Wildcat Mt. Trail Closed Until Further Notice

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.
User avatar
NW Yeti
Posts: 45
Joined: May 4th, 2015, 10:13 pm
Location: Canby, Oregon

Wildcat Mt. Trail Closed Until Further Notice

Post by NW Yeti » August 15th, 2015, 3:56 am

Wild 1-1.jpg
Wildcat Mt. Trail will be closed until further notice. The whole area past the gate has been thoroughly trashed.
Wild 2-1.jpg
I was able to cleanup the TH yesterday, but there's a fairly big log that needs removed.
Wild 3-1.jpg
And I was able to cleanup the road to the TH, but we may need to get a grader in there because of the potholes.
Wild 4-1.jpg
Wild 5-1.jpg
But, as you can tell, other parts of the forest are in sad shape. This area was found yesterday. A well known illegal target shooting area. I'll try to get Clackamas County Dump Stoppers in here for a cleanup. But it will be a while. A few months at least, until we (USFS) can get the area under control.
Hiking is never about the destination, it's about the adventure!!!

User avatar
Guy
Posts: 3333
Joined: May 10th, 2009, 4:42 pm
Location: The Foothills of Mt Hood
Contact:

Re: Wildcat Mt. Trail Closed Until Further Notice

Post by Guy » August 15th, 2015, 4:39 am

Very sad, this area has been a problem since the mid 80's when I started going up there.

I'm a uneasy about this closure though. Who makes these decisions, is at the ranger district level or the National Forest level & can you close indefinitely without public input?

Where is this gate BTW?

Thanks
hiking log & photos.
Ad monte summa aut mors

User avatar
NW Yeti
Posts: 45
Joined: May 4th, 2015, 10:13 pm
Location: Canby, Oregon

Re: Wildcat Mt. Trail Closed Until Further Notice

Post by NW Yeti » August 15th, 2015, 5:05 am

1) Wildcat Mt Rd (the last 7 miles) 2)the USFS manages the area, so if the forest is getting abused so much to the point where recovery will be long, they won't be asking for a town hall. Sorry. :(
Hiking is never about the destination, it's about the adventure!!!

User avatar
walrus
Posts: 217
Joined: July 9th, 2014, 7:24 am

Re: Wildcat Mt. Trail Closed Until Further Notice

Post by walrus » August 15th, 2015, 5:11 am

How disheartening. And how frustrating it must be for you to see all the work put in torn back up again.

Can you still get to the Douglas trailhead from Wildcat Mtn Rd?

Underwater Arsonist
Posts: 27
Joined: January 2nd, 2014, 9:24 pm

Re: Wildcat Mt. Trail Closed Until Further Notice

Post by Underwater Arsonist » August 15th, 2015, 12:26 pm

I'm confused as to where the last 3 photos are. Is the 3rd one past the new gate near the "new" mcintyre th? I'm assuming the last 2 pictures are the only place where once can access the Douglas/McIntyre trails via the old Wildcat Quarry road now. Maybe it's the perspective, but it doesn't look like new TH that was created by TKO last year. That is quite the pile of garbage though.

Personally, I have no problem with the remainder of the Wildcat Mt. Road remaining closed for good. The local rednecks are obviously well organized, as they had a well manicured, newly cleared road breaching into the Roaring River wilderness on what was once trail from the end of Wildcat Mt. road. Definitely a shame though, some of that forest at the end of the road has some beautiful old growth.

greenjello85
Posts: 554
Joined: July 31st, 2014, 1:31 pm

Re: Wildcat Mt. Trail Closed Until Further Notice

Post by greenjello85 » August 15th, 2015, 5:14 pm

Ugh. It sucks when a few dumbies mess it up for everyone else. That hike has some nice fews for the EG.

User avatar
NW Yeti
Posts: 45
Joined: May 4th, 2015, 10:13 pm
Location: Canby, Oregon

Re: Wildcat Mt. Trail Closed Until Further Notice

Post by NW Yeti » August 15th, 2015, 7:15 pm

Yes, you can still get to the Douglas TH from Wildcat, just a few feet from the gate. I picked up three large garbage sacks of garbage there yesterday.
Douglas TH 1-1.jpg
Douglas TH 2-1.jpg
Douglas TH 3-1.jpg
One of the signs needs replaced due to vandals with guns. And there's a large pile of boards that needs removed. Other than that Douglas is in good shape. :)
Hiking is never about the destination, it's about the adventure!!!

User avatar
aiwetir
Posts: 600
Joined: December 10th, 2014, 11:54 am
Contact:

Re: Wildcat Mt. Trail Closed Until Further Notice

Post by aiwetir » August 15th, 2015, 9:41 pm

I'm always confused as to how people can find the nicest landings with great views to camp at and then trash the place. They took the time to look for the nicest spot but couldn't figure out that trashing it would ruin it on their next visit.
- Michael

Aimless
Posts: 1922
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:02 pm
Location: Lake Oswego

Re: Wildcat Mt. Trail Closed Until Further Notice

Post by Aimless » August 16th, 2015, 9:41 am

Practicing self-restraint in the present in order to increase one's future enjoyment is not a big skill among the people who trash nice campsites. Whatever self-discipline they might possess tends to disappear after the third beer :(

User avatar
Guy
Posts: 3333
Joined: May 10th, 2009, 4:42 pm
Location: The Foothills of Mt Hood
Contact:

Re: Wildcat Mt. Trail Closed Until Further Notice

Post by Guy » August 17th, 2015, 5:22 am

NW Yeti wrote:1) Wildcat Mt Rd (the last 7 miles) 2)the USFS manages the area, so if the forest is getting abused so much to the point where recovery will be long, they won't be asking for a town hall. Sorry. :(
USFS yes, but I'm interested in how the process works at what level of the USFS is the decision to close the road made? Ranger District? National Forest? higher? Can you elaborate?

Thanks.
hiking log & photos.
Ad monte summa aut mors

Post Reply