Fees at five mile pass

[cruiseroutfit]

Look what the cat drug out

 

[erocrocks]

what has the 6 dollars done for af canyon, as far as jeeps??????

closed trails, and put up fenses further limiting trails and activity...


the more you close the more concentration there will be on all the other open trails, just making it get worse and worse

 

[strangeKowboy]

I am for maybe a 5$ rec fee to help keep it cleaned up out there. I have only stopped at the big parking area once and well i will never do that again almost got hit in my truck from some kids not paying attention on there banshee's but still think something needs to be done to clean it up out there. And last i checked i did see a bunch of scattered fire rings out there where did they come from? I guess my main thing is that where we go RS and constrictor is down the road in the forgotten area. The only emprovement i see down there are the ones that we (RME) go out and do. I have yet to be out there this year but is there a restroom on that end or are they all up at the ATV madness area?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

what has the 6 dollars done for af canyon, as far as jeeps??????

closed trails, and put up fenses further limiting trails and activity...


the more you close the more concentration there will be on all the other open trails, just making it get worse and worse

What trails has it closed??

Restrooms, parking lot, enforcement, trail repair to name a few.

Nothing notable has closed in AF Canyon in the last 10 years. Sure some more things have been enforced as closed, but an educated and informed motorized user would have realized those trails have not been on the motorized travel plan for ten or more years

 

[kbjames]

C'mon Kurt.

For my $6 that I pay everytime you would have thought they could have graded the roads to Mineral Basin and Forest Lake and made em a bit smoother..

P.S. How long has the road to Pittsburg Lake been closed now? I thought that was open just a few years ago, but could be mistaken.

P.P.S. Looking at the trail map for American Fork Canyon do you know if the gate on NFS road 193 is opened up during the summer? I drove it in late spring and we got about 2/3rd the way up the trail before we came to a locked gate. There was still a bit of snow up past it and just figured there was still too much snow on the trail. I never got back there this summer to take a 2nd look and it appears I'm too late now and have to wait another 9 months..

Thanks in advance.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

C'mon Kurt.

For my $6 that I pay everytime you would have thought they could have graded the roads to Mineral Basin and Forest Lake and made em a bit smoother..

Sadly this is more of a reality than a joke. When Steve and I met with the FS last month they have actually sent out bids to widen the "narrows" and improve the road to the turnoff to Pole Line Pass, to where a passenger vehicle would be comfortable making the drive up and over :-\

P.S. How long has the road to Pittsburg Lake been closed now? I thought that was open just a few years ago, but could be mistaken.

On the ground, a minimum of 6 years, thats when U4WDA worked with Snowbird on the tree planting, when Snowbird had their equipment up there they dug a "tank trap" to compliment the already in place "closed" carsonites. As far as "on paper" ~10 years. It was originally a private property issue, the at the time owners didn't want the liability, seeing as the route ends on private property and travels through private property throughout a good portion of its length, it was pretty much a moot point.

...P.P.S. Looking at the trail map for American Fork Canyon do you know if the gate on NFS road 193 is opened up during the summer? I drove it in late spring and we got about 2/3rd the way up the trail before we came to a locked gate. There was still a bit of snow up past it and just figured there was still too much snow on the trail. I never got back there this summer to take a 2nd look and it appears I'm too late now and have to wait another 9 months..

Thanks in advance.

Upper Major Evans aka Earl Eagle was gated 3 years ago at the boundary with private property. ~4 years ago a guy was killed when he was attempting to turn around on the very narrow switchbacks above the gate and mine, the property owners were threatened with a lawsuit and immediately proceeded to work on an impassible gate. Its not the first gate or no trespassing signs that were there, just the most enforced and non-bypassable. Again from a public land user standpoint, its a moot point. I did have the opportunity to drive it again a couple months ago with one of the landowners, a real treasure for sure!

 

[ALF]

I'd pay a fee to help keep it open, why don't they just make a annual fee that we can pay to access all public lands as a whole through out the state, and put the funds toward improving them as they see fit. When I rode quads we always bought an annual pass for the dunes and never complained. If they really need money all they need to do is start handing out more citations for littering.

 

[Meat_]

...a real treasure for sure!

Most defiantly.

 

[kbjames]

Kurt,

Thanks for all the info. Bummer to hear about improving the road going up and over the pass. If they make it passable for normal vehicles, its certainly not going to help with the congestion up that way, especially on Saturdays.

Earl Eagle does look like a damn narrow road and they sure did a damn fine job of putting in a pretty much impassible gate. Sucks that it had to be closed off like that, the views from up top of that road look like they would be terrific based on what I can tell from google earth. Can't blame the owners though being sued and all. I got in a similar pickle on NFS 420, but managed to get it turned around after about a 20 point turn.

So another question..what do you know about NFS road 421? Based on Google Earth, looks like one can drive all the way to the top of a major ridgeline and look in on the backside of the Brighton resort. I went up there about a month ago and made it about 2/3rds the way but my progress was halted by a fallen tree limb.

 

[bobmed]

Look what happened to Gaurdsmans pass from Brighton to Park city.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Look what happened to Gaurdsmans pass from Brighton to Park city.

Thats no joke... Its still a dirt road, for what 1 mile LOL

 

[Tacoma]

When they "improved" Butterfield Canyon up to the saddle w/Tooele County, I think it's about a million times more dangerous now-- due to the awesomeness of all the runoff gravel coating the nice pavement like so many marbles... but it's what the people wanted!!!! hahahahah

 

[Samuraiman]

Money

Steadman has IMO a good point we do pay a grundle for registration for OHVs it would be nice to see some of our registration money at work also could U4 play any type of role in this to get them to decrease or eliminate the fee? or is this out of our realm?

I have heard that the NHTSB did a study and say that 3% of Utah's road tax is from off road vehicles. This amount added up to be around 8.5 million. Instead of ***** about abuse etc why not allocate that money to what it should be used for! Find that facts lets' get on that. A state wide card that is swiped like a credit card each time you get fuel keep track of what is used offroad.

 

[jsudar]

I prefer things not to be improved. I think they should be left unimproved. The Mona-Pole road that runs from Mona up to the Nebo loop road used to be a very beautiful, secluded drive. It was not traveled often, since it would take a very skilled driver to get a stock 4x4 up there, so it made for some spectacular scenery, solitude and some fairly decent wheeling.

However, somebody got some funding, graded the whole thing and covered it with road base. Now you could take your Civic on whole length of the road and it is no longer a fun place to go wheeling.

Let's have a fee for everywhere and pave the world!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[cruiseroutfit]

I prefer things not to be improved. I think they should be left unimproved. The Mona-Pole road that runs from Mona up to the Nebo loop road used to be a very beautiful, secluded drive. It was not traveled often, since it would take a very skilled driver to get a stock 4x4 up there, so it made for some spectacular scenery, solitude and some fairly decent wheeling.

However, somebody got some funding, graded the whole thing and covered it with road base. Now you could take your Civic on whole length of the road and it is no longer a fun place to go wheeling.

Let's have a fee for everywhere and pave the world!!!!!!!!!!!!

Get ready for more improvements, I beleive there is a group working on cabin lots in the area, possible on one of the old mine claims in the area, in fact I don't beleive, I know. They've been staking it off for lots adjoining the main road.

 

[scoutabout]

Get ready for more improvements, I beleive there is a group working on cabin lots in the area, possible on one of the old mine claims in the area, in fact I don't beleive, I know. They've been staking it off for lots adjoining the main road.

Yup, that's why the road was originally "improved". Last year the FS was committed to stopping this housing development, have you or anyone heard of any fight to slow down the work or is it over and done?

 

[cruiseroutfit]

Yup, that's why the road was originally "improved". Last year the FS was committed to stopping this housing development, have you or anyone heard of any fight to slow down the work or is it over and done?

Improvements looked refreshed when I was up there a couple weeks ago on the Teraflex Plus run, lot markers, no trespassing on a couple of routes, etc.

 

[jsudar]

When Nu Skin started improving Pole Canyon (offshoot from Santaquin Canyon) and built their cabin, their propane tank got shot. With tracer rounds. On two different occasions. Burned that sucker down. I hope the FS can stop the cabins on the Mona-Pole road.
Tracer rounds are hard on the barrel.

 

[cruiseroutfit]

When Nu Skin started improving Pole Canyon (offshoot from Santaquin Canyon) and built their cabin, their propane tank got shot. With tracer rounds. On two different occasions. Burned that sucker down. I hope the FS can stop the cabins on the Mona-Pole road.
Tracer rounds are hard on the barrel.

Its a doubled edged sword. Private Property rights are sacred imo. The land has been in private hands long before you or I started enjoying the area. Its sucks sure, but to advocate or even joke about arson/vandalism doesn't do the land access battle a cinch of good, in fact it does just the opposite, offers excuses to further lock out access.

 

[Rick B]

While I'm generally opposed to any kind of fee due to the fact that is is generally used in a way I disagree with, I tend to think that many of the newbies and tourists who tear things up would be discouraged by a fee of some kind. I'm in favor of some kind of special drivers license for those who choose to travel off the graveled roads. But that wasn't the question. Since I've never been there and will likely never go there my opinion really doesn't matter about 5mp. I honestly think that nothing matters without any Law Enforcement, and that requires money that doesn't exist.