#FALLEN LEAF LAKE HIKING INSTALL#

We are planning to team with the Forest Service in 2017 to build the first phase of these new trails – six miles in total on three new trails. These trails are ‘shovel ready’ but do not have funding for construction. Forest Service for approximately 15 miles of new trails. The hard work of environmental approvals has already been completed by the U.S. This area has many old user trails and connections to the new trails at Tahoe Mountain that can be made with your help. To the west of the lake is Angora Ridge, site of the devastating 2007 Angora Fire. The hope is to put the project into motion by early summer 2013, with a finished timeline of fall 2016.Fallen Leaf Lake is a gem at the base of Mount Tallac. 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 LAKE HIKING 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 lake hiking