Gallup trails project moves ahead after years of delay

$40,000 in grant money still sits in Gallup city accounts for its long-delayed trails plan. The money started with a $25,000 Trails+ grant from the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Department in Fiscal Year 2022, and the city added a $15,000 match. The project has entered a design phase.

The original plan called for multiple trail systems across Gallup, built with help from volunteer youth groups tied to local schools. That approach no longer fits the project. Community Development Manager Keegan Mackenzie-Chavez told the Gallup City Council on June 9 that the students who were supposed to help have graduated, and the city no longer has the volunteer workforce it expected when the grant was first approved.

Mackenzie-Chavez said the project “fell through the cracks” after leadership changes at both City Hall and the Outdoor Recreation Department slowed progress, and the contract expired on Dec. 31, 2024. The Council of Governments later raised the issue again, and the city revised the work plan to keep the grant alive.

Under the new scope, Gallup will design a single trail system at Hozho Academy that connects to the Gallup Sports Complex, instead of drawing up four separate trails. The project also calls for mapping existing trails, replacing aging trail signage and installing trailhead kiosks, including signs like the old High Desert trailhead marker that needs replacement.

Mackenzie-Chavez told the council there is not enough money to actually build the trail.