Overview
The Pardoe Trail in the El Dorado National Forest was closed in 2012 as part of the "42 Trails" lawsuit. While the lawsuit has luckily been resolved in our favor this trail and several others are still closed pending action by the forest service. This lawsuit is a good example of how trails can get closed and how long it can take to get them re-opened.
Here is the Eldorado National Forest's webpage for the 42 Routes Project. It lists the trails that have been re-opened, projects still in the works, and a history of the closures.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/eldorado/home/?cid=stelprdb5362046
And the information specific to the Pardoe Trail which is referred to as the "Amador High Country Routes Project" by the EDNF since it is made up of multiple trails.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=47470
This trail has a moderate difficulty rating and provides access to beautiful areas in the High Sierras. Parts of the trail overlap with historical emigrant trails, and there are several options for routes into and out of the trail system.
http://4x4trailmaps.com/4x4Trails.php?Trail_ID=3
Current Status
The proposed action to re-open the trail was submitted in 2015 and was approved in January of 2017. As a note, the only parts of the trail at issue are where it crosses meadows and work is required to harden these crossings to prevent damage. Originally the EDNF planned to make the necessary repairs in the summery of 2017, but as of July 2017 the EDNF had not yet received the funding and instead planned to perform most of the work in the summer of 2018. The EDNF has been very responsive to my past emails about the status of this trail, and later this spring I plan to contact them for an update.
What can we do?
1) Write polite emails to the EDNF asking about the status of this trail and expressing community support for re-opening it as soon as possible.
2) Volunteer for work parties that may take place on the trail this summer.
A word about meadows
The 42 Trails lawsuit was specifically focused on the routes' effect on meadows. Open meadows are fairly rare in the high sierras, and because they are a critical part of the ecosystem there is a lot of focus on them by environmental groups. As users of these routes we need to be especially careful around meadows and never drive into them or cause any other kind of resource damage. In some cases trails have river crossings through meadows, and in those cases it is very important to always stay on the trail and to keep your speed down to avoid eroding the banks.
The Pardoe Trail in the El Dorado National Forest was closed in 2012 as part of the "42 Trails" lawsuit. While the lawsuit has luckily been resolved in our favor this trail and several others are still closed pending action by the forest service. This lawsuit is a good example of how trails can get closed and how long it can take to get them re-opened.
Here is the Eldorado National Forest's webpage for the 42 Routes Project. It lists the trails that have been re-opened, projects still in the works, and a history of the closures.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/eldorado/home/?cid=stelprdb5362046
And the information specific to the Pardoe Trail which is referred to as the "Amador High Country Routes Project" by the EDNF since it is made up of multiple trails.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=47470
This trail has a moderate difficulty rating and provides access to beautiful areas in the High Sierras. Parts of the trail overlap with historical emigrant trails, and there are several options for routes into and out of the trail system.
http://4x4trailmaps.com/4x4Trails.php?Trail_ID=3
Current Status
The proposed action to re-open the trail was submitted in 2015 and was approved in January of 2017. As a note, the only parts of the trail at issue are where it crosses meadows and work is required to harden these crossings to prevent damage. Originally the EDNF planned to make the necessary repairs in the summery of 2017, but as of July 2017 the EDNF had not yet received the funding and instead planned to perform most of the work in the summer of 2018. The EDNF has been very responsive to my past emails about the status of this trail, and later this spring I plan to contact them for an update.
What can we do?
1) Write polite emails to the EDNF asking about the status of this trail and expressing community support for re-opening it as soon as possible.
2) Volunteer for work parties that may take place on the trail this summer.
A word about meadows
The 42 Trails lawsuit was specifically focused on the routes' effect on meadows. Open meadows are fairly rare in the high sierras, and because they are a critical part of the ecosystem there is a lot of focus on them by environmental groups. As users of these routes we need to be especially careful around meadows and never drive into them or cause any other kind of resource damage. In some cases trails have river crossings through meadows, and in those cases it is very important to always stay on the trail and to keep your speed down to avoid eroding the banks.
