The South Creek Trail has been closed by a private property owner, who owns an inholding traversed by the trail about 2 1/2 miles from the trailhead.
Re-routing the trail would require two bridges to cross South Creek and years of environmental review.
Private owner cites ‘disrespect’ of property
A section of a well-used Twisp River trail that crosses private property in the wilderness has been closed by the property owner.
Hikers on the South Creek Trail, which leads to the Cascade crest and the isolated community of Stehekin, are encountering a rope across the trail and “no trespassing” signs where it traverses the private land.
Access to the South Creek Trail in the upper Twisp River drainage is from the Twisp River horse camp or the South Creek trailhead, which both join the main trail in about 1/4 mile. The trail enters the Lake Chelan–Sawtooth Wilderness after about 1 mile, and then climbs gradually below steep, craggy peaks until it reaches the private property about 2 1/2 miles from the trailhead.
The two small white polygons in the vast sea of green on the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest map, denoting the private property, are pretty unobtrusive. The dotted line of a hiking trail skirts the far end of the parcels.
Those shapes are a rarity, one of only two private inholdings in the Lake Chelan–Sawtooth Wilderness, Methow Valley Ranger District Recreation Program Manager Rosemary Seifried said.
The trail is popular, particularly with equestrians, as a gradual route to the scenic pass before descending to Stehekin. And this year, with the nearby War Creek Trail still closed because of downed trees, and a bridge out on one route to Stehekin from the North Cascades Highway, South Creek is an even more crucial connector, local hikers and horseback riders say.
The South Creek Trail has been open to the public in the past. In recent years, signs asked people to stay on the trail and to respect private property. But this spring, the rope was strung across the trail and a security camera mounted on a nearby tree. Jack Cramer, a member of the family who owns the property, said that theft, vandalism, and the risk of COVID prompted him to close the trail this March.
The Methow Valley Ranger District has posted signs notifying people that the trail is closed about 2 1/2 miles from the trailhead. District Ranger Chris Furr emphasized that this is not a U.S. Forest Service closure and that the agency is simply informing trail users. North Cascades National Park is also notifying anyone who seeks a permit for overnight use in the area, said Denise Shultz, chief of visitor services for the park complex.
The private property is completely surrounded by the Lake Chelan–Sawtooth Wilderness.
Long history
Both the trail and the private property have a long history, going back to the turn of the 20th century.
The private property consists of what were initially six mining claims on 82 acres and a nearby (but not contiguous) mill site on another 5 acres. The hiking trail crosses both parcels for about 1/2 mile in all.
The mining claims were staked by James Ashton of Tacoma in the 1890s. The property was formally patented – that is, it was converted to private property, not simply a claim to the minerals – in 1903, according to records of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
BLM has survey field notes from 1900 and 1901 that describe the property and its boundaries in an elegant cursive hand. According to the field notes, the six lodes and mill site were located in 1897, 1898 and 1899.
Okanogan County has appraised the property at $8,700. The value is low because access is so limited, County Assessor Larry Gilman said.
No Forest Service jurisdiction
The issue of trail access was raised at the meeting of the Methow Valley Trails Collaborative last week. The South Creek Trail is a major throughfare and a main connector to North Cascades National Park, Seifried told the collaborative. The ranger district believes the trail has been there since 1899, but the U.S. Forest Service has never had an easement across the private property, she said. The Forest Service was created in 1905.
“The trail was established long enough ago that we don’t know what the circumstances were surrounding how this trail was initially built across the private property, and we were not aware of any issues with public access until this year,” Methow Valley District Ranger Chris Furr said by email.
The Forest Service doesn’t have the authority to require the property owners to provide public access across their land, Seifried said. In fact, the agency has limited options. It can purchase land or an easement from a willing seller for the appraised value, or they can re-route the trail, she said.
“The Forest Service doesn’t have jurisdiction over what occurs on the private property,” Furr said. “The public lands surrounding the private parcels are part of the Lake Chelan–Sawtooth Wilderness, so anything we were to authorize on those lands would have to be consistent with the Wilderness Act and associated regulations and policies.”
The Wilderness Act of 1964 says wilderness should be free from the encumbrances of modern society.
Scenic route
The South Creek Trail typically gets a lot of use in the summer by people going to South Pass for the view or to an alpine lake near the pass, said Bill Ford, trail boss for the Methow Valley Back Country Horsemen.
“There’s been an unofficial easement for umpteen years – that trail has gone across that property for many, many years,” Ford said.
Pearl Cherrington, who lives up the Twisp River, backpacked the trail about 10 years ago and saw no signs about private property. “Once you get up to South Pass and look down on McAlester basin, it’s just awesome,” Cherrington said. Access to the pass is much longer without this trail, she said.
Sam Israel, who also lives on the Twisp River, said he’d hiked to Stehekin at least three times via the trail. He started to notice activity – a few tents and shelters for shade – at the private property two years ago. “It looked like folks interested in the wilderness,” he said. Hikers were simply asked to stay on the trail, Israel said.
This year, blockage of the trail has angered people accustomed to using it, and the closure sparked a spirited discussion on the Methownet.com bulletin board in May.
Much of the discussion described efforts to find out more about the property and the laws that govern it, along with speculation about the owner’s plans. Many advocated calling the Forest Service, members of Congress, or talking with the property owner to try to restore access.
Some asserted that the public has a right to use trails in the national forest, while others reminded people they have to respect private property. Others speculated that the whole thing is a scheme to increase the value of the land.
Cherrington participated in the bulletin board discussion before it was taken down by moderators. There were about 5,500 views, which might be a record, she said.
“We can’t let it lie, because he’ll just get away with it,” said a member of the Back Country Horsemen who often rides in the area.
Resort concept
Cramer’s great-grandfather, William Johnson, of Winthrop, bought the South Creek property from Okanogan County in 1944, and it has remained in the family ever since, Cramer said. Cramer thinks his great-grandfather bought the property in a foreclosure sale for back taxes.
About 70% of the South Creek Trail burned in the 2018 Crescent Mountain Fire. The fire also burned much of the private land. “Before the burn, we had total privacy – it was thick. The trail was a hallway of 10-foot-high brush,” Cramer said. “We lost all privacy after the fire. It was like random tourists walking in your front door.”
That lack of privacy made their land and rudimentary infrastructure – tents and tarps – more vulnerable, Cramer said.
Cramer has spent the past three summers working on the property. Last year, finding himself with less employment during the pandemic, he was able to spend most of his time there, clearing downed trees, terracing the land, and exploring the steep, rocky slopes. He launched a concept for the South Creek Resort, which he registered with the state this February.
The idea behind the resort is to sell permits that allow people to use the property for camping, prospecting or to hike the trail, Cramer said. He envisions a group campsite that could be rented for yoga retreats, wilderness-first-aid training, or primitive-skills workshops.
He fashioned the business model on what the Forest Service and other public agencies do, requiring passes to access property, Cramer said.
But Cramer said the Forest Service told him that no commercial activity is allowed in the wilderness. Nevertheless, Cramer considered issuing permits – for free – to people he’d vetted through his website so that he could track any problems.
But last year, people scrawled profanities on the signs that asked people to stay on the trail. Someone stole a memory card from a locked trail camera, Cramer said. “It’s disrespect of private property,” he said.
Then came the bulletin board. Cramer said the discussion included veiled threats and harassment. As a result of the theft, vandalism and harassment, he abandoned his plan to issue user permits, he said.
Road access?
In addition to the physical work he’s done on the property, Cramer has amassed half a dozen binders of historic documents, deeds and maps. 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.
Cramer said the agency also said that no commercial activity is allowed on the property and that their decision isn’t subject to appeal. “I knew it would be a long, uphill battle, but I wasn’t expecting ‘no commercial activity,’” he said. Restricting access reduces the value of their property, he said.
Federal law bars vehicles and all motorized equipment in the wilderness. That means the only access to the property is on foot or horseback, making it impossible for his mother to visit her land, Cramer said.
“In order to successfully move forward, the access issue has to be resolved,” most likely through a judicial review, Cramer said.
Trail clearing
Ford and other members of the Back Country Horsemen have spent countless hours clearing trees and doing trail work in the area. Last summer, they saw Cramer often, and he was always friendly, the group’s president, Cathy Upper, said.
Last year, it appeared that someone had widened the trail, and there were ATV tracks on the route, Ford said. He reported his findings to the ranger district.
Cramer said he began to improve the trail last year, hoping the Forest Service would grant access, but voluntarily contacted the ranger district and stopped the trail work after 1/8 mile. He maintains that historic rights allow him motorized access to the property.
The trail is open only to people and stock, and no bikes or motorbikes are allowed on the trail even before it enters the wilderness, Seifried said.
Seeking a resolution
With a limited budget and trail staff and 1,100 other miles to keep up, the ranger district won’t maintain the South Creek Trail past the Louis Lake turnoff, about 1/2 mile before the trail closure, Seifried said. People can still get to Louis Lake.
“We have also looked into rerouting the trail, but that isn’t a simple or affordable solution, due to terrain and water crossings that, as I mentioned, would require us to construct two new bridges,” District Ranger Furr said. A new trail would traverse very steep terrain, he said.
Cramer has offered to provide timber “at a reasonable cost” to construct an alternate route, and said many people have volunteered their labor.
“Rerouting the trail sounds easy. People are ready to get out their shovels,” Seifried told the trails collaborative. But any new Forest Service trail requires planning and an environmental review. Even if creating an alternate route were the No. 1 priority for the district, it would take three to five years, she said.
The trails collaborative is interested in seeing if the group could play a role in resolving the situation, said James DeSalvo, executive director of Methow Trails and a member of the collaborative’s steering committee.
“The Forest is looking at our options to secure public access for the South Creek Trail, and I hope that we can find a solution that works for all parties,” Furr said.
