Deschutes National Forest
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Deschutes National Forest Summer Trail Access and Conditions Update KNOW BEFORE YOU GO! Updated August 30, 2013 - Labor Day Weekend Report Summer Trail Highlights Public Use Restrictions due to extreme fire danger on the Deschutes/Ochoco, continue until fire danger lessens. For more wildfire information and trail/road closures: http://www.inciweb.org/ Expect high holiday use on many Very heavy use at Green and Moraine Lakes. Recent Deschutes NF trail and backcountry Ranger report of 100 people camped at Green Lks. areas. Wilderness Permits required. Designated campsites may fill on weekends; if you cannot Please follow the 7 Leave No Trace find an open campsite you must camp outside of the signed boundary area. Principles and plan ahead for your trip. Heavy trail traffic on South Sister. On peak weekends, http://lnt.org/learn/7-principles 200-300 climbers may reach the summit each day. Most Within the Pole Creek Burn: Pole Creek, users would not consider this a “Wilderness” experience. Avoid weekends to avoid highest use! Scott Pass and Millican Crater Light Wilderness Rangers will be out on Labor Day Wknd. Trailheads have reopened Broken Top TH and 370 Road from Todd Lake to Road 4601 are now open. Rough road conditions, high clearance recommended, keep vehicles on open roads and spurs only. Approx. 80% of PCT clearing in Central Oregon Cascades now complete. Light to moderate blowdown remains on just a few trails. Watch weather forecasts closely, beware of lightning hazards. Go prepared with your Ten Essential Systems: Navigation (map and compass) Bags of dog waste are often left inappropriately along trails Sun protection (sunglasses/sunscreen) at trail heads and recreation sites. Disposal of dog waste Insulation (extra clothing) from area trails/recreation sites is appreciated but please dispose of the waste filled bags in your home refuse Illumination (headlamp/flashlight) container or other approved site. Most Deschutes NF First-aid supplies recreation sites and trail heads do not provide for such Fire(waterproofmatches/lighter/candles) disposal. Thank You! Repair kit and tools Nutrition (extra food) Hydration (extra water) Emergency shelter GENERAL SUMMER TRAIL CONDITIONS AS OF AUGUST 30: Trail crew repairs narrowing tread on steep side slopes. Pleasant summer temperatures and isolated thunderstorms over the past few days. More of the same into the next week is forecasted. Trail use is at peak summer levels so heads up and be ready to share the trails and watch out for each other. Tired of encountering possibly hundreds of other users on popular Wilderness trails? Look over maps and guide books and seek out trails not listed or mentioned as low use trails. Deschutes National Forest’s summer trails are snow free. Across the Forest, approximately 90% of those trails to be cleared this year have been cleared. Trail volunteers and a few trail crew personnel continue trail maintenance and clearing into the higher elevations areas. 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 blow down (perhaps 50-100 trees/mile) may not be cleared each year; with a few that have become extremely difficult to clear of blow down and dense brush that are essentially, “put on the back burner” and have become impassible and unsafe to follow. Except for Chus Falls, all Wilderness trail heads are now accessible. Trail clearing within the Deschutes NF Wilderness areas is on the downhill side with approx. 75% 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 passage. High Fire Danger and recent lightning fires result in issuance of Public Use Restrictions and trail/area/road closures due to hazardous wild land fires. Due to high fire danger, Public Use Restrictions went into effect Aug. 2 and will continue until further notice. Campfire, vehicle and smoking restrictions involved, for further details: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/centraloregon/home/?cid=stelprdb5297376 With hundreds of recent lightning strikes in Central Oregon, new fire starts are expected in the days and weeks ahead. If you detect a wildfire in the backcountry, provide for your own safety and call 911! The Green Ridge Fire has been contained and the fire closures to trails, roads, fish hatchery and campgrounds along the Metolius River have been lifted. Closures to roads, area and Green Ridge Trail within the fire perimeter do remain in effect until further notice. Emergency fire closures due to wildfire activity are yet possible as the fire season progresses; and can occur without notice!. Smoke and local air quality Southwesterly winds occasionally to bring smoke from fires in Northern California and Southwestern Oregon into our area. Unfortunately smoky conditions may remain until there is a significant shift in the weather pattern or the fires south of us are extinguished. Aerial imagery at http://www.oregonsmoke.blogspot.com provides a detailed picture and explanation on how smoke is moving across central Oregon. For the latest air quality information please visit the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality web site at www.deq.state.or.us/aqi/. 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 – See photo and information below on wrong disposal and effects! 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 Human waste in front and backcountry areas continues to be a growing problem on the Deschutes NF. Below is a recent report from one backcountry user: My wife and I just got back from a pack trip in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Beautiful place. We were 6 days in the backcountry. But I have never seen so many people improperly pooing in the backcountry. It was disgusting. I know it’s a heavy used area, especially those you can day hike too, like Green Lakes and Moraine lake, but wow, there was unburied poo all over these places as well as Park Meadow. I have backpacked a lot of Wilderness areas and National Parks and never seen a problem like this. Many of these places put pit toilets or port a poties in these types of heavy use areas to protect the wilderness. Of course, I also realize the funding issues you folks face. Even a few toilets probably aren't in the budget. It’s a real shame to see these amazing places literally being crapped on! Please, dispose of human and pet waste properly and Leave No Trace! 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. 95% 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. You cannot legally access lower Snow Creek from Snow Creek Ditch or Park Meadow Trail. The Ditch has been removed and placed in restoration, is not passible and is closed. 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. Be aware of a 1 mile section of middle Mrazek Trail which is closed until early Sept. for fuels reduction along the trail. This closed trail segment is located just east of the 4601 road; there is a signed reroute in place for the duration of this closure. 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 Trail or nearby roads. Bridge Creek Trail is hiking only, 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 may have light blowdown. Flagline Trail, is now OPEN. Metolius/Windigo Trail in Happy Valley area may have 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.