The US Forest Service has decided to gate FS Road 383 (Crags Road) for winter, requiring users to park in a small 8-12 space lot just beyond the Mennonite Camp and trek up to an extra 2+ miles to reach area trail heads including Raspberry Mountain, Crags, Devil's Playground, and Putney Gulch. Their claimed reasoning for this is the road is a "winter traffic hazard" because sometimes people come unprepared and get stuck.
They took the easy way out... already has a gate...should at least plow to new RM TH.
If you would like to weigh in on this decision, I encourage you to email Oscar Martinez and Tambi Gustafson at...
omartinez@fs.fed.us
tkgustafson@fs.fed.us
http://gazette.com/recreation-scene-to- ... le/1615412
Crags / PP winter access
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JQDivide
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Crags / PP winter access
Last edited by JQDivide on Fri Nov 17, 2017 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
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LURE
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Re: Crags / PP winter access
Good info, thank you. Might not wanna let this one go too far into discussion mode though... 
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AndrewLyonsGeibel
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Re: Crags / PP winter access
Meh that’s where I park during winter anyways. I have personally gotten stuck on that road ... with 4wd, snow tires, and chains. Pulled over to let a descending car pass. Luckily they were nice enough to pull me out.
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timstich
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Re: Crags / PP winter access
We didn't get stuck on that road in winter, more like detained. 
The road itself had packed ice in the lines where vehicles had packed down previous snow, but you could shovel out dry snow everywhere else. You could even drive off the road with more traction. It was an interesting experience in early snowfall. Anyway, we immediately backtracked and parked at the bottom of a hill instead of fighting it. This was in a Subaru.
The road itself had packed ice in the lines where vehicles had packed down previous snow, but you could shovel out dry snow everywhere else. You could even drive off the road with more traction. It was an interesting experience in early snowfall. Anyway, we immediately backtracked and parked at the bottom of a hill instead of fighting it. This was in a Subaru.-
pmeadco
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Re: Crags / PP winter access
Why bother Tambi? She hasn't worked in this district since last spring. The article names the current rec planner.JQDivide wrote:I encourage you to email Oscar Martinez and Tambi Gustafson at...
Personally, I support closing the road after the first big snow. That place turns into a cluster-f**k once the snow gets deep and people try to pass each other.
Ideally it should be plowed, but, as always, that is a budget issue.
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geoffirons
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Re: Crags / PP winter access
Closing that gate in the winter is great. It is far better skiing than driving. The only problem is that contrary to what they told me last year, the USFS has not expanded the parking outside the gate. In fact, there are "No Parking" signs there now, and there is no where else to park to access the Crags (other than Horsethief Falls TH, and the much longer approach via Horsethief Park and Putney Gulch).
Geoff Irons
