Trail repair crews worked on the Lightning Creek ramp. More trail work opportunities are coming up soon.
Repair and improvement projects are plentiful
People who love to recreate on trails — whether on foot, horseback or bike — will have plenty of opportunities to pitch in on a variety of trail improvement projects around the Methow Valley in coming months.
The Methow Valley Trails Collaborative is helping coordinate several projects to maintain and repair trails, such as replacing bridges, restoring trails damaged in recent fires, and repairing erosion caused by heavy hiker traffic.
Allen Jircik, trails manager for the Trails Collaborative, is working with the Methow Valley Ranger District and trail organizations that are part of the collaborative to plan and carry out a full schedule of projects from May through October.
Jircik was hired as the Trail Collaborative’s first trails manager — and only employee — last year to help the organization with its broad goal of connecting community advocacy groups and land managers to collaborate on trail stewardship in the Methow Valley.
Members of the various trail groups that are part of the collaborative, such as back country horsemen and mountain bikers, donate labor and materials for trails projects. Grants and federal funding obtained by the Methow Trails Collaborative and member trail organizations will support of the work this year, Jircik said.
Anyone who wants to support trails is welcome to join in work parties, Jircik said. “It’s great when people can work toward a goal of improving an area they enjoy recreating in,” he said.
A description of events and sign up forms are available on the Methow Valley Trails Collaborative website, trailscollaborative.org.
Upcoming opportunities
• May 6-7: The Trails Collaborative is coordinating with the Methow Valley Forest Fire Lookout Association to restore an eroded section of trail that accesses the North 20-Mile fire lookout. The lookout is having its centennial this year, and the goal of the weekend work party is to make it easier to access the lookout via horseback. Both work days will involve a moderately strenuous 4-mile round-trip hike.
• May 20: Save A Trail/Twisp River Trail. Save A Trail projects are chosen by the Trails Collaborative based on community input to restore high-use trails. The first day will focus on clearing trail in the lower part of the Twisp River drainage and wilderness boundary to improve the U.S. Forest Service’s ability to clear the trail this summer. The Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance has committed to supporting the work, which will include brushing and tread improvements, including work that children can help with.
• May 21: Save A Trail/Louis Lake bridge. The second Save A Trail project will enlist volunteers to help remove bark from trees, as part of site preparation to replace a decommissioned trail bridge on the Louis Lake trail No. 428. Participants will hike 1.9 miles (each way) on the South Creek trail to the bridge site. Removing the bark makes logs to be used in rebuilding the bridge more uniform and less prone to rotting. The Collaborative is working closely with the Forest Service on the project.
• June 3: Celebrate National Trails Day with a work party to improve Driveway Butte trail No. 481. The day will be a mixture of chainsaw logout for those who are certified, and tread repair on the steep switchbacks.
• June 26, July 5 and July 10: The Trails Collaborative has hired an Americorps crew to repair eroded sections of the heavily traveled Heather Maple Loop trail, located on Highway 20. The weekday volunteer days will support the Americorps crew in a switchback stabilization project. The work will involve heavy lifting to transport rocks that will be used to prevent further erosion of switchbacks on the Rainy Lake side of the trail.
• Aug. 12 and 19: This project will help preparations to replace two failing bridges on the popular Cutthroat Creek trail No. 438. The Trails Collaborative will work with Methow Trails, the Methow Chapter of Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, the Methow Valley Back Country Horsemen and the Forest Service. Volunteers will remove bark from logs and move gravel to the site of new bridge abutments.
Mountain bikers and horsemen
The Trails Collaborative also helps publicize and support trail projects hosted by partner organizations. The Methow Valley chapter of Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance has three weekend work parties planned: May 12-14 at Chickadee trailhead at Sun Mountain; June 16-18 at Loup Loup summit; and Sept. 29-Oct. 1 on the Lightning Creek trail to repair fire damage. Details will be posted on the website, evergreenmtb.org/calendar/work-parties.
The Back Country Horsemen of Washington will coordinate several volunteer events in the Pasayten Wilderness as part of a multi-year project geared towards opening up and restoring The Pacific Northwest Trail, which is a 1,200-mile continuous non-motorized National Scenic Trail from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean. The Back Country Horsemen are working with the Forest Service, Pacific Crest Trail Association, Pacific Northwest Trail Association, Washington Trails Association and others to reopen the trail for all users.
Some of the work will take place deeper in the wilderness, and other work will be at trailheads and open to community members. The trailhead events include June 10, Robinson Creek trailhead; July 1 and 2, Thirty Mile trailhead; July 15 and 16, Billy Goat trailhead; July 29 and 30, Robinson Creek trailhead. Information on the projects is online at bchw.org/pasayten_wilderness_project.php.
Funding trail projects
The Trails Collaborative was awarded a $16,000 Legacy Trails Program grant to be used for the bridge projects on the Louis Lake and Cutthroat trails, Jircik said.
The Legacy Trails Program grants are funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed by Congress in 2021, and were awarded for the first time this year by American Trails and the Forest Service. The Legacy Trails grants are designated for projects on existing trails on national forest lands, with the goal of protecting aquatic habitats and improving infrastructure, Jircik said.
The Back Country Horsemen of Washington also received a Legacy Trails Program grant for the trail work they are coordinating in the Pacific Northwest Trail in the Pasayten Wilderness, he said.
Trail improvement projects will also be supported by a $50,000 allocation through the Great American Outdoors Act, passed by Congress in 2020. The funding is a cost-share agreement between Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest and Methow Trails. Methow Trails is administering the funds because the Trails Collaborative had not completed incorporating as a nonprofit organization when the funding became available, and was not able to enter into federal contracts, Jircik said.
The Collaborative, in coordination with the Forest Service, will determine which projects will receive the Great American Outdoors Act funding, which is designated for deferred maintenance on trails along the Route 20 scenic highway corridor through the North Cascades. Current plans include the work on Driveway Butte trail and Heather Maple Loop trail this summer, and East Creek trail in the fall, Jircik said.
Labor for several projects will be provided by crews of the Americorps Student Conservation Association and the Washington Conservation Corps, Jircik said.
Jircik’s position as the only paid staff member of the Methow Valley Trails Collaborative is funded primarily through three cost-sharing agreements with the Forest Service and administered by Methow Trails.
They include the Great American Outdoors Act, as well as funding tied to federal disaster relief law for fire-affected trails, and funding aimed at increasing the role of volunteers maintaining trails on national forests. The funding sources also support hiring Student Conservation Corps crews, Jircik said. He hopes to steer the Trails Collaborative toward more sustainable funding, and less reliance on grants and contracts.
The Collaborative will hire a student from Western Washington Sustainability Pathways Fellowship this summer. “It’s a part-time position from June through September that will add capacity to the organization during the busy field season,” Jircik said.
The Methow Valley Trails Collaborative was created seven years ago to bring together trail users with the common goal of improving and maintaining trails around the valley. Members and partners of the Trails Collaborative include the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance, Methow Valley Snowmobile Association, Loup Loup Ski Education Foundation, Washington Trails Association, Northwest Motorcycle Association, Methow Conservancy, Winthrop Chamber of Commerce, Methow Trails, Methow Valley Back Country Horsemen and Rendezvous Huts, as well as Pearrygin Lake State Park, the U.S. Forest Service Methow Ranger District and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife Methow Wildlife Area.
