Biking, hiking, skiing: Klamath Trails Alliance celebrates another productive year
Published 9:30 am Sunday, December 10, 2023
- Trail building on the Spence Mountain system is ongoing.
It’s been another incredibly productive year for the Klamath Trails Alliance, a volunteer group that oversees building and maintaining a growing network of biking, hiking and cross-country skiing trails in Klamath County and areas in Jackson County.
KTA members logged 1,213 hours of volunteer trail work and cleared 403 logs or downfall from trails through Nov. 30. During the organization’s annual meeting last week, honored as the top 10 trail workers were Grant Weidenbach, Josh Nelson, Dwight Johnson, Michael Schaaf, John Poole, Lee Heckman, Jeremy Macko, Karen Poole, DJ Wagner and Adam Brunick.
“Grant was our top trail worker with 26 outings this year,” reported Drew Honzel, KTA’s treasurer.
Honzel also said the group’s funding “jumped substantially” in 2023 to $400,000, an increase he attributed to grants. The group received a $240,000 grant from the American Rescue Plan to expand trailheads along with several smaller grants for the Geo Trail extension project.
Trail maintenance was also impressive with the construction of new trails, plans for more and ongoing upkeep and maintenance at systems that include Spence Mountain, Moore Park and the Oregon Tech/Sky Lakes Geo Trail in Klamath County along Brown Mountain and other areas of the Sky Lakes Wilderness, such as Mount McLoughlin and Rye Spur trails.
Honzel said several milestones were achieved at Spence Mountain, the 10th year of trail development at the area.
“With the addition of four more miles of trail this year we now have over 51 miles,” he said, noting the master plan calls for 70 miles of trail. “So we are 73% complete and have 19 miles left.”
Over the decade, KTA has raised more than $1 million for the Spence Mountain trail system, which includes trails, trailheads and wayfinding signage for mountain bikers, hikers and cross-country skiers. In addition, this year was the first year Spence’s ownership is under Klamath County.
In looking forward to 2024, Honzel and KTA President Kevin Jones said plans include completing the remaining third of a mile of the Chinquapin Trail, a 2-mile, downhill-only trail which they said “really gained in popularity this year — for the part that was open.”
Upcoming is construction of a new 2.5-mile trail connecting Queen of the Lake where it terminates at the Sesti Tgawaals Wildlife Area to North Star Trail. Sesti Tgawaals is one of four parcels that are part of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Service’s Klamath Wildlife Unit. Honzel said the extension will provide longer cross-country loop options. In addition, plans include beginning building north along the Eastern Ridge of the Spence tract with a goal of completing a mile of the 3.5-mile trail.
“It’s a lot different than the neighboring topography,” he said of the area accessed by the trail extension.
Another Spence Mountain project will double the size of both trailheads and, if funds allow, add a vault toilet at the Shoalwater Bay Trailhead.
What Honzel termed “our big project for the year” was building a new Moore Park Family Zone, a miniature sized bike skills area in Klamath Falls. He said the family zone is “intended for toddlers/young children to play on their strider or scoot bikes. More importantly it is a central gathering spot for families to hang out while their toddlers are playing on their bikes or just playing in the dirt while the big kids and adults enjoy the larger Bike Skills Area located adjacent to the Family Zone.”
Honzel explained that there are several different elements of the family zone trail, which is near the intersection of the Upper Loop Road and Lynnewood connector trail and can be ridden in either direction.
“Several wooden features to add fun like small rollers for the kids to ride over,” he said, noting the strider pump track that had dirt rollers and banked corners. “Kids love rocks so there are a few of those for them to ride over.”
New, too, are three picnic tables, including one that is ADA accessible for wheelchairs. In addition, a bike fixit station with a bike pump for tires and tools for minor repairs was added.
Honzel described the project as “another great partnership between the City of Klamath Falls and Klamath Trails Alliance. The total project cost came to $30,000 with $22,000 funded by KTA through grants, community donations and one business sponsorship.”
“People don’t know Klamath County as a biking area, but the word is getting out,” he said, noting increasing numbers of people using the expanding trail system are from outside the county and region.
Other improvements were made on the 2-mile-long Geo Trail, which was originally constructed in 2016. The recreational trail links Crystal Terrace Assisted Living & Memory Care, Sky Lakes Medical Center and Oregon Institute of Technology, “providing scenic vistas and an opportunity for relaxation and physical activity for all to enjoy,” Honzel said. “It has been well received not only by the community it directly serves but by the population at large.”
For several years KTA has been working to extend the Geo Trail south to link up with the adjoining neighborhood.
“Our objectives are as follows: Improved connectivity — the trail extension will improve the long-term biking/walking and commute option for Sky Lakes and Oregon Tech employees/students; Legalize trail access — KTA has secured legal access from two private property owners that the trail crosses.” KTA is currently finalizing trail access agreements with Sky Lakes and Oregon Tech. Another goal is “Improved user experience — instead of utilizing a sometimes dusty or muddy dirt path, trail users will now travel on an all-weather compacted gravel path.” Construction of the new link is planned to begin next spring. Honzel said $35,000 in funding has largely come from grants. Plans call for launching a community campaign to raise $20,000 in coming months.
KTA added a new event earlier this year — the Spence Mountain Mayhem Mountain Bike Race. A second race is scheduled for June 8 next year.
“The first race was a huge success this year with 80 participants,” Honzel said.
In addition, the annual Spence Mountain Trail Run will be held June 1.
For more about KTA, including maps of trails, visit the group’s website at klamathtrails.org.
The positive impact of volunteers and others has been felt on the Fremont-Winema National Forest’s West Zone Recreation region that includes the Klamath Falls, Chiloquin and Chemult areas along with portions neighboring or in Jackson County.
Heather Berg, Central Zone Recreation Manager for the Fremont-Winema, said the West Zone Recreation Wilderness and Trail region includes eight campground, four Sno-Parks, six days use/picnic area, 12 trailheads and 39 toilets, with some campgrounds and days use area being concession operated. But, she emphasized, the area “does not reflect everything we do on the entire Fremont-Winema.”
Berg said volunteer work by 100 people resulted in 4,545 volunteer hours, a government value of $144,530. Work included trail maintenance, pack support, campground maintenance, corral building, snowmobile grooming, and cross country ski trail work. Volunteers included members of several groups, including the Back Country Horsemen, Klamath Trails Alliance, Klamath Basin Snow Drifters, Chiloquin Ridge Riders, Klamath Basin Outdoor Group, Southern Oregon Nordic Club along with individuals and campground hosts. The region includes three wilderness areas – Mountain Lakes, Sky Lakes and Mt. Thielsen. The Forest Service team includes Berg, Mickey Figueroa, Chris Wilson and Walker Henry.
She said 146 miles, or 67 percent of hiking and stock trails, were maintained. Along with section of the 130 miles of ATV/OHV trails, some of the 57 miles cross country ski trails were groomed. In addition, 80 percent of the 360 miles of snowmobile trails were groomed; and all 10 miles of canoe/kayak trails were visited.
Fire rings, tables and bear proof trash work projects were completed at Digit Point Campground at Miller Lake along with various such ongoing work as maintaining tables, rest rooms, water systems, landscape work and the removal of “literally tons of trash and lots of poop!”