By Charles Pekow
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced in August that it is taking public comment on an Environmental Assessment for a proposed 9.3-mile mountain bike trail in its Sand Flats Special Recreation Management Area outside Moab. This proposed Big Burrito Trail would become the first mountain-bike only trail in the area. It would allow riders to avoid the Porcupine Rim section of the Whole Enchilada Trail and connect then trail system to town. BLM suggests it would help “less advanced riders.”
The Big Burrito name “is a play on the Whole Enchilada Trail,” says Katie Stevens, outdoor recreation planner in BLM’s Moab office. The trail would consist of a combination of slickrock and soil, she says. Stevens acknowledges that some people don’t like the name and BLM may change it.
Zacharia Levine, Grand County community development director, says “I don’t feel strongly that it shouldn’t (be built) but my personal belief is there are other areas in the Grand County region that could be better served to accommodate the minimum number of trail miles that we have left to build on the 150-mile agreement made in the 2008 BLM plan.”
Sandy Freethey, who chairs the Grand County Trail Mix Committee, however, says in an email that the “Big Burrito is high on our list of trails to add to the growing network of mountain biking opportunities around Moab…The process is slow, but keep the faith. The trail will be a good fit in the Sand Flats Recreation Area and it will be virtually the only non-motorized trail in the recreation area. The proposed trail is close to town, so convenient to everyone (and goes through) stunningly beautiful country and scenery.”
Send your comments on the Big Burrito while its hot by Sept. 21 to BLM, Moab Field Office, Attn: Big Burrito Bike Trail, 82 E. Dogwood, Moab, UT 84532, [email protected].
