Gore Valley Trail interpretive installation makes summer debut

The Town of Vail recently issued the following press release on the Gore Valley Trail Interpretive Installation:

The Gore Valley Trail Interpretive Installation is ready for residents and visitors to enjoy. This new educational feature consists of eight exhibits and was completed in October 2024. This is the installation’s summer debut. 

Stretching from the East Vail I-70 Interchange to Donovan Park, the series is located along the recreation path and is designed to enhance the trail users’ experience of the natural environment along Gore Creek. Each exhibit draws attention to key elements of the creekside ecosystem, offering insight into the natural processes at work and the role humans play in sustaining them. 

Sponsored by the Town of Vail and designed by the firm Howard+Revis Design, the installation is part of the Restore the Gore program (www.lovevail.org/programs/restore-the-gore). Each exhibit focuses on a specific aspect of creek ecology and stream restoration. Life-sized, or larger-than-life, bronze sculptures of native animals illustrate different themes while several sites also have interactive elements including spotting scopes, or viewing tubes, to direct the visitor’s attention to the environment around them. 

“The exhibits were designed to draw attention and pique the curiosity of trail users, while blending seamlessly with the environment and not distracting from the natural setting by using neutral colors and native materials like river rock,” said Peter Wadden, Town of Vail Watershed Health Specialist. 

Five of the eight sites prominently feature large gabion boulders filled with river cobble. Other exhibits incorporate railing wraps, or mimic tablecloths, on existing picnic tables to tell the story of the feeding relationships and energy flow within the creek ecosystem. Spanish translation of all exhibits is available via QR code.