Grand County has celebrated National Public Lands Day for 30 years — the longest ongoing annual celebration in the U.S. Festivities are scheduled throughout the county for its 31st anniversary on Sept. 27, with an added unveiling of Fraser and Winter Park as official Continental Divide Trail gateway communities.

Events are scheduled throughout the county on Saturday, Sept. 27, giving volunteers multiple opportunities to support public lands. At the end of the day, Rendezvous Event Center in Winter Park will host a free public celebration at 4 p.m. and a ribbon-cutting at 6 p.m. for its new gateway community designation.

On Sept. 16, the Winter Park Town Council unanimously accepted the designation of both Winter Park and Fraser as Continental Divide Trail gateway communities. They will join 21 towns spread across Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming, partnering with the Continental Divide Trail Coalition to welcome thru-hikers and support the completion of the 3,100-mile scenic trail.

Grand Lake received its designation as an official gateway community for the Continental Divide Trail seven years ago on July 22, 2018.

As newly christened gateway communities, Winter Park and Fraser will educate visitors about the CDT, which crosses Berthound Pass, while also becoming a stop for hikers to resupply on food and resources before venturing on.

“It’s about the education and outreach, especially when it comes to stewardship of the natural resources in the area,” said Jordan Williams, the Continental Divide Trail Coalition’s Colorado regional representative. “Public knowledge wills people to be better stewards of the environment that they’re living in.”

The trail coalition partners with Headwaters Trails Alliance in Fraser. The organizations are currently planning redevelopments at Berthound Pass to improve wayfinding and safety along underdeveloped trail sections, Williams said, but federal funding cuts have drawn out the timeline and tightened their budgets.

“It’s been a multi-year effort to even get the U.S. Forest Service at the table, just because of their capacity challenges,” said Maire Sullivan, who works in special projects and finance at Headwaters.

These organizations rely heavily on volunteers each year, Sullivan said, but if last year’s Public Lands Day is any indicator, the trend will continue in 2025. Over 400 people from Grand County and beyond stepped up in 2024, equating to a labor effort of $80,000 and making Public Lands Day the county’s largest volunteer event.

“We’re hugely appreciative of so many people in our community, and people that don’t live in our community, that come up here to volunteer for this event and put their energy back into helping preserve our public lands,” Sullivan said.

Saturday, Sept. 27 projects will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

• Gore Canyon Trail Maintenance, Kremmling: trail work
• Colorado River Cleanup, Kremmling: river and shoreline cleanup
• Windy Gap Reservoir, Granby: weeds, vegetation and trash cleanup
• Fraser River Cleanup, Fraser-Winter Park: trash cleanup along the river and Vasquez Creek
• Rocky Mountain National Park, Grand Lake: trail work to reroute the Green Mountain Trail
• Town of Fraser: weed removal and seed collection
• Grand Lake/Continental Divide Trail Coalition: boardwalk branding downtown, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
• Town of Winter Park: fence painting along the Fraser River Trail
• Buffalo Creek Bridge, U.S. Highway 125: rebuild a bridge lost in East Troublesome Fire

Williams encouraged volunteers to participate year-round in the maintenance of the Continental Divide Trail through on-site work and advocacy. Public Lands Day is an opportunity to support future generations of trail users and cultivate a network of environmental stewards, he said.

“The momentum can carry forward, not just for one day, but for that ongoing challenge to protect our public lands, because there are obviously extra challenges then to them right now,” Williams said.