The gondola runs its last fall cabins on Sunday, October 25, and doesn't come back until Friday, November 20. For nearly four weeks the free ride between Mountain Village and Telluride is gone. On foot or by bike, one trail links the two directly. "Essentially the only direct trail right now to get between those two places is Boomerang," Telluride Mountain Club executive director Sophie Fabrizio told KOTO this month.
That is the gap the new Forest Service approval addresses first. The first trail to break ground is a second route between the two towns, designed for recreation and also for people riding or walking between Mountain Village and Telluride on an ordinary day. Most of the rest of the plan is about spreading people out across trails that already exist.
What the Forest Service Signed
The Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests' Norwood Ranger District finished its environmental assessment of the Telluride Mountain Club trail proposal and approved it. The agency announced the approval in an October 8, 2026 release that says implementation is expected to begin in summer 2027. The project page lists the effort as "Telluride Mountain Club Trail Proposal 2023," Project 301400, with a decision signed October 5, 2026.
The headline figure is roughly 8 miles of new nonmotorized trail and 5.5 miles of rehabilitation. Getting to this point took a long time. According to the club's October update, conversations with the Forest Service began in 2017 and drew on community surveys from 2015, 2018 and 2021. The final proposal went in during winter 2024, and the federal environmental review that followed took more than two years and cost roughly $250,000. The Town of Mountain Village, the Town of Telluride and San Miguel County all helped pay for that review.
Why the Connector Goes First
The Mountain Village to Valley Floor Connector is 1.8 miles long. It will run from the Jurassic Trail down to the Valley Floor just west of Boomerang Road, and it will be open to bikes and foot traffic. The design is what makes it a commuting route. The club's request to the Town describes grades averaging no more than 10 percent, switchbacks that follow the terrain, and a clear tread at least 36 inches wide so people can pass each other safely. The trail would be managed as a National Forest System Class II trail. Fabrizio's description on KOTO was a trail "with an easier grade, with switchbacks, and nice tread that will allow people to have another recreation experience, but also the ability to use it as a more commuter trail."
The money backs that up. Three contributors have put more than $180,000 toward this first project.
| Contributor | Amount toward the connector |
|---|---|
| The Alpine Club | $100,000 |
| Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association | $75,000 |
| San Miguel Power Association, Sharing Success grant | $7,500 |
The statements that came with the funding talk about getting between places as much as about riding. "TMVOA's members have told us trails are a priority, and our contribution toward construction reflects that," said Patrick Latcham, TMVOA's president and CEO, in the club's announcement, which The Telluride Times also published. Jim Loebe, the Town of Mountain Village's transit and recreation director, said in the same release that the trail "will provide a safer connection for recreationalists and commuters while strengthening our regional trail system." A transit director is a fitting voice for a trail that, for a few weeks each spring and fall, would be one of only two off-road ways between the towns.
The work is further along than the approval date suggests. The final alignment is flagged and the trees to be removed are marked. The club is reviewing bids for corridor clearing, and the trail will be machine-built with Shawn Gregory of Big Loops Trails. The goal is to open it to the public by late summer 2027.
The Quarter Mile on Town Land
At the bottom, the route crosses Telluride open space. In July 2026 the club asked the Town of Telluride Open Space Commission for permission to move the original alignment onto about 0.25 mile of Town-owned land before it returns to Forest Service land at the trail's end. The stated reason is to avoid a stretch of extremely rocky hillside. The club offered to take on annual maintenance of the whole trail, including the Town section. The July 6 meeting packet carries the full request.
For dog owners, the same packet has a second ask. The club asked the Commission to recommend that Town Council allow dogs on that short segment. Its reasoning is that dogs are already permitted on the surrounding Forest Service lands and on the trail connection from the base of the route into town, so one rule along the whole corridor would avoid confusion. That decision belongs to Town Council. E-bikes are a separate matter. The request states they will not be allowed on the connector, because nearly the entire route is on Forest Service land.
What Comes After, and Why It Spreads People Out
The connector adds a new route. Most of the remaining trails relieve pressure on routes people already use.
"The Southside Perimeter Trail is going to be a more primitive style hiking trail. It will be hand built, so it won't be built with a machine." Sophie Fabrizio, speaking to KOTO
The South Side Perimeter Trail will link Town Park to Bridal Veil Falls along the south side of the valley. It will be foot travel only, and the club says it will "help spread out users and offer another way to reach Bridal Veil Falls." On KOTO, Fabrizio described it as single track in the woods, with a feel similar to the Bridal Veil Trail itself, and a long-term vision of extending it to Bear Creek. The Forest Service puts it at 2 miles, about 0.7 mile of which is on National Forest land. The club will build it with San Miguel County and the support of the Town of Telluride Open Space Commission, and it may also involve a partnership with a private landowner.
The Ilium Valley work follows the same logic. The Sunshine Uphill Trail, at 2.9 miles, runs roughly parallel to the existing T-35, or Sunshine Trail, at a gentler grade and creates a loop meant to cut down on road riding and car shuttling. Trails director Jordan Carr told KOTO that T-35 "wasn't really built with much thought. It was an old social trail that was created and brought into the Forest Service inventory." The Sheep Corrals to Sunshine Connector and the Sunshine Parking Area Connection Trail are meant to improve parking and reduce recreational traffic on Ilium Road and Highway 145.
The rehabilitation list covers 1.9 miles of the Wilson Mesa Trail, which is also open to seasonal motorcycle use, 1.3 miles of the Morningstar Trail, and 1.75 miles of the lower Lizard Head Trail between the Lizard Head Wilderness boundary and the Wilson Mesa junction. The club calls this the Sunshine Mesa loop reconstruction, aimed at spreading use across all three trails.
Where the Published Numbers Differ
Each public document describes the approval a little differently. The Forest Service release gives the roughly 8-mile headline. Under the heading "Proposed Nonmotorized Trail Construction," though, it lists seven segments, including the Ilium Flume Trail at 4.8 miles and the Sheep Mountain Traverse at 3 miles, and those seven add up to more than 15 miles. The club's approval update names five new-trail projects and doesn't mention either of those two. The Forest Service project summary still describes 11 miles of new trail and about 4.7 miles of rehabilitation. The signed Decision Notice, the final environmental assessment and the decision map are all posted on the project page, and the signed decision is the document that governs.
The schedule varies the same way. The club's written update plans the remaining trails "over the next three to five years," while KOTO reported that the club hopes to finish within five to seven. The club puts the full slate at $2 million.
The Dates That Matter From Here
- October 25, 2026: last day of fall gondola service.
- November 20, 2026: winter gondola service begins and runs through April 4, 2027.
- Summer 2027: construction begins on the Mountain Village to Valley Floor Connector.
- Late summer 2027: target public opening for the connector.
- October 24, 2027: the gondola's next scheduled summer service ends. If the connector opens on time, that fall closure would be the first with a second off-road route between the towns.
Questions about the project go to Sophie Fabrizio at [email protected], and the club takes donations through its Telluride for Trails campaign page.
How a property connects to Jurassic, the Valley Floor or the Town Park end of the valley is the kind of detail that shapes daily life here long after closing. If you would like to talk through how the trails planned for 2027 and beyond relate to a home you own or are considering, Lars Carlson is glad to help. Request a confidential consultation.
