New McIntyre Ridge (Wildcat Mountain) Trailhead

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Splintercat
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New McIntyre Ridge (Wildcat Mountain) Trailhead

Post by Splintercat » September 24th, 2008, 10:19 pm

To catch everyone up a bit, the BLM closed the McIntire Ridge trailhead at the north end of Wildcat Mountain a couple of years ago, thanks to lots of vandalism and misbehavior. This trailhead was reached by an ugly logging spur, through ugly clearcuts, from Highway 26.

So given the closure, I had added this project to the TKO list, with the idea of finding another trailhead for the McIntire Ridge Trail. I had mapped out a spot to investigate, but with all the snowpack this year, it took until last weekend to finally get up there! Jamie joined me for some rather damp scouting on Sunday, and the good news is that a new trailhead is not only possible, it's basically in place right now. I've got more research to do on this, but it almost looks like the USFS is already in the process of relocating the trailhead to the spot that we had come up with for TKO.

The new trailhead is fairly easy to find: simply drive up Wildcat Mountain Road from either Estacada or Sandy, and stay LEFT when you reach a couple of PAVED forks, well into the USFS lands. From these forks, the new trailhead is 3.7 miles further -- stay on the paved road until it crosses a draw, then turns to gravel. Stay RIGHT at a gravel fork that appears immediately, and in a short distance, reach the end of a gravel spur, with a small turnaround. Here's the map of the final stretch of the road:

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When we were there, it was rather busy - at least eight search and rescue vehicles parked for what appeared to be a training exercise. Looks like this:

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From the end of the gravel road, head up the farthest jeep trail, crossing a large vehicle barrier pit in the process. Follow the jeep trail uphill in a couple of broad curves until you reach this spot, marked by some vehicle barrier posts -- this is where the jeep trail reaches the McIntyre Ridge Trail:

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From this spot, you'll go uphill on the still-wide path to reach Wildcat Mountain. The downhill trail is still intact, and soon narrows -- this route looks like it's doomed to time and undergrowth, since it now just leads to the old BLM trailhead. The downhill path looks like this:

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The uphill direction is very wide, though quickly recovering from having the OHVs blocked (for now). Here's a view looking uphill, and in the direction of the remaining McIntyre Ridge route to Wildcat Mountain:

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This section is wide for quite a distance, so it can be a bit confusing -- but it does look to be the trail. On a nicer day, I'll hike it to confirm that, but I was 99% sure that we were on the actual trail (albeit, widened by OHVs) when we came across this blaze:

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I haven't added this to the PHFG yet, but will, eventually. For now, use some caution at this trailhead, since it's not officially marked as one. There were shooter signs in a couple of spots, and despite our crowded scene, you will likely have the place to yourself on most days. But the good news is that a reopened McIntyre Ridge Trail is suddenly available -- and it's a fine hike, with nice views and not too many visitors. It's described in several guides to the area, albeit with the original BLM trailhead in most narratives. This approach shortens the one-way trip by about a mile, possibly a bit more.

Tom

pablo
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Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: New McIntyre Ridge (Wildcat Mountain) Trailhead

Post by pablo » September 26th, 2008, 9:41 pm

Tom, a great find. Hard to turn this one into a loop but I'm seeing a bike 'n hike opportunity. Park the car at the new trailhead, ride the bike back down the road to the tail end of the Wildcat Mtn trail, stash the bike and proceed to Eagle Creek trail. Go up the canyon to the abandoned Coffman Camp cutoff trail to get out of the canyon and catch the Plaza trail to return on McIntyre ridge and the car.

Another one to add to my list.

--Paul
The future's uncertain and the end is always near.

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