Spent the weekend at Twin Springs Forest Camp. A lovely place, abandoned in haste. Picked up 2 giant bags worth of trash and cleared about 2 miles of the insanely steep route down to the Roaring River. The route is flagged and is fairly easy to follow but wasn't built to typical Forest Service standards so it takes a lot of stamina to get out of there. My theory is this trail was built by the CCC at the same time as the Abbot Road campgrounds as a make-work project and to be used as a recreation trail.
Didn't make it all the way to the river, but pretty close. This is in a 100 y.o. noble fir forest, recovered from a turn of century fire. The camp is a nice place to stay and there's a lot to do around the Plaza. Check it out if you have the time.
Joe,
You're right. The road would be mixed use and would be open to all motor vehicles. My mistake. The point, though, is that the effect of the Forest Service proposal would be to encourage OHVs to use the full length of road 4610 as part of a designated OHV area. Most other areas of the forest would be closed to OHV use, so this road, and places like Twin Springs, would likely see an increase in OHV activity.
This area is already ATV heavy, in spades..especially in the ripped apart forests near 224 and 4610. Essentially nothing will change on 4610, but hopefully the F.S. will be able to keep a closer eye on the trail and other damage caused by riders "poaching" (riding illegally) and destroying historic trails.
Every time I've visited the area I've seen more than one cycle, most tend to be testosterone fueled. They like to make a lot of noise and dust and rip thru the camps in circles like a weird motorcross race. Hunters on ATVs always seem to be quiet and respectful (in my experience).
A footnote, if you do visit the area, watch out for "sneaker" potholes on 4610, they jump outa nowhere!
As long as they keep those things off the trails I don't have a problem with it on lower 4610. Upper 4610 is a special place though...I think that would be a mistake to include it in the OHV area.
How close is this to a decision? I'm sure the Clackamas RD is aware of the problem in the area already. Then again, decisions seem to come from higher up from those in far away places.
Lobbying, scary stuff. Incredible how effective that can be. Money talks, eh? Didn't know the history of that road in the 70s, but I do know it was the first cross-mountain road from Mt. Hood to Estacada, from the 1920s to replace the Abbot Trail and the 3 camps were built by the CCC. Do you have any other secrets to share about the area? Unless ya want to keep em' secrets.
Yeah 4610 has become a 2nd gear road, too many sneaker potholes and mini washouts. Still very passable tho. It gets pretty brushy the further up you go. I was surprised to see a F.S. sign on the Huxley Lake trail heading down from Lookout Springs: the trail is ATV approved! There is the sillouhette of a quad on the sign.
There is also the matter of respect for nature VS testosterone. Sadly, there is no one minding the store out there, and the FS just doesn't have the funding or manpower to effectively police the place. Ironically, once you get out there and off the gravel roads and onto trails it's True Boonies which is why I keep going back.
Interesting you made that meeting, I just found out about it yesterday, go figgure...
I'd be very surprised if new roads were constructed to any great degree. There just isn't the $$$ or justification right now. Logging in the 60s and 70s punched an insane amount of mileage all over the national forests but now many of the roads are languishing and falling apart since "forest practices have changed".
LOWER 4610 is ripped up. Truck damage along the roads (mud mess, ruts) and in the small "camps" along the way fulla shooting galleries. UPPER 4610 is far more natural with less damage though the ATV folks have made a mess outa the old CCC camps, especially Lookout Springs. You can tell the difference, smaller wheelbased vehicles cause the damage where trucks can't go.
It would be a shame to see the route closed because of a few yahoos. Ironically the worst hit areas in the Clackamas (including Memaloose area and Hillockburn) are CLOSEST TO TOWN! Hell it wouldn't be THAT hard to clean things up but that's obviously not a priority. I'm sick of bags of trash, burned out cars, burned pallets in the road, shot up signs...We live in God's front yard why can't these folks see it? And then we have a society that allows it to happen.