San Juan County gets $30k grant from state to produce gravel biking guide

San Juan County officials say a $30,000 grant they have received from the state to help market their enormous inventory of unpaved roads on government lands to cycling enthusiasts will help them take advantage of a significantly underutilized outdoor recreation resource.

Officials with the Outdoor Recreation Division of the New Mexico Economic Development Department announced in a March 5 news release that the county was among the 41 recipients of its Outdoor Marketing Grants, which are used to fund recreation initiatives and expand the reach of live events across the state.

The money will be used to hire a firm to produce a guide to gravel biking trails across San Juan County, according to county spokesman Devin Neeley. Neeley said the guide would be available both in printed and digital form.

Gravel biking is a booming segment of the recreational biking field that is essentially just what it sounds like — any kind of cycling that takes place on terrain that doesn’t involve a paved surface or the steep, rocky inclines of mountain biking, according to bicycling.com.

Officials say there are literally thousands of miles of such terrain in San Juan County, mostly in the form of little-used dirt or gravel roads established to help workers reach oil and gas well sites.

“Gravel biking is one of the fastest-growing segments in outdoor recreation,” Neeley said. “And San Juan County is well suited because of the amount of uninterrupted infrastructure we have in the area.”

Neeley said San Juan County and other entities have devoted a lot of resources in recent years to increasing their inventory of mountain biking trails and attractions, but this project will allow the county to turn the spotlight to another area.

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“This would a way to increase biking opportunities without actually having to build anything,” he said.

Gravel biking trails exist in abundance in San Juan County, but few people are aware of them — and there certainly has never been a resource for finding them for those who are interested in pursuing such opportunities. This grant will change that, said deputy county manager Steve Saavedra, who appeared before the County Commission in December seeking its approval for a resolution that would allow him to apply for the grant on the county’s behalf.

Saavedra said the county likely will seek competitive bids for the project, then hire a company to produce the guide. He said he envisions that company developing an inventory of “out-and-back” half-day or full-day rides that people can enjoy, setting out from central locations such as Farmington, Aztec, Bloomfield, Kirtland or other locations and using designated bike routes before reaching remote sites and accessing those unpaved roads.

Saavedra said it may help to think of the guide as offering a series of flower-like options — each community in San Juan County would be the pistil, while the various petals would represent a different gravel-biking trail or road that is located in the area. The guide would offer specific directions on how to access the trail.

Such roads rarely are marked, Saavedra said, and the guide would help cyclists identify them and keep from getting lost.

Saavedra described that vast network of oil and gas field roads as a hidden gem in San Juan County, one that many cyclists would be happy to take advantage of if only they knew about them. The guide also will help those cyclists identify which roads or trails are off limits to them or areas that might be dangerous, he said, noting that the project likely will require considerable interaction with the federal Bureau of Land Management.

The grant has a one-year timeline, so Saavedra said he anticipates the project will forward quickly.

“We’re optimistic we can get it done,” he said, adding the guide may be ready five to six months after a firm is hired to produce it.

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Neeley said a company called Gravel Adventure Field Guide already has produced such guides for many locations around the country, including New Mexico’s Doña Ana County and the western San Juan Mountains near Ridgway, Colorado.

“We’re really excited to add to the outdoor recreation opportunities in the county and to build our inventory,” he said. “As we continue working to build Farmington and San Juan County into an outdoor Mecca, this will be another feather in our cap.”

Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Oil and gas roads to be inventoried as part of gravel biking guide