Mountain West Trails Conference
Schedule
Tue, 19 May, 2026 at 08:00 am to Wed, 20 May, 2026 at 06:00 pm
UTC-06:00Location
Sweetwater Events Complex | Rock Springs, WY
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The Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation and the State Trails program are proud to partner with neighboring states to continue the trailblazing Mountain West Trails Conference. Bringing together trail enthusiasts, professionals, and leaders from eight states — Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico — this two-day conference offers exploration in trail development, stewardship, and community engagement.
🗓️ Dates: May 19 & 20, 2026
📍 Location: Sweetwater Events Complex in Rock Springs, WY
🌐 Event Website: MountainWestTrailsConference.com
📲 Registration: $199/person from now until May 11, 2026
*Registration fees increase as we near the event.
🪙 Sponsorships: Sponsorship tiers and the associated benefits are detailed in the sponsorship packet (https://wyorec.info/MWTC_SponsorshipPacket).
Local businesses, organizations, and agencies are invited to support this significant event and showcase their commitment to outdoor recreation.
🗣️Keynote Address: Dovetail Trail Consulting, speaking on Shared Paths to Inclusive Adventure
"Joe Stone and Quinn Brett bring a powerful, personal perspective to the conversation around access, resilience, and the outdoors. Through a shared keynote, they weave together their individual journeys—Joe’s life-altering speed-flying accident in 2010 and Quinn’s climbing accident in Yosemite National Park in 2017. Both sustained different levels of spinal cord injuries and now use wheelchairs full-time, an experience that reshaped not only how they move through the world, but how they relate to adventure, identity, and independence. Together, they reflect on recovery, the profound sense of loss that can come with suddenly losing access to outdoor spaces, and the long road to rediscovering purpose. From those experiences, Joe and Quinn share how they reclaimed their connection to the outdoors and ultimately became advocates and leaders working to create more inclusive access on public lands, particularly for hiking, mountain biking, and adaptive recreation."
Breakout Session Topics:
→ The E-Bike Landscape of 2026
→ Trail Tourism Readiness
→ Recreation Mapping in Rural Nevada
→ The Art of Bureaucracy: Creativity in the Federal Maze
→ The Evolution of Off-Road Vehicle (ORV) Trail Systems
→ Trail Sustainability - The Cost of Doing Nothing
→ Preserving Utah’s Climbing Legacy: When Recreation Becomes Cultural Heritage
→ The Potential of the Great American Rail-Trail through the Mountain West
→ Trails & Mining: Partnership for Local Economic Development and Trail Excellence
→ From Lived Experience to Action: Dovetail Trail Consulting
→ The Trail to Graduation: How State Policy is Connecting Kids to the Outdoors
Audience:
→ Trail builders, planners, and designers
→ Land managers and local officials
→ Nonprofits and community leaders
→ Outdoor industry partners and advocates
Leave with:
→ New tools for trail development and maintenance
→ Regional and national contacts for collaboration
→ Inspiration from communities who are building access and adventure for all
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Where is it happening?
Sweetwater Events Complex, 3320 Yellowstone Rd, Rock Springs, WY 82901-2812, United StatesEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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