Jacksonville Review – May 2024
SISKIYOU UPLAND TRAILS ASSOCIATION (SUTA) is planning a National Trails Day Event to officially open 5 miles of new trails constructed within the Sterling Mine Ditch Trail System (SMDT). We’re celebrating completion of a years-long process of planning and construction for these spectacular new trails with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, family-friendly activities, and hiking on the new trails. Our BLM partners will be there, along with representatives from the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Recreational Trails Program (RTP), and REI co-sponsors. Come out to see the new trails and learn about what it takes to plan, build, and maintain them. Hundreds of volunteer hours and a paid crew of local residents were required to design and build these trails. It’s a long but rewarding process, and a worthwhile one that provides those who love to hike, run, and ride on public lands with a chance to really experience our amazing landscape.
The new trails were approved by BLM in 2021, and construction of the first mile from Wolf Gap to the Siskiyou Crest viewpoint was completed in 2022 using funds provided by a generous private donation. The next 4 miles of trail construction was funded by an RTP grant this past fall and winter. SUTA is being awarded another RTP grant that will fund construction of the remaining miles of approved trails that will provide additional connections within the SMDT system.
The new trails, named the Upper and West Bear Gulch Trails, provide several new hiking options starting from the Wolf Gap Trailhead. Options include an easy 2 mile out and back hike to an amazing viewpoint of the Siskiyou Crest, to 5- and 10-mile loops connecting to the Tunnel Ridge trail and back to Wolf Gap. The event will be held starting at 9am, Saturday, June 1, 2024, at the Wolf Gap Trailhead. Check our website www.sutaoregon.org for more information and directions to the trailhead.
Joy Rogalla, SUTA President