Trails Assessment Working Group (TAWG)

The LANL Trails Working Group was established in December 2003 to inventory, map, and prepare historical reports on the many trails used at LANL. Some of these trails are ancient pueblo footpaths that continue to be used for recreational hiking today. Some serve as quiet and non-motorized alternatives between the Townsite and LANL or between technical areas. The Trails Working Group includes representatives from local citizen hiking groups, Los Alamos County, Forest Service, Park Service, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the NNSA Los Alamos Site Office.

The Trails Working Group carries out the Trails Management Program, which was a requirement stipulated in an NNSA environmental assessment completed in 2003. The program addresses various issues related to hiking on Laboratory property. Through this program, an active needs assessment was completed on how to manage foot traffic, control looting and vandalism, protect the scientific value of sites near trails, and provide the proper respect for sites that are sacred to local pueblos.

• The LANL Trails Management Program & Trails Working Group - A Path Forward (pdf)
• TAWG meeting notes are available upon request. Please contact Dan Pava for more information

Background Documents

• An Assessment of the Impact of Social Trails Use on Cultural Resources in Technical Area 71
  Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico (pdf)
• Cultural Resources and Recreational Trails Use at Los Alamos
  National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico: Education and Mitigation (pdf)
• An Assessment of the Impact of Social Trails Use on Cultural Resources in Technical Area 70
  Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico (pdf)
• Historic Roads by Dorothy Hoard (pdf)
• Jemez Forest Telephone Line Report by Janie O'Rourke (pdf)
• The LANL Trails Management Program – A Better Path Forward (pdf)
• Trails Management Program - Goals (pdf)