Place:  Continental Divide Trail

Location:  Silver City, New Mexico   

Person interviewed:  Martyn Pearson, Co-owner, Gila Hike and Bike

How this site benefits you and your community: The Land and Water Conservation Fund has enabled land purchases from willing sellers for locating sections of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), including north of Silver City. In this way, LWCF improves the quality of the experience that the CDT offers to recreationists. This is on display in the hills and mountains around Silver City through which the CDT and other terrific trails and routes serve all abilities of cyclists.

“Our area has a large section of the Continental Divide Trail that is the main feature of the annual Signal Peak Challenge. This race includes about 7 miles of the CDT from Black Peak down to Meadow Road and is a huge economic draw for our business. When this and other races are taking place, we stay open longer, have extra supplies available for purchase, and our staff is ready to provide the best customer service to our guests. We have found that when we host a well-organized event, taking place on a fantastic road or trail, people who want to recreate and have adventures come from all over the country. Since the Signal Peak race started up again, we see people throughout the year who want to ride the course on their own and this increases not only the number of people who ride the trails but will be back for our events. This is phenomenally powerful and makes Silver City a destination for cyclists.”