La Veta Trails

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La Veta Trails Follow the La Veta Trails page to stay informed about trails, events and news.

La Veta Trails is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building a trail system for all ages and abilities in Huerfano County. Founded in March 2015, our mission is to transform La Veta and Huerfano County into a healthier community through trails, active transportation, conservation, and organized outdoor experiences. We accomplish our mission by recruiting and training volunteers, organizing trail work days, providing information about trails, forming collaborative partnerships, developing programs for youth and adults, and fund raising.

Here's a photo of Sabrina and me before our talk. What a moment for La Veta Trails.
10/19/2026

Here's a photo of Sabrina and me before our talk. What a moment for La Veta Trails.

La Veta Trails Takes Geoheritage Global! We’re excited to share that La Veta Trails was represented at the Geological So...
10/16/2026

La Veta Trails Takes Geoheritage Global!

We’re excited to share that La Veta Trails was represented at the Geological Society of America’s annual meeting this week at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver!

With approximately 9,000 attendees from around the world, the conference was an incredible opportunity to share what makes our region so special. The GSA Geoheritage Committee selected our presentation, A Community Engagement Model for Advancing Geoheritage Stewardship, for a coveted noon lecture slot.

Sabrina Kainz, who gives our community talks with Lon Abbot, shared the geology of our region, including the origins of the Spanish Peaks, while our presentation also explored La Veta Trails’ history, stewardship, and why geoheritage matters.

No, 9000 people did not attend our session! We were thrilled to welcome an audience of 60—and the questions and enthusiastic response that followed reminded us how much our region’s geological and cultural stories have to offer!

The conference also opened doors to exciting new connections, including interest in bringing Indigenous perspectives on land, identity, and stewardship to our community, as well as opportunities to engage students in geoheritage.

Why does this matter? Because geoheritage is about more than rocks and landscapes. It’s about understanding the connections between our land, our history, our culture, and the people who care for this place.

Thank you to everyone who supports La Veta Trails and our mission to celebrate, interpret, and steward our region's remarkable heritage. We’re excited to build on this momentum and continue sharing the story of the Spanish Peaks and the landscape we call home!

Please welcome Beth Kreutzer to the La Veta Trails Board!La Veta Trails is delighted to welcome Beth to our Board of Dir...
10/09/2026

Please welcome Beth Kreutzer to the La Veta Trails Board!

La Veta Trails is delighted to welcome Beth to our Board of Directors. A dedicated educator with 34 years of experience, Beth has spent her career inspiring students to understand and care for the natural world. For 25 years, she has volunteered with River Watch, monitoring local waterways alongside students, and she has partnered with state and federal agencies to provide hands-on conservation education. She also trains fellow teachers in Project WILD, Project WET, and Project Learning Tree, extending her passion for conservation education throughout the region.

Beth’s roots in Huerfano County stretch back to the early 1900s. Her family has deep ties to local ranching and Walsenburg businesses, and her father dedicated his career to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Her family’s legacy is also woven into the very trails La Veta Trails maintains: both the Schafer Trail and the Levy-Krier Trail are named after members of her family. A lifelong hiker, angler, and outdoor enthusiast, Beth brings a unique combination of conservation expertise, ranching heritage, and a deep personal connection to the landscapes and history of the Spanish Peaks region.

We are excited to welcome Beth’s experience, enthusiasm, and longstanding commitment to conservation to our board as we work together to care for the trails, watersheds, and open spaces that make this region so special.

Beth (right) and her friend Melissa on the Schafer Trail.

Help us welcome Sam Hinkle, a new La Veta Trails Board member. Sam was born and raised in Colorado Springs and grew up e...
10/07/2026

Help us welcome Sam Hinkle, a new La Veta Trails Board member. Sam was born and raised in Colorado Springs and grew up exploring Southern Colorado. From scrambling in the bramble along Monument Creek to camping beneath the Spanish Peaks to fishing the Arkansas in his grandpa’s waders (three sizes too big), Sam fell in love with the region. As a result, he built a career protecting and enhancing these places. Sam brings more than a decade of experience fundraising for conservation efforts in the West, including time as the Development Director for a regenerative ranching nonprofit and a trail-building nonprofit. When he isn’t supporting La Veta Trails or working with Trout Unlimited, you can find Sam fly fishing, playing Dungeons and Dragons, or trying to tire out his dog, Koozie (Sam’s daily exercise in futility).

We are thrilled to have Sam on the La Veta Trails team. Thank you, Sam!

The loppers we depend on to clear trails would be in rough shape without John and Patti Davis. With all the trail work t...
10/04/2026

The loppers we depend on to clear trails would be in rough shape without John and Patti Davis. With all the trail work the crew did this season, the loppers needed John's TLC. Earlier today, they delivered a bucket of newly sharpened and oiled loppers, ready to go back to work. John even restored two loppers that Matty Cee donated from his days of working on trails. Thank you, John and Patti!!

It was an epic year for the La Veta Trails crew members who maintained U.S. Forest Service trails in this region. The US...
09/30/2026

It was an epic year for the La Veta Trails crew members who maintained U.S. Forest Service trails in this region. The USFS reporting year is October 1, 2025, to September 30, 2026. Please help us applaud their work clearing trails so you can hike, bike, or ride your horse to enjoy this stunning landscape. Can we get a few WOWs?

09/18/2026

Community Geology Hike with Lon and Sabrina

09/17/2026

Community Geology Hike at Lathrop State Park with Lon and Sabrina.

09/17/2026

Community Geology Hike with Lon and Sabrina.

Greenhorn Trail CrewWhile we were enjoying the bingo fun, our amazing trail crew was hard at work!Led by Chris Silks, th...
09/13/2026

Greenhorn Trail Crew

While we were enjoying the bingo fun, our amazing trail crew was hard at work!

Led by Chris Silks, the crew spent a long day clearing the Greenhorn Trail. This effort wrapped up the tremendous amount of work needed to clear the trails throughout the Greenhorn Mountain Wilderness Area.

The numbers are pretty impressive:

20.6 miles of trails cleared
1,500+ fallen trees or trees growing within the trail corridor were removed
235 hours of trail maintenance

The work covered the Bartlett, Greenhorn, South Apache, and Apache Falls trails.

A HUGE thank you to everyone who put in the time and effort to make this happen:

Chris Silks
Nan Floyd
Andrew Todd
Adam Battaia
Cory O’Brien
Ashlee Selee
David Conley

We also want to give a big shout-out to District Ranger Destiny Chapman, who is always in our corner. She kept us in the loop when the Aspen Acres Fire put our work on hold and provided timely answers to our questions. We really appreciated her support and the way she recognized the crew’s efforts. It’s great to have someone who understands how much these trails mean to the people who hike, ride, hunt, and enjoy this beautiful area. We’re proud to support the U.S. Forest Service in keeping these trails open and accessible for everyone to enjoy.

Thank you to this incredible crew for your hard work, dedication, and commitment!

Address

P. O. Box 202
La Veta, CO
81055

Telephone

(719) 890-4071

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