Stewards needed to keep hiking trails clear after monsoon storms

Posted by Jeff on Sep 5, 2017 @ 7:13 am in Hiking News | 0 comments | Last modified: September 4, 2017

Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation needs help maintaining hiking trails near Tucson.

Monsoon 2017 has let up for now, but just weeks ago storms dumped lots of rain on southern Arizona. All that rain caused weeds and other plants to grow out of control.

County officials are looking for trail stewards to make sure these trails continue looking good.

Volunteers are needed to keep an eye on their assigned portion of the trail and clean it up when the trails start looking overgrown.

Volunteers will be asked to do minor maintenance by removing any weeds blocking the trail and let the county know if anything more serious is going on.

The trails program coordinator said the trails need to be kept under control. He said if they aren’t, hikers could be forced to make their own trails, which could destroy the wildlife there and put your safety at risk.

“Most of the people who come out here are able to handle the trails. Some of our trails are difficult by design and build but getting lost is a problem,” he said. “Especially in the Tucson Mountain Park where we have [unintended] social trails and we are really trying to address that…”

To volunteer, call 520-724-5000 and ask for Mark Flint with the Trail Stewards Program or email him at [email protected].