IMAGINE A TRAIL AROUND LAKE ALMANOR

We all agree that we have a beautiful area in which to live, vacation, and work. And, of course, Lake Almanor is the gem of the Almanor Basin making the available recreation opportunities hard to beat. When my family vacationed here, we dreaded having to leave to go home to work. Now that we retired here full time, we know we made the right decision.

However, living here allows one to fully see the economic challenges in the Basin. For many years, the full time population has declined, our major lumbering industry is not as robust as before, available workers are hard to find, local amenities like restaurants have consolidated, and infrastructure conditions are still at a basic level. It is still better here than living in a large city or town, but how long can economic conditions decline before the area becomes unattractive to tourists and future residents.

So What’s to Imagine About a Trail Surrounding the Lake?

Many full- and part-time residents will say there is no way this can happen. The County has no money, there are too many properties to cross or highways/bridges are too narrow, or more important improvements should have priority. These opinions are hard to argue against.

What Makes Such a Trail Possible Now?

The County received a Caltrans grant in 2015 to create an Active Transportation Plan (ATP). This type of plan focuses on pedestrian and bicycling improvements for the next 20-30 years. It is separate from motorized improvements. The focus will be on improvements within the existing community centers (e.g. Chester) of Plumas County. But the County is also including recreational trails beyond community center boundaries for the purpose of stimulating tourism. The reason for this “active plan” is that federal and state governments are attempting to stimulate active lifestyles to improve health, clean air, and safe routes to schools.

Like most County planners, they track development programs which are popular with funding agencies. Caltrans and State Parks are administering Federal grants for recreational trails, safe routes to schools, “rail trails”, and financially disadvantaged communities. Other agencies are doing the same, like the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, National Parks, and private endowments. Grants monies are very difficult to get, but without a particular trail alignment being shown and listed in a County Active Transportation Plan, grant monies are virtually impossible to acquire.

As the Almanor Recreation and Park District’s Trails Committee studies potential trail alignments around the lake, we realize the 35 mile distance will cross much land but the number of landowners may not be as great as first thought. Several of these large landowners are motivated to allow such trails either through generosity, fire prevention or regulation.

What Would Be the Benefits?

Several community members believe recreation trails may nudge economic development. If the community center and trail improvements draw more residents, more visiting family members, and/or more tourists, then the message might cause hotel, restaurant, services owners and entrepreneurs, and the County to add capacity and quality to meet the new needs. Maybe out of area businesses that prefer business locations with a more robust “active” environment would consider relocating here.

Additionally, connecting the smaller communities around the lake (Bailey Creek, Lake Almanor Peninsula, Hamilton Branch, Clear Creek, Eastshore, Canyondam, Prattville, Almanor, and Almanor West) to Chester with a formal trail system would bring them closer together in efforts to be more attractive to residents and tourists. Adding uses like snow shoeing and X-Country skiing to recreational trails would expand their usefulness beyond just the summer season.

And remember, having a trail around the lake doesn’t mean you have to hike/bike the whole trail. You and your friends and family will have direct access to your nearby trail segment to go as short or as far as you desire.

What is the Basic Concept for a Trail Around the Lake?

Create a Class I trail system that is primarily not along high-speed highways and that takes advantage of the lake and/or our great lake views. "Class I" means a non-highway, multiuse trail for pedestrians, bicycles, electric bicycles, X-Country skiing, and snow shoeing. Use existing alignments like the Collins Pine Railroad bed from Builder’s Supply on Main Street, to Chester High School, to Olsen Barn, across the Causeway, up to Bailey Creek at A-13 and ending at Clear Creek. Continue back to Hamilton Branch west of Highway 147 and then on the east side of Highway 147 use an alignment east of BNSF down to Canyondam. Then connect Canyondam to the existing Lake Almanor Recreation Trail. At the north end of the Recreation Trail continue up the east side of Highway 89 to the end of the Super Ditch. Use a pedestrian bridge to cross the Super Ditch and continue an alignment to the extension of First Street west of the Airport runway and finally connect to the existing First Street where a Class II street bike trail is well marked.

For several reasons the trail would potentially be asphalt paved within Chester and either small- sized, compacted, crushed rock on the existing railroad ballast or compacted soil in the other areas around the lake.

Is it Possible?

Of course, with time and money, or…did you know that the Tahoe Rim Trail is a 165-mile long- distance hiking trail that forms a loop around the Lake Tahoe Basin. It was first proposed in 1978 and completed in 2001, almost entirely through volunteer efforts.

Think about it and then volunteer to help make it happen!

Written by Carlos España, a LACC owner since 1999 and presently volunteering as the Trails Coordinator for the Almanor Recreation and Park District in Chester. He also has been a California-registered Geotechnical Engineer and Civil Engineer for over 40 years.