Approach Roads (fewer and fewer)

[Jim Welch]

People are funny, if there is a notion that a road will be built or improved that accesses deeper into the National Forests, all kinds of gnashing of teeth and wailing and waving of arms (figuratively) occur, then when its decided by our elected officials or beureaucrats to close a road, all kinds of gnashing of teeth and wailing and waving of arms (figuratively) occur.

People are so funny.

But it would be nice to know what roads are still in working order, and where in order to do some decent planning.

Where might one find this info out these days?

Perhaps a section on our website or these forums might be helpful that identifies what FS roads are still in good working condition, whether blocked by natural events or man made events.

Case in point. the trailhead to Boulder Lake in the Sultan Basin Watershed is no longer accessible by auto, I am glad I was able to go there last fall because right after my trip, they shut the road down close to the Greider Lake trailhead.

Since its been years since I was doing a lot of hiking, my knowledgebase is definetly outdated.

I know I can hunt for this info on some of the trail websites, but it is textual in nature. I was thinking more of a graphic tool, like from a map or something. The second part of this helpful info is whether you can use an alternate mode of transportation up these blocked/gated/abandoned roads like a Mountain Bike or a Motorized Scooter (like a Honda Trail 90).

What are all yawls thoughts?

Jimbo

[Andy Schmidt]

My assumption is that it’s 2 different groups of people who’re griping over roads being improved/closed. Not the same people switching back and forth.

I use this FS site for road info. It’s in text format, but it’s the link I have handy. I seem to remember a map with similar info being available on the WTA site last year (2008) but don’t have the URL handy.

[Jim Welch]

Yes, I have seen that also, but there is no comparison for boots on the ground, up to date info, as in a recent trip report. I am just thinking that something graphic would be even more useful.

[Sandy McKean]

Here are 2 links that are very useful for this sort of thing (including the one Andy mentioned):

http://traildamage.wta.org

Here is the one Andy supplied, but the highlighting of link text on this board is hard to see so you might have missed it:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/mbs/conditions/road_conditions_report.shtml

P.S. I wonder if the color for link text is configurable such that link text could be more easily seen (something along the lines of bright blue)

[Jim Welch]

Ah, the map with little colored geometric shapes, thats some of what I am looking for.

What are the rules for transport beyond the blockages/gates etc…

Is it assumed that outside the wilderness boundaries, all abandoned roads can be traveled by mountain bike or motor scooter?

Thanks Sandy.

Jimbo

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