A re-route of the South Creek Trail would preserve seclusion for the owners of a private inholding and allow recreational use again.
The South Creek Trail in the Twisp River drainage could be open to hikers and equestrians late this summer if the Methow Valley Ranger District and a member of the family that owns private property traversed by the trail can agree on a timeline for an easement and other documents.
Field surveys and the environmental review are complete for a re-route of the trail, which has been closed for two years because it crosses a private inholding in the national forest. The new route would require only a short traverse of the private property.
“Everything is on schedule with this project. It has been a top priority for the district,” District Recreation Manager Rosemary Seifried said this week.
The trail has been closed since the spring of 2021, when Jack Cramer, a member of the family that has owned the land for more than a century, closed the trail to protect the property from theft and vandalism. With loss of tree cover after the 2018 Crescent Mountain Fire, privacy at the property was significantly reduced, Cramer said.
Although the surveys and environmental review are complete, the paperwork hasn’t been finalized. But they’re on track to complete all paperwork by the summer field season, Seifried said. The agency also needs to sign an easement with the property owner, she said.
But Cramer is concerned that the ranger district won’t complete the paperwork in time. He said Methow Valley District Ranger Chris Furr told him early this month that the trail re-route was “low on the list of priorities.”
The ranger district hasn’t filed the survey documents with the county, Cramer said. He’s worried that if the district doesn’t finalize the paperwork before the spring, it will be too late for the re-route for this season.
Cramer said he typically goes to his property, at 4,400 feet, in April, although some years he’s had to walk several miles to reach the trailhead because Twisp River Road was still under snow. He told the ranger district that he wants the easement signed by April 15 to ensure that another season doesn’t go by where he’ll have to endure “hate speech” from members of the public angry about the trail closure. Cramer said the easement would have to be renewed annually.
“They’re telling the press that everything is on track, but telling the property owner everything is on hold,” Cramer said. He said he’s been the target of hostility and additional theft and vandalism since he closed the trail.
Ongoing process
The trail re-route will not require a public comment period, since it’s a small project and the ranger district has already received considerable public comment, Seifried said.
Although the re-route is only 4/10 mile, constructing a new trail is time-consuming. The new trail segment will be upslope of the existing trail. It passes through brushy avalanche-path sections that will require significant work to clear. Once brush and rocks are removed, they will build a new tread for the trail, Seifried said.
After the new trail section is completed, trail crews will need to work on the section beyond Cramer’s property, which hasn’t been maintained in the years it’s been closed, she said.
The U.S. Forest Service trails manager is currently planning work for the summer field season and has been talking with the Methow Valley Back Country Horsemen and the Washington Trails Association to coordinate volunteer work parties. Many folks are eager to help on South Creek, Seifried said.
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. The trail is popular, particularly with equestrians, as a gradual route to the Cascade crest before descending to Stehekin.
19th-century inholding
Cramer’s family property is one of only two private inholdings in the Lake Chelan–Sawtooth Wilderness. It consists of what were initially six mining claims on 82 acres and a nearby (but not contiguous) mill site on another 5 acres. The claims date to the late 19th century and were converted to private property in 1903. The existing hiking trail crosses both parcels for about 1/2 mile in all.
The trail first encounters the 5-acre section about 2 1/2 miles from the trailhead. After the re-route, that section will be avoided entirely. The new trail will go uphill, away from South Creek, before angling back to the original trail beyond the larger section of private property, Seifried said.
Although it will still cross his private property, the crossing will be half as long as the old trail, Cramer said. Because it’s way uphill, “privacy will be regained and everybody will be happy,” he said. The new route is consistent with a historic footpath, Cramer said.
