Buena Vista Trail Signs: Volunteers Needed

Trail Signs Underway: Well, it has been a productive few weeks for Save The Buena Vista Foundation and for TRACKS! Yes, after ten years, we are making preparations to being trail work this spring. Part of that process is making signs for the new trail system.

TRACKS President Steve Dobbs rolling out the lumber that will become our Buena Vista trail signs on March 2nd, 2026.

We are creating about 60 new wooden signs that will be posted to guide users around the stacked loop system.. The signs will have two inch tall lettering. They signs will indicate difficulty, with a black diamond trail indicating steep grades or technical terrain, blue diamonds indicating intermediate grades and only slightly technical terrain, and green circles, which indicate easier trails with little to no technical terrain and light to moderate grades.

After the wood was purchased, it was delivered to Doug and Rhonda Forsha, who own a router and were able to carve the necessary trail names, arrows, and shapes onto the cut boards. Huge thanks to Doug and Rhonda for doing that for us for no charge! What great people!

The signs as they appeared after being routed by the Forshas.

After that, the signs returned to Steve Dobbs' house.. Steve dressed the routed signs up a little bit by cutting off each of the four outer corners and drilled in mounting holds that will allow the signs to be bolted to U-posts.

Jason Moore holds a routed sign mounted on a U-post that will be pounded into the ground with a "Thumpinator."

The signs are now ready for painting. And it is a huge job! The signs must be painted in USFS's official brown, and the letters and directional arrows painted on in USFS cream. Then the difficulty level must be painted in the routed circles, squares and diamonds. Because the boards are bare wood, it takes two coats of paint to make the painted surface of the boards look professional. On top of that, painting in the lettering requires meticulous attention to detail!

A group of signs in production and nearing completion.

And this is where STBVF needs your help. If you can help out with painting signs this coming weekend it would be most appreciated! We are going to host a "paint party" this coming Sunday at 1:30 p.m as Jason Moore's home in Lakeside. If we can get a few volunteers to help out, we can make the process of painting these signs a lot quicker. If you can help out for a few hours on Sunday, please contact Jason Moore at jason_moore_21@yahoo.com for the address and with any questions you may have about the event. Or, you can text Jason at (928) 521-3460.

As the time draws near to really begin work in the field out in the Buena, we are going to need to ask more and more of volunteers in order to get things completed. The signs are one of the first steps in the process of getting ready to make the goals we've had for a decade a true reality on the ground. So many people have helped out over the years, but now is time we have to dig in and get things done!

The wood signs we create are going to be accompanied in several locations by "You Are Here" signs, modeled after an existing one currently located in Woodland Lake Park, as the USFS has given permission today to have those posted as well. All of this signage is needed, as the Buena Vista is really a trail system all its own within the larger White Mountain Trail System (WMTS).

A "You Are Here" sign posted in Woodland Lake Park.

We are really excited to see this process moving forward to completion, and we know you are as well!