The Green River Access Fund is excited to announce the purchase and initial construction of a new permanent access point on Gallimore Road. For 17 years we have been working to secure permanent access to this incredible whitewater resource, and the finish line has never been closer!
Through key sales, GRAF has managed to save the necessary funds to purchase the land and start construction, but there is still work to be done. While the property looks promising to develop into a long-term parking solution of similar size to what we have now, completing it will be contingent on additional fundraising.
In an effort to pay for construction, materials, and maintain our existing parking area through the building process, we are asking for donations. As well we are pre-selling 2021 keys now to assist with fundraising. Our goal is to raise an additional $40,000 to cover all expenses through 2021. If 2020 didn’t totally suck for you please show your love! Tax-exempt donations can be made through the Green River Keeper/Mountain True at this LINK and 2021 keys can be purchased HERE. It has never been more important to buy a key!
While the eventual new lot will operate the same in 2021 our goal is to reduce fees and transition to a public parking option. Factors such as parking demands, use by groups other than paddlers, and upkeep costs will dictate that timeline.
It has been a nearly two-decade, full-on, community effort to get to this point. The support from each and every key holder over the years has brought us to this amazing milestone. Thank you!
In the picture below you can see: the current parking lot we rent, GRAF existing property outlined in yellow, the newly purchased property outlined in red, and the hiking trail roughly drawn in white. While the old piece of property guaranteed us access to the logging road to the river it was way too steep to ever be developed. The new parcel, on the other hand, is much more suitable for building a parking lot.
Below is a rough sketch of the new parking area with the proposed entrance and exit. This could change slightly through the excavation process but gives a good idea of what the finished lot will look like.
We can’t understate how important access is here. While putting on the river at this location is a convenient ‘shortcut’ for Narrows paddlers it is a mandatory takeout point for those looking to experience the popular class 3-4 upper section. Securing permanent access here is truly a dream come true. A massive shout out to the key-holding Green River community! Collectively we never could have arrived here without you!
The GRAF Board