FALLEN LEAF TRAIL INSTALL

Some of the other activities that can be enjoyed along the trail include dog-friendly biking, picnicking, fishing, and swimming. However, you will need a SNO-Park permit to participate. In winter, the trail offers cross-country skiing and snowshoeing. The Fallen Leaf Lake Trail has a lot to offer visitors, including a wide variety of sporting activities all year round. It is well worth the adventure to explore the different trails and find your way around if you have some time on your hands. Parking is available on the shoulders.įallen Leaf Lake Trail is generally flat and runs right along the lake’s shoreline, which is about 15 minutes in to the hike. Note that the main trail juts out into several smaller trails, so bring a map with you to stay on course. Then follow the road past the campground to the Fallen Leaf Lake Trailhead. More specifically, to access the trailhead, drive north on Highway 89 and turn left on Fallen Leaf Lake Road. The trail is also dog-friendly and easily accessible through a parking lot that is just off Highway 89. The hope is to put the project into motion by early summer 2013, with a finished timeline of fall 2016.Fallen Leaf Lake Trail loops about eight miles around a picturesque landscape that features the beautiful Fallen Leaf Lake which is the second-largest body of water in the Tahoe Basin. Once comments are gathered and changes recommended or the plan amended, a summary will be released and then put out for comment again with a decision slated for this fall. “I am not against the 80-year-old Camp Richardson corral and horses, but they have many, many other trails to use as they have in the past,” she wrote. Horses haven’t been part of this particular trail for good reason, she said, because the road is too narrow and horses erode trails. “It is a very unique part of Fallen Leaf Lake and after so many years of enjoyment it would be a shame to decommission this trail,” she wrote in a letter to Quinn. Part-time resident Sara Connolly urges the Forest Service to leave the Taylor Creek trail as it is. “We are proposing new trails in areas that would be decommissioned.” “The goal is not to eliminate public access but to provide sustainable access in an interconnected trail system,” Quinn said. The access road to Glen Alpine Trailhead would be upgraded and an emergency access road would be constructed at the northeast corner of Fallen Leaf Campground.

FALLEN LEAF TRAIL INSTALL

The Forest Service proposes to expand and improve public parking and access, and install Best Management Practices (BMPs) at existing and proposed parking areas. The existing bridge over Fallen Leaf Lake dam would be removed and replaced with an accessible bridge designed to accommodate bicycle and equestrian use. Many trails would receive BMP upgrades in order to meet current Forest Service standards, while others are proposed to be decommissioned including the Taylor Creek Trail. Trails in the project area would be improved to provide more consistent and effective route destinations, while reducing congestion and conflict among users, according to the Forest Service. “How can closing 14-plus miles of some of the most popular trails lead to fewer user conflicts between hikers, bikers and horses,” she asks. Wyneken also questions the motivation behind trail improvements in the area.

The proposed “sprout” would be accessed through a gate and allow for smoother emergency entrance and access, he said. In the event of a fire, as it stands now, there would be access problems. An emergency access “sprout” – or 40-foot cutout – is needed because the road only allows for one-way traffic in and out. Regarding building an emergency access area instead of making improvements to the existing road, Quinn said the Forest Service’s hands are tied because Fallen Leaf Lake Road is a county maintained road. Regarding the polo fields, both the Tahoe Tallac Association and the Tahoe Heritage group are not opposed to the parking measures being proposed, he said. Jacob said the Forest Service is taking into consideration the cultural concerns of the area and will minimize the impact of the parking lots. She also said the Forest Service should reconsider paving over the historic Pope Estate Polo grounds, closing off parking at Valhalla and issuing special use permits if parking is going to be a problem in the future. Wyneken said the Cathedral Snow Park area and the empty Mikasa parking lot at the “Y” can be used more fully for summer parking. “Clearly there will be a need to offset the parking and that is what we are looking at,” he said. Forest Service, additional parking will be needed because Caltrans has environmental improvement plans in the works that would eliminate up to 450 parking spaces and roadside parking along Highway 89, from Spring Creek into the city limits. According to Jacob Quinn, trails coordinator for the U.S.

Fallen leaf trail