February 22, 2021

The Sedona Trail Keepers, a consortium of Sedona-area businesses and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau, will present a $100,000 check to the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund (SRRTF) Thursday, February 25. The presentation marks the conclusion of a successful five-year drive that has seen the Trail Keepers contribute $370,000 to support the SRRTF partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to maintain hundreds of miles of trails in and around Sedona and the Village of Oak Creek.

“Our trails are the gateway to Red Rock Country, offering access to our unique environment to approximately two million people every year, including all of us,” said Sedona Chamber President and CEO, Candace Carr Strauss. “The multiple partnerships behind Sedona’s trail maintenance achievements demonstrate what we can do when we work together.”

Since 2016, 50 Sedona businesses have donated $185,000 as part of the Trail Keepers program, an amount matched by the chamber, bringing the five-year total to $370,000.

“Partnerships like these are critical to Sedona’s continuing progress in implementing the Sustainable Tourism Plan, and they provide Sedona visitors and our fellow Sedonans with beautiful trails that they can hike, bike and ride daily,” Strauss added.

“The contributions of the Trail Keepers have been critical to our ability to fund massive annual efforts to maintain trails and build retaining walls, rock stairs and drainage structures,” said SRRTF President, Kevin Adams.
In 2020, SRRTF crews completed 322 miles of trail maintenance, constructed 11.7 miles of new trails and naturalized 11.3 miles of abandoned trails. Workers rerouted eight trails, completed 402 feet of retaining walls, installed 79 rock stairs, built 101 new drainage structures and installed 134 trail signs. The continued trail maintenance and improvements in Sedona are critical in order to support the approximately 2 million trail users per year. The American Conservation Experience, Friends of the Forest, Verde Valley Cyclists Coalition and individual volunteers were part of the SRRTF effort.

“This unique partnership with Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund and contributors like the Sedona Chamber is a model for other communities supported by outdoor recreation and tourism,” said Red Rock District Ranger, Amy Tinderholt. “This effort ensures that residents and visitors will have an amazing trail system to explore.”

Volunteers and paid youth crews are working on Boynton, Bear and Doe Mountain trails, then shifting to trail construction near the Village of Oak Creek in late February and March, Adams said. Improvements and soil restoration are planned for trails east of Courthouse Butte and Bell Rock, he added.

The invitation-only check presentation will take place Thursday, February 25 at 3 p.m. on Girdner Trailhead at 15 Cultural Park Place and will be shared live on Visit Sedona’s Facebook page. Representatives of the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau, the Sedona Red Rock Trail Fund, the City of Sedona and the Red Rock Ranger District will be on hand.

###

---