Deschutes National Forest
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Deschutes National Forest Summer Trail Access and Conditions Update KNOW BEFORE YOU GO! Updated July 13, 2013 Summer Trail Highlights Summer weather, high summer/holiday use at many recreation sites and trails. Remaining snow limited to South Sister, Broken Top, Road 370 and a few patches on trails and the volcanoes above 6,000’ along the Crest. Reports of heavy blowdown (50+ trees/mile) on some trails. Wilderness Permits required. Broken Top TH and 370 Road from Todd Lake to Road 4601 are blocked by snow and closed until determined safe. June 29 photo from Broken Top. Nearly all Wilderness Tumalo Falls road open to vehicle trails are snow free with a few patches likely remaining traffic. North Fork Trail is cleared of along the PCT and on climber trails and routes up the blow down; open to bikers uphill only. volcano peaks. 16 Road and Three Creek Lakes are open and snow free. Tumalo Mt. Trail may yet have a patch or two of snow but very passible. Green Lks/Moraine Lks Trails are snow free with light blowdown. PCT has patchy snow above 6,000’ with some trail clearing in progress. Mosquito populations are highly variable with some backcountry lakes and riparian areas at high levels. Go prepared with your Ten Essential Systems: Navigation (map and compass) Sun protection (sunglasses/sunscreen) Ongoing Suttle Lake trail project with Deschutes NF Trail Insulation (extra clothing) Crew constructing one of many rock retaining walls. For Illumination (headlamp/flashlight) Your safety, please use caution and leash dogs when First-aid supplies approaching trail crews working the various trails on the Fire(waterproofmatches/lighter/candles) Deschutes. Repair kit and tools Nutrition (extra food) Hydration (extra water) Emergency shelter GENERAL SUMMER TRAIL CONDITIONS AS OF JULY 13: Increasingly, trail crew members and volunteers are working on summer clearing and maintenance. Expect early summer conditions with down trees on many mid-upper elevation trails and patchy snow on highest elevation trails. Over the past week temperatures have been warm to hot with continued melting of remaining snow at higher elevations. Forecast for the next week indicates milder but warm temps. Trail use is on the increase so heads up and be ready to share the trails and watch out for each other. Approximately 99% of the Deschutes National Forest’s summer non-motorized trails are snow free. The remaining 1% are primarily the high elevation Wilderness trails above 6,200’, are near the Cascade crest, should be of minor consequence for most trail users and normally only an occasional short patchy section. Some climbing trails and routes on the volcanoes yet have sectional snow or snow fields to traverse. Those patchy snow affected trails and areas include: Broken Top, Tam Rim, South/Middle/North Sisters, Diamond Peak, Three Finger Jack, Camp Lake, sections of the PCT above 6,200 and climber routes on the volcanoes. Isolated north facing and sun protected, heavily forested areas below 6,200’ may also contain an occasional patch of snow. PCT on the westside (Willamette NF) of Three Sisters likely has patchy snow. Across the Forest, approximately 60% of those trails to be cleared this year have been cleared. Most lower and mid –elevation (to 5,800’) high use trails have been cleared of blowdown or are in the process of being cleared. This year’s blow down levels vary from light to heavy on trails. Areas hard hit by wildfire and beetle kill. Trail volunteers and a few trail crew personnel are clearing into the higher elevations areas now that snow is no longer an issue. Do bear in mind that not all trails are cleared each year. Limited trail personnel and volunteers normally focus clearing efforts on higher use trails of the nearly 900 miles of summer non-motorized trails on the Deschutes NF. Trails in areas hard hit by wildfire and beetle kill and involving heavy blowdown (perhaps 50-100 trees/mile) may not be cleared each year; with a few that have become extremely difficult to clear of blowdown and dense brush that are essentially, “put on the back burner” and have become impassible and unsafe to follow. Except for Broken Top, Crater Ditch, Pole Creek, Scott Pass, Chus Falls, and Millican Crater all Wilderness trail heads are now accessible. Trail clearing within the Deschutes NF Wilderness areas is gaining momentum with 20% of Wilderness trails cleared of blow down for this season. Do expect to find some trails with moderate to heavy downed trees and some even difficult to impossible to get thru. Wilderness Permits Required Wilderness permits are required within all Deschutes National Forest Wildernesses. Please be sure to read trailhead information and fill out the free, self-issue permit at the permit station. “LEAVE NO TRACE” REMINDER: PLEASE, PRACTICE THE SEVEN LEAVE NO TRACE PRINCIPALS: Plan Ahead and Prepare Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces Dispose of Waste Properly Leave What You Find Minimize Campfire Impacts Respect Wildlife Be Considerate of Other Visitors For details on the 7 LNT Principals: http://lnt.org/learn/7-principles POLE CREEK BURN AREA NOTICE: Hazardous tree conditions exist within the Pole Creek burn area. Use within the Wilderness sections of this burn is restricted to the trails; no cross country travel and no camping until you exit the burn area boundary. 90% of the Wilderness trails within the burn have been cleared of blowdown. Burn area boundaries are posted with maps and signing indicating either entering or leaving the burn area. Example of area closure map for Pole Creek Burn. Area within the Wilderness area of the burn is closed except for travel limited to the trails; no off trail use or camping permitted. DESCHUTES NATIONAL FOREST SUMMER TRAILHEADS/TRAILS: Bend/Fort Rock Ranger District summer trails/access: Phils TH area trails are reported in great shape, but the dust factor will vary. COTA (Central Oregon Trail Alliance) volunteers have been busy with trail maintenance and the evidence is on the ground. Heavy use reported on the weekends with parking exceeding capacity. For more information on COTA, who they are, what they do and how you can help, go to: http://cotamtb.com/ Tumalo Falls Trailhead is open for the season. North Fork Trail is snow free and cleared of blow down to Happy Valley. North Fork Trail is uphill only for bikers and now open with return options of Mrazek or nearby roads. Bridge Creek Trail is hiking only, snow free, logged out and closed to bikes, stock animals and dogs, as it passes thru the Bend Municipal Watershed. North Fork Trail is open to hikers, dogs and bikers (uphill only). South Fork trail to Swampy trail system likely has light blowdown and snow free. Flagline Trail, is CLOSED until Aug. 15, for elk calving. Metolius/Windigo Trail in Happy Valley area likely has a few patches to sectional snow with some blowdown. Deschutes River Trailheads/Trails are in good condition from Entrada to Sunriver and on to Lava Lands. Heavy use on weekends/holidays. Bikers using the primary design “hiker trail”, try to avoid this heavy use primary hiker trail on weekends/holidays and always ride extra cautious; yielding to pedestrians/equestrians. Reminder, there is a primary biker trail that does parallel much of the primary hiker. The seasonal DOG LEASH regulation along the Deschutes River Corridor is in effect May 15 thru Sept. 15. During this time, due to high use and potential for user conflicts, dogs are required to be on leash when in the corridor between Meadow Picnic and Benham Falls East. This includes all the River trails and recreation sites between these two locations. Dogs are permitted off leash in the river. See below under Wilderness for the July 15 to Sept. 15 seasonal DOG LEASH regulation on high use Wilderness trails around Todd Lake, Broken Top, Green and Moraine Lakes and South Sister. Tumalo Creek 2 Trail just upstream of Shevlin Park is in good condition, “hiker only”. Wanoga Mt. Bike Trails are snow free and cleared of blowdown. Swampy Lake Trails are snow free and trail clearing in progress. Flagline is closed until Aug. 15 for elk calving. Tumalo Mt. – Trail has patchy snow, good condition. Hiker trail only! Todd Lake Trailhead Snow free and accessible. Todd Lake trail and basin is snow free but the north end trails are reported muddy to soggy and not recommended until they dry out. Road 370 is blocked by snow and closed to hwy vehicles beyond the trailhead until late July. This includes access to road 380 which provides vehicle access to the Broken Top Trailhead. Todd Creek Horse Camp – Accessible to the camp and trailhead. Access on the Metolius- Windigo Horse trail southbound to Quinn Meadow is snow free with blowdown likely. Northbound Met/Win from Todd Creek has patchy snow to Happy Valley, not yet cleared. Sparks Lake Trailhead – TH accessible but blow down likely on trail. Ray Atkison Trailhead and Sparks Lake boat ramp – Snow free, cleared of blow down. Green Lakes/Soda Creek Trailhead – TH accessible , trails are snow free with light blowdown. See Wilderness sections below! Devils Lake/South Sister Trailhead –TH is snow free with patchy to sectional snow above 6,400’ to the Summit. See Wilderness sections below! Quinn Meadow Horse Camp area trails – Snow free and recent OET work party cleared approx. 5 miles of trails out from the Camp. Metolius-Windigo Trail has been partially cleared of blowdown from Bear Valley Trailhead south to Three Creeks Lake area. Here and there trail clearing in progress south of Three Creeks area, patchy snow likely Happy Valley to Todd Lk then snow free to Windigo Pass.