Eight New Kiosks Share Taos Pueblo Stories Along the CDT

On Saturday, September 12, about 60 people gathered at Hopewell Lake in northern New Mexico to dedicate eight new interpretive kiosks at trailheads along the Continental Divide Trail across Carson National Forest. The kiosks share how Taos Pueblo is connected to the lands the Trail travels through. They tell that story through art, poetry, Tribal history, the teachings of elders, and the voices of youth.

The dedication was also the heart of a weekend Family Campout. Together, the two events showed what these kiosks are really about: people coming together on the Trail.

Former Carson National Forest employee Craig Saum helped launch the Carson kiosk effort in 2020 after the CDT across the Carson was designated in September 2019. It grew into something deeper with the engagement of the Taos Pueblo and the Schuler family.

In April 2021, Joe “Plant” Schuler set out to hike a section of the CDT northbound. Joe was a 23-year-old teacher from Michigan and a passionate botanist. He passed away in February 2022, before he could begin the next leg of his hike. His parents, Vickie Hollingsworth Schuler and Bob Schuler, wanted to honor him. Their family’s financial support helped make these kiosks possible. For a teacher who loved plants, kiosks that help people understand the land felt like a fitting tribute.

The kiosks’ content came from the Taos Pueblo community starting with support from the Taos Pueblo Department of Conservation. CDTC staff began working in earnest with the Taos Pueblo until CDTC Tribal Engagement Fellow Cruz Concha became involved in 2025.  Cruz then began taking the lead for the project and invited Cheryl Concha and the youth of the Taos Pueblo Youth Outreach Program into the effort.  Invitations were also made to  Taos Pueblo artists, poets, elders, and youth who shared their knowledge and creative work, and that work now fills the panels.

The ceremony included:

• A blessing from Taos Pueblo Governor Michael Martinez
• Words from Tribal Council Member Carpio Bernal, whose daughter Dawn Coral Bernal’s poetry is featured on the kiosks
• A poetry reading by Juan Isidro Concha
• Reflections and gratitude from Joe’s family and friends, including his parents
• A ribbon cutting

The Taos Pueblo Senior Program traveled to join the celebration. Two Taos Elders offered prayers that everyone gathered would continue to have healthy lives and safe travels.

Many of the artists and storytellers whose work is featured on the kiosks were there too:

• Jeralyn Lujan Lucero
• Frank Rainleaf
• Youth artist Marian Concha
• Juan Isidro Concha
• Viola Archuleta, wife of artist Leonard Archuleta

Partners who helped make the project possible also joined us:

• Craig Saum, for Carson National Forest Staff
• Valery Serrano Lopez, U.S. Forest Service CDT Partnership Coordinator
• Eric Garner, Carson National Forest Recreation Manager and incoming El Rito District Ranger
• Carl Colonius, Program Manager with the New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division. Through the Division, we received critical funding to purchase the kiosk structures and to engage Taos Pueblo through New Mexico Trails+.

As we shared during the dedication:

Over these few days, we had the opportunity to camp together, walk together, share meals, share stories, and spend time in this remarkable landscape. And in many ways, that is the larger story of what we were celebrating. Yes, we were dedicating kiosks. But what these kiosks really represent is connection to place, connection to one another, and connection to the many histories, cultures, experiences, and stories that exist along the Continental Divide.

– Teresa Martinez CDTC Executive Director.

Twenty-eight people joined us for the Family Campout at Hopewell Lake. We hosted it in partnership with Latino Outdoors and Far Flung Adventures, with funding from New Mexico’s Outdoor Equity Fund. We designed the weekend to help families build connections to the CDT through camping, hiking, shared meals, and time together outdoors.

Participants ranged in age from three to 60, with every decade in between represented. For some, it was a chance to experience camping or the CDT in a new way. For others, it was a return to a familiar landscape with family and community. Over the weekend, participants camped together, explored the CDT and nearby trails, and shared meals and stories.

That spirit carried into Saturday evening. Many dedication guests stayed for a fajita dinner prepared by Far Flung Adventures. Families, Tribal leaders and artists, Forest Service staff, partners, supporters, and friends gathered around the same tables and the same campfire.

The weekend showed what outdoor equity can look like in practice. It isn’t only about access to a trail. It’s about creating welcoming opportunities for people of different ages, backgrounds, and relationships to place to spend time outdoors together. It also showed how the CDT can be a place where communities share their own stories and connections to the landscapes the Trail passes through.

The Carson kiosks are an important milestone, and they are also a beginning. We hope this work becomes a model for future interpretation along the CDT: living stories that invite more voices, more ways of connecting, and a deeper understanding of place. We also hope it helps more families and communities see the Continental Divide Trail as a place where they belong.

Thank you to the Taos Pueblo community for sharing their knowledge of the lands along the CDT, and to every artist, elder, and youth who contributed to the kiosks. Thank you to Robert Thayer, CDTC GIS Design Contractor, who turned all of these ideas into a reality. And thank you to Jennifer Sublette and Benjamin Harper of Carson National Forest for their work and support.

Learn more about the kiosks and the stories they share on our New Mexico kiosk page.