New McIntyre Trailhead Issues

Use this forum to report and discuss trails in need of maintenance. This will help organizations like TKO and agencies like the Forest Service get the most recent on-the-ground trail conditions.
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JZwing
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Joined: May 1st, 2012, 6:53 am

New McIntyre Trailhead Issues

Post by JZwing » July 23rd, 2021, 9:37 am

We visited McIntyre Ridge yesterday and headed for the "new" trailhead. The road is sufficiently bad past the paved that only high clearance vehicles should attempt it. We parked just past the end of the paved road in a little pullout and walked up.

The OH picture shows a clear parking area at the end of this little road. It is now dominated by a large fire pit and shotgun shells and shell casings are all over the place. There is also a broken pallet. There is a warning on the Douglas trailhead page: "Target shooters are abundant along the roads here. Use caution when hiking and driving in this area." This warning should also be added to the New Mcintyre Trailhead page.

Also, people have created work-arounds to the road blocks. There are berms/pits but the large rocks have been moved aside on both sides of the block. The road continues at least 3/4 of a mile up into the wilderness area. At the end is another fire pit and a fairly fresh empty box of Remington ammo and more shell casings.

On our hike, we encountered a group of women who had parked at Douglas, so people are still using that. We didn't see anyone else at the new TH. It felt pretty sketchy.
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Fire pit.JPG
Fire pit.JPG (54.12 KiB) Viewed 13238 times
Road.JPG
Road.JPG (64.01 KiB) Viewed 13238 times

justpeachy
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Location: Portland, OR
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Re: New McIntyre Trailhead Issues

Post by justpeachy » July 24th, 2021, 6:21 am

Because of the issues you describe I don't use that trailhead anymore. (For those of you who don't know, this is the one.) Bobcat has updated the trailhead description with a target shooting warning.

Unfortunately that area seems to be totally ignored by the Forest Service. Target shooters and OHVs have been a problem for years. TKO worked with the Forest Service to create that new Douglas Trailhead and the connector trail but target shooters wasted no time trashing the area and shooting up the sign. It's really a shame because McIntyre Ridge is such a nice hike.

Image

I saw this article recently. I don't know exactly where the "Wildcat Shooting Area" is, but I assume it's somewhere around there?

Cleanup focuses on Wildcat shooting area
Trash No Land works to remove trash, graffiti and potential fire hazards from area on the Mt. Hood National Forest.

The Wildcat recreational shooting area received some attention during a cleanup organized by Trash No Land.

On Saturday, June 26, 28 volunteers worked at the site in the ZigZag Ranger District near Sandy and the George area neighboring Estacada and removed trash, pressure washed graffiti from boulders and removed potential fire hazards from the shooting lanes.

Based in Washington, Trash No Land is a nonprofit organization dedicated to making a positive difference in recreational target shooting, with the goal of protecting public lands. The group facilitates cleanup sites in forests across Oregon and Washington, assists management agencies in developing quality shooting lands and promotes their cause through volunteering to keep public lands clean and safe.

During the June 26 cleanup, Clackamas County Dump Stoppers joined Trash No Land to help dispose of the garbage that was collected.

For more information about Trash No Land, visit www.trashnoland.org.

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Chip Down
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Re: New McIntyre Trailhead Issues

Post by Chip Down » July 24th, 2021, 7:48 am

Interesting that we have a known area where degenerates consistently misbehave, but the authorities choose to do nothing.

It's kinda like Portland in that respect. ;)

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retired jerry
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Re: New McIntyre Trailhead Issues

Post by retired jerry » July 24th, 2021, 8:42 am

I don't know that "choose" to do nothing is fair

I don't think it would make financial sense to leave an officer there all the time. It's a minor crime. There are more important things to prioritize.

Personally, yeah it's obnoxious people leave spent shells and shoot up signs at the trailhead, but the rest of the trail is okay. There are other problems more deserving of my worry. It's too bad they can't designate some areas as safe for target practice.

Same with Portland - the police or political leaders can not just magically solve all problems. When covid fades it'll make things much easier.

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Charley
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Re: New McIntyre Trailhead Issues

Post by Charley » July 25th, 2021, 9:46 am

retired jerry wrote:
July 24th, 2021, 8:42 am
I don't know that "choose" to do nothing is fair

I don't think it would make financial sense to leave an officer there all the time. It's a minor crime. There are more important things to prioritize.

Personally, yeah it's obnoxious people leave spent shells and shoot up signs at the trailhead, but the rest of the trail is okay. There are other problems more deserving of my worry. It's too bad they can't designate some areas as safe for target practice.
That's a really good perspective. I, too, personally find the shooting activity obnoxious and off-putting. It's culturally very different from the attitude most hikers bring to wild places (even hikers with boom boxes). But it's probably less harmful than clear-cutting or LNG pipeline development, and it's good to be reminded of this.

It also seems like designating an area for target shooting closer to Estacada would make sense. I know there's a gun club down near Estacada, so I know that there's a lot of interest, and finding a "sacrifice area" that is not a trailhead would prevent user conflicts. There's plenty of industrial forest nearby that would be suitable.

Thanks, Jerry!
Believe it or not, I barely ever ride a mountain bike.

McCarter
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Re: New McIntyre Trailhead Issues

Post by McCarter » August 13th, 2021, 12:18 pm

I am not a fan of over policing, but you have to think that occasionally dishing out fines for blatantly violating the rules related to target shooting would at the very least cover the cost of sending someone out there every once in a while and would actually deter at least some individuals from partaking in the activity. Wishful thinking I guess.

Also, there will be a certain point where loading up the forest floor with bullets becomes an environment problem that will also be exacerbated by nearby clear cutting (i.e., rain sending toxics downhill).

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