Labyrinth-Coyote Wall 04-23-17

[bobcat]

Agreed. I wouldn't recommend doing the Atwood high loop above the vineyard. Bikers move faster, so it might be of interest to them to straighten out the access issues.

The Burns Farm Cutoff takes you out directly to the McMahon Viewpoint at the lone ponderosa, which means, if you're doing a loop like mine, you can stroll down the edge of the cliff and enjoy views all the way (Well, on Sunday I could only see the very base of Mt. Hood). It begins near the Atwood Road-Old Ranch Road junction as a single track heading up into the oaks. In fact, there's even a USFS sign there saying the trail can be used by bikers and hikers, but it leads directly onto Burns Farm Land! Once you're out of the oaks, you'll reach an open meadow (nice views), pass below a couple of stock tanks, and then pass a USFS boundary marker in the middle of the meadow. Buttercups, yes, but a spectacular grass widow display earlier in the season. From the middle of the meadow, you're on public land again (all the solid lines on my map). You pass below the southwest corner of the vineyard and then a scraggly clearcut to come out at the ponderosa viewpoint.

I wouldn't put it in the Field Guide, but it does offer a complete loop without backtracking. For a hiking guide, I'd describe the cutoff below Burns Farm, which necessitates a little out and back up to McMahon (the lone ponderosa) once you reach the Wall. There's a new post at the junction of this lower trail and the Coyote Wall Trail, so I assume they'll have trail signs in there soon. It's not in any master plan that I can see, so I don't know the official name of the lower cutoff trail.

I've been hiking there since the mid-90s, so it's been interesting to see the evolution . . . When it was mainly bikers, there was much free and tolerated use of private land, and the few hikers could take advantage. But when the foot (and paw) traffic increased exponentially, that's when conflicts began to erupt.

[drm]

I went to some of the meetings hosted by the Forest Service a few years back when they were putting together the recreation plan that has led to the signage we now see as well as some trail reroutes, etc. The tension was between locals and horsemen on the one hand, and bikers. The locals had no issue with hikers. Hunters wanted the area closed to bikes during the hunting season in the Fall because bikes move fast and come into a hunters view very quickly. Hikers are slow plodders by comparison.

Where do these names like McMahon Viewpoint come from?

[miah66]

Looking at the MapBuilder Layer of caltopo, I noticed several groups of trails on nearby Burdoin Mtn to the West. Does anyone know if these trails are kosher? That would make for one massive trail system if they could be linked together in some way as shown on the topo map via the "Millenium Trail".

[Webfoot]

The "Burdoin Overlook Trail" as seen in this view is a trail through private property that the public is graciously allowed to use. It's a beautiful place. I haven't been on the other trails out there.

[bobcat]

I went to some of the meetings hosted by the Forest Service a few years back

That's interesting to know. Thanks for the information. I did hear anecdotally some disparagement about hikers' dogs and TP flowers as well as inadvertent wandering into people's back yards because there was no signage.

Where do these names like McMahon Viewpoint come from?

McMahon is the triangulation point so named on topo maps.

I noticed several groups of trails on nearby Burdoin Mtn to the West. Does anyone know if these trails are kosher?

Mostly on Kreps Ranch but also SDS lumber land. The trails are mostly used by bikers. Kreps has a sort of "European" attitude about their property: just keep the gates closed and obey all signs. Neither Kreps nor SDS wants these trails written up online (e.g. no TRs) nor do they want them in guidebooks.

[Guy]

I noticed several groups of trails on nearby Burdoin Mtn to the West. Does anyone know if these trails are kosher?

Mostly on Kreps Ranch but also SDS lumber land. The trails are mostly used by bikers. Kreps has a sort of "European" attitude about their property: just keep the gates closed and obey all signs. Neither Kreps nor SDS wants these trails written up online (e.g. no TRs) nor do they want them in guidebooks.

Yes this is my understanding too, Kreps Ranch are fine with you walking their land but obey their signs re gates, paths etc. Also no trip reports or especially maps posted on the internet. Hopefully enough people will respect the rules to allow the status quo to continue.

[drm]

The Burdoin Mtn trails are sometimes locally known as Hospital Hill; it is mostly forested. I hiked there extensively when I lived in White Salmon and the Kreps family does normally keep it open for recreation. This time of year they run their cattle on that land (their main ranches are near Glenwood east of Trout Lake) and they sometimes close the area for a while when collecting the cattle or when conditions are very dry.

A few years ago they cut down a section of forest up there, as a firebreak I was told. This ruined some of the better trails because they got covered with the debris and some of the dirt roads that they graded are now real prone to deep mud if it has been wet. There is a lot of mileage there but it lacks the views and wildflowers and scenery that the public lands on the other side of Courtney Road have. It was a nice resource for those in White Salmon as the various trailheads were only a couple miles from home, but I don't go there any more and I'm not sure why people driving from the metro area would go there instead of driving an extra 5-10 miles for the more scenic public lands.

[miah66]

Thanks for the info, all!