Economic development plans presented to San Juan County Commission
Thursday, Oct 29, 2026 10:09 AM MT
Updated Thursday, Oct 29, 2026 10:34 AM MT
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Outdoor recreation was a topic of discussion during the Oct. 20 San Juan County Commission meeting as a new outdoor nonprofit and business spoke about what they have to offer the community.
“So our mission is to promote education, outdoor recreation, and community wellness by creating opportunities, accessible opportunities for all of our community members to have festivals, to have programming, to have and other community building methods, we coming from an institutional background,” said Maya Pierce, owner of The Tales & Trails Collective of New Mexico, which is in the process of becoming a 501(c) (3) organization.
“Providing these types of events really helps create a thriving community where all people can dream, become lifelong learners and access the outdoors,” Pierce said, adding she and her husband combine 19 years of event and outdoor recreation organization experience in Mexico, Costa Rica and the United States.
“We came to San Juan County in 2022, and one of the things that was beautiful about coming to San Juan County was meeting the community members,” said Pierce.
The couple saw the need for more community organization to be developed around events and “saw a lot of people thirsty for those events,” Pierce said, adding this led them to transition from Tennet Racing, their LLC, to the nonprofit.
Past and current events organized by Pierce include the Teeneck USA Mountain Bike Race, which is a sister raceto one in Mexico. It featured international racers, including Tinker Juarez, a 58 year-old mountain bike racer from California.
They partnered with the city of Farmington for the Hood Mesa Trail Run in June, and in November they’ll host the first edition of the Alien Ascent Trail Run, a 6-mile, 9-mile and 16-mile race.
“So these events have created opportunities for recreation, for adventure, healthy lifestyles, community gatherings,” Pierce said, adding they find volunteers in the community.
Canyons Wyld Trailhead, owned by Jaylyne Montoya, is an equestrian app-based adventure company that just got approval from Bureau of Land Management approval to build an equestrian trail in Blanco.
“Canyons Wyld began with the simple idea to take something uniquely New Mexican – our horses, our landscape, our history, and our connection to the land-and turn it into an outdoor recreation experience that brings visitors to the San Juan County and connects them with our community,” she said.
Knowledge of these trails has added to family regeneration, Montoya said, adding “so much of our culture and history isn’t written on a sign.”
One of first people she consulted with was her husband, Matthew Montoya, who brings more than 30 years of experience in construction, oil and gas industry, operations and a master’s of science in industrial and organizational psychology.
Matthew brought a lifetime of knowledge of these trails and she began taking the trails he knew from childhood and creating their digital version for a “new kind of equestrian experience.”
“What started as an idea became a business,” Montoya said. “As a woman entrepreneur, I didn’t want to simply open a trail. I began building an entire visitor experience around it: trail access, equestrian camping, guided experiences, reservations, digital navigation, storytelling, and eventually the trail passport.”
It became the foundation, and “the business is everything that’s built around it, and there is already a national market for this kind of experience,” Montoya said.
There are approximately 6.65 million horses in the United States and “stewardship is our number one thing. Leave only hoofprints. Leave nothing behind,” she emphasized.
“Riders already haul their horses across the country for trail riding, endurance rides, competitive trail riding, horse camping, and organized events,” she said. “We don’t have to create the traveling equestrian.”
Safety is a priority, with respect for the desert sun, Montoya said.
“We guide them through the elevation, the hydration, the sun exposure, heat exhaustion, everything that they can experience,” she said, adding the data is conglomerated into the app and announcements are made along the way.
“Stewardship and safety are not add-ons; they’re built into the ride,” Montoya said. “This is a real tourism product.”
The horse industry is produces more than $1.72 billion in the U.S., with more than 10,000 American Endurance Race Commission starts in 2025, she said. “Dry camping, horse capacity, simple online reservations, defined corrals, and a reason for riders to stay another night” are the company’s main goals, she said.
The adventure passport creates a reason to return, because when they travel through an area they collect passports and take them to participating businesses, which provide a point-based system that supports the local community.
Every outdoor recreation opportunity brings another opportunity for economic development, she said.
“Fuel, hay and feed, camping guides – these are all reasons that they will come visit your local businesses,” Montoya said, noting that a horse trailer arriving in the county creates a chain of purchases before and after the ride.
The county would retain control of all trail assets, but Canyon Wyld supplies the operational experience layer and “we would build the digital experiences and bring the customers,” she said.
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Economic developmentSan Juan County New MexicoTourism
