Old Spanish Trail/Gunnison River Bluffs brochure - Mesa County

The Old Spanish Trail is a nationally-recognized, federally-protected Trail, that has been used since the early 1800s as a trade, slaver and settlement route from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to California. Early European travelers traveled thru Mesa County using this Trail – which continued to be used throughout the 1800s into the early 20th Century as horses, mules and foot travelers gave way to wagons, stagecoaches and the earliest automobiles. The history and national recognition of the Trail is well-documented.

This particular 7-mile section was designated for public recreation – hikers, walkers, bicyclists and horseback riders - in 1996, a cooperative effort of the Bureau of Land Management, Mesa County, the City of Grand Junction, the Museum of Western Colorado and the Riverfront Commission. A 60-foot-wide easement secures the public access; however, while the vast majority of the lands on either side of this section are owned by either Mesa County of BLM, approximately 300 acres are privately owned and there is general consensus that acquiring these properties is vital to the future security of this section of the Old Spanish Trail.

There has never been a professionally-produced print document for this section of the Trail. Colorado Big Country RC&D provided the funding for a  high-quality full-color brochure to  provide an important visualization of this new proposed Trailhead – as well as a guide to this section – with historical information, a map and pictures. Ciavonne, Roberts and Associates, one of the most prestigious and well-known landscaping and project management companies in Colorado, agreed to participate in this project, providing highest-quality artist concepts of the proposed Trailhead as well as professional maps of this section of the Trail. TCS Marketing Group, Inc., designed the brochure.