One of Colorado’s mountains above 14,000 feet will see a major, multi-year trail project start this summer, as recently announced by Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (CFI).

Lloyd Athearn, executive director of the nonprofit stewarding the state’s biggest mountains, said the first phase of work along Mount Shavano will launch thanks to various funding sources amounting to about $425,000.

The work has been anticipated since 2016, when Golden-based CFI bought land high on the slopes above Chaffee County. In a report card assessing trails across the fourteeners, the organization had graded Shavano’s summiting path an “F” for its erosive steepness and portions near streams that flooded in the spring.

A CFI video outlines new, rererouted trail construction and reconstruction along the corridor spanning about 4 1/2 miles and 4,600 feet of elevation.

Reroutes are planned for both the lower and upper portions of the trail. The first phase of work figures to have crews posted on either end, felling trees and building timber steps while also moving large rocks to craft other steps and retaining walls.

The job is slated to cover six summers and cost more than $1.5 million.

In 2020, CFI estimated between 7,000 and 10,000 hikers took to Shavano, more than several Sawatch Range neighbors including mounts Columbia (3,000-5,000) and Harvard (5,000-7,000), but fewer than highly popular Mount Elbert (20,000-25,000).

One of Colorado’s mountains above 14,000 feet will see a major, multi-year trail project start this summer, as recently announced by Colorado Fourteeners Initiative (CFI).

Lloyd Athearn, executive director of the nonprofit stewarding the state’s biggest mountains, said the first phase of work along Mount Shavano will launch thanks to various funding sources amounting to about $425,000.

The work has been anticipated since 2016, when Golden-based CFI bought land high on the slopes above Chaffee County. In a report card assessing trails across the fourteeners, the organization had graded Shavano’s summiting path an “F” for its erosive steepness and portions near streams that flooded in the spring.

A CFI video outlines new, rererouted trail construction and reconstruction along the corridor spanning about 4 1/2 miles and 4,600 feet of elevation.

Reroutes are planned for both the lower and upper portions of the trail. The first phase of work figures to have crews posted on either end, felling trees and building timber steps while also moving large rocks to craft other steps and retaining walls.

The job is slated to cover six summers and cost more than $1.5 million.

In 2020, CFI estimated between 7,000 and 10,000 hikers took to Shavano, more than several Sawatch Range neighbors including mounts Columbia (3,000-5,000) and Harvard (5,000-7,000), but fewer than highly popular Mount Elbert (20,000-25,000).