The Colorado State Recreational Trails Grant Program funds projects to continue to improve outdoor recreation opportunities, including trail construction, maintenance, planning, and support while protecting wildlife, habitat, and cultural resources.
What projects are eligible for this grant?
We are offering four categories for this year's Non-Motorized Trail grant cycle to address the increased need to repair and improve existing trails in Colorado:
- Construction - New trail or trailhead construction, including the installation or creation of new facilities where none currently exists.
- Maintenance - Maintenance, re-route or reconstruction of existing trails and trailheads - Improvement of current trailhead facilities.
- Planning - trail layout, design, engineering, feasibility studies, inventory, use studies, analysis of existing and proposed trails and master plans.
- Support - Building and enhancement of volunteer organizations, increasing volunteer capacity, and implementing trail training and education.
Funding Request Limit: Applicants can request up to $250,000 for Construction/Maintenance projects; $45,000 for Planning/Support. There is no minimum.
Area Wildlife Manager Review Documents
Contact the State Trails Program at 303-791-1957 ext. 4129 or trails@state.co.us with any questions.
Grant Review Meetings - Denver Area
The State Recreational Trails Committee and its grant review and ranking subcommittees meet to review the non-motorized trail grant applications. These meetings are open to the public and provide a platform for verbal comments on the applications.
The 2024 grant cycle begins August 1, 2023. Information will be posted at that time.
Grant Timeline
- August - October: Grant applications available
- September: Basic project scope and map emailed to Area Wildlife Manager/Trails Program
- October - December: CPW staff and subcommittee preliminary reviews
- January: Applicant presentations to subcommittees
- February: State Trails Committee reviews recommendations from subcommittees
- March: CPW Commission final funding decision
- April - June: Contracts and purchase orders are prepared and distributed to awarded applicants
Reference Documents
Federal Funding Requirements
All projects awarded with federal funding are subject to the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 (FFATA). Applicants should request a Unique Entity Identifier if their organization does not already have one. The link to register for a new UEI is listed on the right under "Grant Documentation".
Federal OMB, 2 CFR 200 Uniform Procurement Guidance applies to all CPW RTP grants (as of 2018).
Build America, Buy America Domestic Content Procurement Preference
The Build America, Buy America (BABA) Act as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (s. 70901) is a domestic content procurement preference that applies to federal agencies and financial assistance funding programs, including the RTP. The provision specifically requires any iron, steel and manufactured goods used in projects involving construction, alteration, maintenance or repair of a public building, public works, or real property to be produced or manufactured in the United States. It specifically applies to:
- Iron or steel which must be produced in the US, including all manufacturing processes (from melting to coatings);
- A manufactured project which must be manufactured in the US, with 55% minimum domestic content; and
- A construction material which must be manufactured in the US.
Grantees are responsible for determining that a product or material is produced or manufactured in the US, along with keeping records of certifications to demonstrate compliance. Further guidance can be found at
www.doi.gov/grants/BuyAmerica.
State trails staff and grant reviewers cannot comment on the status of a grant application until the evaluation and scoring process is completed.
Pre-2023 Non-Motorized Recreational Trails Grants Archive