Hope to before fire season. If not then, after. Last year we didn't quite make it all the way. We hope to get it all this year. Plus start going after some of the Rhododendron. Have you ever gone down Plaza Creek Trail from Twin Springs? We lost it after a mile last year. This year we are looking for anyone who has actually followed it to the river.
We currently have 2 1/2 trails down the the main stem Roaring River. Grouse Point from 4611 -- short, sweet, and very steep. I am impressed that people haul their kayaks down it! Corral Springs from Lookout Springs Campground. This is better graded but longer. And Plaza Creek, the trail no one can find. I have even seen it listed in a new hiking guide in spite of it's apparent disappearance.
First we need to find it. It could take several days of careful sleuthing. Once found it will need to be flagged. Then we would pick up all the debris on it and go after vine maple, rhododenrons, etc., obscuring the visibility. I think that the problem with Plaza Creek is that the trail was never substantially built initially. (Unlike Corral Springs) It was likely used most when there was still a Guard Station at The Plaza and when the campground at Twin Springs was active. At that time - seventy to eighty years ago - the timber was small. That side of the canyon was just recovering from the fires of the late 19th Century which (stand replacing series of fires) denuded the area. Consequently, the route was not blazed. There is likely timber towards the bottom unaffected by these burns which may be blazed.
I would be willing to spend some time looking for it if there are others interested. I am aware that there are x-treme boaters and fishermen for whom the heart of Roaring River holds an attraction. There area is highly remote and hitherto inaccessible except by cross-country adventurers. When are the water levels at Plaza Creek adequate to float out to the Clackamas?
Historically, there were other trails into Roaring River country. The Cougar Creek trail from west of Signal Buttes holds some interest for me but it looks to be about four or five miles to the river. There had been two additional trails down to the upper reaches of the river off the Abbot Road but I have yet to find any sign of them. One from about a half mile beyond Plaza Lake Trail (east) and the other from Hambone Springs.
At some point in the future this area may become Wilderness. It would be easier to find and save Plaza Creek Trail before that happens.
e-Write me and we can see about a Plaza Creek exploration.
That's old trail 511. There is an account written by a party who helped build it in the thirties in the book available at the Clackamas Lake Guard Station about Clackamas country forest service activities.
I have looked for the start briefly at Frazier Turnaround but found nothing. They didn't spend much time on it so it was likely not substantial. Would be fun to look for.