BOULDER, Colo—Colorado’s outdoor spaces might be open to all, but not everyone gets to enjoy them in the same way. Explorando Senderos de Boulder (Exploring Boulder’s Trails) hopes to change that.
In an effort to expose Latinx families to Colorado’s vast trail systems, Explorando Senderos de Boulder organizes trail experiences. With Spanish as the main language, the program hopes to help, support, and encourage Latinx families to seek out the outdoors and reconnect with nature—and themselves.
Explorando Senderos de Boulder wants to expose more Latinx families to Boulder's trails.
“Explorando Senderos de Boulder is an initiative, pretty much a movement that derives from Boulder County’s Parks and Open Space when we were working on strategic planning,” says Marina LaGrave, the founder of CLACE. With a background in linguistics and community engagement, LaGrave worked with the Boulder’s Parks and Open Space department to develop the Cultural Responsiveness and Inclusion Strategic Plan (CRISP) to bring awareness to the culture, needs, and interests of Latinx communities.
“Last year, as we began this work on the strategic planning, we started taking some Latinx families to walk on the trails with us,” LaGrave says. In addition to hiking, LaGrave—along with local educators Susan Mosqueda, Alma Garcia, and Andrew Mulvcanei—takes community members on outdoor pursuits like fishing. “This is not an organization. This belongs to no one but the families themselves,” LaGrave adds.
“We want people from all walks of life, all different ethnicities, visiting our open spaces and parks,” says Michelle Marotti of Boulder County Parks and Open Space. “It’s important really that we just reach out to specific communities who maybe historically haven’t been represented in our parks like they are in our community.”
According to LaGrave, getting out and into nature is necessary for the mental health and wellbeing of Latinx families.
“We’ve seen, during COVID, a lot of mental health issues; people feeling depressed and under the weather; kids with anxiety attacks,” LaGrave says. “Look around you...everyone in an open space is always smiling, is finding inner strength, is finding connection with nature.”
As for the Explorando Senderos de Boulder participants, the initiative helps them feel happier and less depressed.
“I have seen many improvements with my children,” says Laura Rosa. “So, it means they are happier to continue going for a walk and I feel much better because I used to feel so stressed, but now I feel much better.
Julio Sandoval is a multimedia journalist at Rocky Mountain PBS. You can reach him at juliosandoval@rmpbs.org.
Victoria Carodine is a digital content producer for Rocky Mountain PBS and can be reached at victoriacarodine@rmpbs.org.
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