link below:

Thursday, August 13, 10:00 a.m.
Tuesday, August 17, 1:00 p.m.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) grant cycle is now open as well. This is a separate grant application for trail construction projects, trail maintenance projects, and land acquisition for trails. The minimum request is $100,000 and the maximum is $750,000. LWCF requires 100% matching funds and these funds can only be awarded to local or state government agencies. Please visit our website to learn more about the LWCF program.

You can find the application for this year’s cycle at cpw.state.co.us.

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