The Meadow Creek Trail, at Exit 203 in Frisco, is closed. Major repairs to revitalize this worn trail will keep it closed from May 19 till August 2, though it may be open some weekends.

As one of the most popular trails in Summit County, the Meadow Creek Trail has experienced a lot of wear and tear. Over the years, hikers and weather have turned the trail into a steep gully strewn with rocks, gravel, loose dirt and boulders. In wet weather, the trail becomes a stream bed and wears away more of the trail. The trail becomes wider, rougher and deeper every year.

This is the second year of a joint project between the U.S. Forest Service and Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance to make Meadow Creek a great trail again. Last year, the project replaced a collapsed bridge, and rebuilt a boardwalk through the marshland on the upper portion of the trail, from the trailhead to the turn-off to Lily Pad Lake. This year, the project will concentrate on the lower mile of the trail to make the trail easier to hike and more sustainable.

The Forest Service will oversee rebuilding the trail so it is easier to hike, and will remain dry. The project will level out the trail bed as much as possible, and, in the steeper sections, create “check steps.” A series of 30 of these steps will climb the trail, making hiking easier. The steps also check water flow, slowing down and diverting water off the trail.

In many locations along the trail, dips will be cut in the trail bed — little channels to guide water into the forest. One point on the trail carries so much water that a long, lateral drain will carry water 40 feet alongside the trail before crossing under the trail via a culvert, and off into the woods. 

This project is substantial.  In June, the Forest Service team will spend four weeks preparing the ground for the check steps. Using an excavator, they will level the trail, remove boulders, cut dips, dig the lateral drain, and prepare foundations for the check step timbers. Meanwhile, 40 12- and 16-foot 8-by-8 foot timbers will be carried, by hand, to the locations of the check steps.

In July, two 10-person Rocky Mountain Youth Corps teams will spend three weeks building the check steps. Under Forest Service guidance, these enterprising young people will set up camp in the parking lot and work daily. They will place timbers in the check step foundations, drill holes, and secure the timbers by pounding rebar through the holes into the ground. Then, the upper side of each step will be backfilled with rock and dirt. Boulders will be gathered and pounded with sledgehammers into small rocks and gravel. Mineral soil will be collected from pits in the forest and spread to finish the trail surface, which will be leveled and smoothed to the Lily Pad cutoff.

Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance volunteers will help with everything from raking tread to crushing rock on June 13 and 27, and July 10 and 17. (Interested? Visit ESWA’s website). But the youth from Rocky Mountain Youth Corps are critical to the project. Their work is funded by a Colorado Parks and Wildlife Grant to Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance, as well as Rocky Mountain Youth Corps’ association with AmeriCorps. Hopefully, the ongoing AmeriCorps cost-cutting won’t derail this important project.

While the trail is closed, Lily Pad Lake will only be accessible from the Lily Pad Lake Trail in Wildernest. Parking is extremely limited, so take the Summit Stage leaving Silverthorne at 15 or 45 minutes after the hour.

Jim Alexander is a Silverthorne resident who has worked with Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance for seven years. He leads the Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance Weed Spotter program and the Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance Grant program, which funds wilderness protection and improvement projects.