As Jennifer Burns retires from the Red Rock Ranger District, she will be opening two new local trails Thursday, Feb. 25, to bikers, hikers, horseback riders and runners.
“It’s been such a unique privilege to be a ‘trustee’ of these outstanding lands that mean so much to all of us,” said Burns, whose final act as district recreation staff officer will be the opening to the public of the Scorpion and Skywalker trails in Carroll Canyon at 10 a.m. “I am coordinating a ribbon cutting for the great new trails that have been recently constructed.”
Burns’ position is being filled temporarily by acting recreation staff officer David Cernicek until a permanent replacement is found next month.
“Sedona’s busy trail season is coming up,” said Burns, in an email to city officials. “We have achieved great things.”
Burns has been busy volunteering her time clearing debris from the trails, each of which runs two miles from the south parking lot of Sedona Red Rock High School. While Skywalker ends at Old Post Trail just south of West Sedona, Scorpion merges into Chavez Ranch Road near Red Rock Crossing.
“I want to say thank you,” Burns said in her email, “and express my gratitude to all … who have been part of the creation and protection of so many wonderful recreation opportunities we have on public lands here in the Verde Valley.”
A Jan. 12 scoping letter signed by District Ranger Nicole Branton described the need for planned trails on Coconino National Forest land west of Sedona and north of State Route 89A “to avoid the continued haphazard growth of user-created routes and instead plan and create a purpose[fully] built and sustainable system of trails,” the letter stated. “Many user-created routes currently exist, with some segments causing resource damage.”
These new trails, the letter also stated, accommodate multiple user types and offer a variety of challenge levels and experiences.
“One objective of trail development … is to accommodate some of the red rock area’s growth in mountain biking, running and hiking,” the letter added, “by creating an area that may pull some of the use away from more sensitive and heavily used areas, while providing a range of trail difficulties connected to a full-service trailhead and vista.”
