{"id":46970,"date":"2021-05-06T00:53:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-06T06:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmington-trails-weave-through-town\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:36:04","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T09:36:04","slug":"farmington-trails-weave-through-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/farmington-trails-weave-through-town\/","title":{"rendered":"Farmington trails weave through town"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Nell
Nell Lindenmeyer finishes her 3.2-mile hike last week on the Nature Trail in Animas Park in Farmington, one of Farmington\u2019s many trails. Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

FARMINGTON \u2013 The city of Farmington\u2019s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs is encouraging walking city trails with a Walking Trail Guide, available online and to print, that showcases some of the trail highlights of Farmington and San Juan County.<\/p>\n

The guide, which can be found at www.fmtn.org\/WalkingTrails<\/a>, is available to read online or to print as PDF versions.<\/p>\n

\"Emma
Emma Manzanares of Farmington walks the Westland Trail on Thursday in Farmington. Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Within the guide, there are tips about healthy walking, such as wearing sunscreen, packing water and wearing items to protect from the elements, such as a hat and sunglasses. There are even tips for walking with pets in the sun, perfect for parks like Westland Park and Dog Park that has a half-mile walking trail loop through trees, along the river and on a dirt path.<\/p>\n

The park also has a play structure, basketball courts, open turf and shaded trees.<\/p>\n

The Walking Trail Guide includes a section about how to start a walking program. The section has tips for maintaining a walking schedule and how to be safe while having fun and getting in shape. There is also a walking log in the guide to help keep walkers on track and engaged.<\/p>\n

There are 27 listed trails or walking parks in Farmington and each one has unique features.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I love best about Kiwanis (Park) is its location so close to the bluffs,\u201d said Rachelle Crosby, park planner for the city\u2019s Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. \u201cIt\u2019s this great juxtaposition of our arid environment and the lushness and mature trees of the park. There\u2019s plenty of space to spread out with a dog or picnic and the walking path connecting Beckland Park is great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Different
Different wildlife can be seen near the Nature Trail in Animas Park in Farmington. Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Another well-loved park is Northridge Park Walking Trail, said Christa Chapman, spokeswoman for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, and it is the favorite of one of the department\u2019s business analysts.<\/p>\n

\"Bob
Bob and Patti Davis walk their dogs, Chuck and Tesa, on the Westland Trail on their way to the dog park last week in Farmington. Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cNorthridge Park has a more intimate setting and is one of our smaller parks with a nice view,\u201d said Shay Jacquez, business analyst for the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs. \u201cIt has great playground space and amenities for both young and older kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sha\u00f1a Reeves, director of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs, said while the department provides \u201cmany beautiful parks, playgrounds and trails,\u201d one of her favorites would be Westside Estates.<\/p>\n

\u201cNestled in a subdivision on the outskirts of Farmington, this park boasts amazing views of the incredible bluffs and of beautiful Shiprock,\u201d Reeves said. \u201cThe park has a great open area to run and play, but also has an exciting play structure. One of the nicest amenities is the lighted walking path, coupled with the exercise equipment \u2013 a great spot for multigenerational healthy habits to occur.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reeves said Westside Estates is loved by \u201cneighbors who keep a watchful eye.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI love Westside Estates because it truly embodies the meaningfulness of parks and recreation in a community: people, space, accessibility, a place to belong and an extension of home,\u201d Reeves said.<\/p>\n

Chapman said the city is working on the Among the Waters Trail extension project. The new section of trail will add about 1\u00bd miles to the city\u2019s river trails network running along the San Juan and Animas rivers, Chapman said. The city plans to connect the new portion to trails at Boyd Park to create a continuous route to the Berg\/Animas Park trail segments.<\/p>\n

Physical copies of the Walking Trail Guide are available at the Farmington Museum; Farmington Aquatic Center; Lions Pool; the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Affairs administration offices at 600 Reilly Ave.; the Farmington Recreation Center; and the Farmington Civic Center.<\/p>\n

mmitchell@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

the walkways even lead down to the Animas River<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":46971,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[799,551,28,443],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-46970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-farmington","tag-frontpage-feature-box","tag-headlines","tag-san-juan-county-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87087,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46970\/revisions\/87087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46970"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=46970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}