Forum Index > Trail Talk > South Creek Trail now blocked by private landowner
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RichP
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PostFri May 28, 2021 12:11 pm 
Reminds me of this parcel which includes part Granite Lakes near Mailbox Pk. The land has been on the market for years but no way to get a vehicle up there now that the old road is a trail. Imagine hiking up there and finding a "dream Home" on the lakeshore. https://www.homes77.com/property/1779468/

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lookout bob
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PostFri Jun 18, 2021 4:33 pm 
not sure this is relevant to this thread, but here goes. We took a ride up the Ruby Creek road off of Blewett pass road intending to try to go to Tiptop...a former lookout site that we had visited years ago. We got to the correct road junction where we could see Tiptop, but the road is fenced off with serious NO TRESPASSING signs saying the area now is leased out to a motorcycle club for their private use. It stated that unless we had written permission to enter that we would be prosecuted. We didn't go in, but it got me wondering if other areas were like this too. It seems a shame to block off Weyerhauser land within a national forest this way. Have any body else discovered this situation elsewhere? Curious Bob cool.gif

"Altitude is its own reward" John Jerome ( from "On Mountains")
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fourteen410
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PostWed Jun 23, 2021 3:12 pm 
JimmyBob
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Worthington
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PostWed Jun 23, 2021 3:49 pm 
The very next (parallel) drainage to the SE is Reynolds Creek, and Reynolds Creek Trail USFS #402 hasn't been getting maintenance lately. Please call the Winthrop ranger station and request that if South Creek trail is de-facto being abandoned by the USFS (or even if the public access returns) - it would be wonderful to have the Reynolds Creek trail as a quasi-substitute brushed/logged/maintained as it used to be. It's a great trail connecting to the northern end of the Sawtooth Summit Trail, with access from the pass down Boulder Creek to Stehekin as well as all the summit trail peaks and lakes. 509-996-4000 (Winthrop USFS)

kiliki
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jinx'sboy
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PostWed Jun 23, 2021 6:24 pm 
Worthington wrote:
it would be wonderful to have the Reynolds Creek trail as a quasi-substitute brushed/logged/maintained as it used to be
That trail hasn’t been maintained in it’s entirety to the pass in many years. Likewise, I dont think the NPS has done much work on the west side of the divide, either. Also - Methow Valley News article on South Creek Trail, dated today. https://methowvalleynews.com/2021/06/23/south-creek-trail-closure-riles-hikers-equestrians/

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Worthington
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PostThu Jun 24, 2021 4:17 pm 
I understand that it has been a few years since the USFS has logged out and brushed the Reynolds Creek trail (parallel to South Creek) on the Twisp River side of the divide. I am hoping to encourage the USFS to resume maintenance, especially in lieu of the seeming closure (and no maintenance) along South Creek. The NPS has consistently maintained the Boulder Creek trail (connecting Stehekin to the sawtooth Summit Trail) and that trail runs through the meadows just below/south of the pass reached by the Reynolds Creek Trail. (the pass is the low point in the divide between Reynolds and Rennie peaks).

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kiliki
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PostFri Jun 25, 2021 12:22 pm 
From the article: A map he dates to 1896 shows what he says is an old wagon road to his property, similar to where the trail is now. Historic accounts describe a bunkhouse, cabin, blacksmith shop and telegraph system on the property, Cramer said. There must have been a road, since the owners had to have some way of getting people and equipment in and out, he said. This year, Cramer sent a proposal to the Forest Service to build a new road parallel to the South Creek Trail for motorized vehicles so the owners could have “free use and enjoyment” of their property. Because there was no previous motorized access, the Forest Service denied the request, Seifried said. No there didn't. There are countless remote building/structures/clusters of those that weren't ever accessed by road. People used stock and traveled on trails. Also, as a historian that has spend my career doing things like looking at old maps and documents, trying to figure out what was there...deciding that a line on an 1896 was a wagon road is not convincing. Who knows if the person that drew the map actually even went there, or just heard about something, or misunderstood something on another map. You'd need multiple sources, preferably different types (text and map) indicating that there was road access to be convincing.

jackchinook
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HitTheTrail
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PostWed Feb 08, 2023 1:27 pm 
Maybe good news on this issue. The WTA has a backcountry crew scheduled to logout and put in a work-around to bypass the private land. At least that is how I read this: "The Forest Service has planned a short reroute in one section of the South Creek trail in order to follow a more sustainable route and skirt a small parcel of private property." Hope so!

jaysway, JimmyBob, maurella, Get Out and Go, hbb, fourteen410
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fourteen410
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PostWed Feb 08, 2023 3:09 pm 
This is great news. Thanks for posting this!

HitTheTrail
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sooperfly
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PostWed Feb 08, 2023 3:26 pm 
Thanks HTT! An update in January in the MVN. https://methowvalleynews.com/2023/01/25/usfs-re-route-for-south-creek-trail-could-be-built-this-year/

jaysway, JimmyBob, fourteen410, Get Out and Go, HitTheTrail
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Sculpin
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PostThu Feb 09, 2023 9:43 am 
This is the best possible outcome, IMO, as long as the private owner is being honest about his own views and desires. There would be a case for adverse possession but some of the key points are missing. By "points" I mean the ten points of adverse possession. The biggest problem with an adverse possession easement is that the land above can be reached by a trail route entirely on public land that goes around the property. That is a big problem for adverse possession and the owner would likely prevail from that alone. The second problem is that the private owners have posted signs asking hikers to stay on the trail. Ironically, this weakens an adverse possession claim because the use is not adverse if the owner's actions can be construed as being inviting. I'm not a real lawyer, I just play one on NWHikers. clown.gif I did prevail once in an adverse possession dispute.

Between every two pines is a doorway to the new world. - John Muir
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fourteen410
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PostThu Feb 09, 2023 2:41 pm 
Thanks for posting the MVN article, Sooperfly. Key takeaways:
  • The re-route will still cross Cramer's property (albeit less of it)
  • The easement for the part that does cross the property will need to be renewed annually.
  • USFS needs to sign the easement paperwork by April 15
Per the article, Cramer claims the USFS considers this to be low priority. But USFS says they've received considerable feedback and WTA is already planning trail work, so that doesn't add up.

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HitTheTrail
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PostFri Feb 10, 2023 6:21 am 
BTW, I don't routinely read through WTA's list of upcoming trail work. I found out about this because the trails around Wenatchee are getting muddy so I was walking the paved river loop and ran into Middle E walking their dog Cooper. I ask him about his summer hiking plans and one of them is being on this South Creek backcountry work party. Good on him. up.gif up.gif

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Worthington
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PostWed Sep 06, 2023 4:02 pm 
I'm guessing based on the websites that this trail work wasn't done, and perhaps the paperwork never even went through. Anyone in Twisp have any knowledge about this closure or the supposed WTA/USFS trail reroute project?

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