More on Salt Creek

[mbryson]

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,615153112,00.html



Road closure hurts many
It is evident from recent letters regarding Salt Creek that people are being misled. I visited Salt Creek innumerable times over the past 35 years doing research. Let me set the record straight.
ORV's have never damaged Salt Creek. The Park Service excluded ORV's 35 years ago.
It is a creek only during spring runoff and rarely flows as far as the bridge near the visitors center.
The road is mostly in the bottom of a sandy wash, so vehicle damage is minimal. The oily slick sometimes seen comes from decomposing vegetation, not vehicles.
Flash floods cause more erosion than the cars.
The majority of vehicles in Salt Creek are family cars with families in them.
The 14-mile road in Salt Creek has been used by thousands for 40 years whose principal destination has been the incredible Angle Arch, unique in all the world.
The road closure crippled archaeological research and deprived many people — especially the disabled and elderly — from visiting.

Steven Manning
Utah Archaeological Research Institute
North Salt Lake

 

[Houndoc]

That was a great letter- get the truth out!

I have known Steve for years and he knows the CnayonLands area back country probably about as well as anyone. A voice of reason.

 

[my4thjeep]

The Salt Creek trail is/was a great off road trail. It was the first trail I ever did in Moab back in 1993. When I ran the trail it was mostly stagnant pools of water here and there and were usually quite shallow. We did the trail in mid July and I remember how hot it was and I wishing I had ac in the jeep. Not long after this a 4-wheel drive seat van with a 6-inch lift packed with senior citizens passed us in ac'd comfort. Some company was giving tours of the arches. One of my friends on the trip was an anthropologist/archeologist who showed us tons of ruins from the Anasazi Indians. He gave us quite the history lesson of the area.

It made me sad and mad that this area was closed to 4-wheel drive as it beautiful, fun and contains lots of history unreachable by only those who are willing and able to hike. I hope someday they reopen it.

 

[Houndoc]

Not long after this a 4-wheel drive seat van with a 6-inch lift packed with senior citizens passed us in ac'd comfort. Some company was giving tours of the arches.

I would suggest you write a letter to the editor of the Salt Lake papers and share that memory- alot of the info has talked about young males on ATVs being the main users of the trail and 'they could hike anyway'. Reality needs to be known.

 

[Rick B]

Yeah, I'd say a reality check is definitely in order. Salt Creek is in Canyonlands NP. ATV's are not allowed in National Parks, never have been & never will be.

 

[my4thjeep]

It was this trail... I promise.
http://www.4x4now.com/trutsc.htm
I will try and scan some photos from the trip.

 

[my4thjeep]

Jeeps have been permitted in the past and in some areas still are.
http://www.nps.gov/cany/needles/4wd.htm

 

[Rick B]

Apparantly some of you don't know proper terminology, or the rules for backcountry travel, especially in National Parks. The information is readily available, a search on Google or Yahoo, or whatever search engine you prefer will yield official websites, just like the Canyonlands website you linked, for all the National Parks, Monuments, and Recreation Areas. The rules for backcountry travel in all of them are the same concerning the use of ATV's. Notice I didn't say JEEPS?

I just love it when someone doesn't really read what I write. In response to the previous post:

I would suggest you write a letter to the editor of the Salt Lake papers and share that memory- alot of the info has talked about young males on ATVs being the main users of the trail and 'they could hike anyway'. Reality needs to be known.

I said ATV's aren't allowed in National Parks, ATV's are NOT street legal 4x4's. Therefore, what I said concerning ATV's never having been allowed in National Parks was true.

So you drove your Jeep on the Salt Creek road. Guess what? So did I, well not actually a Jeep, back in the day when the road was open. In fact I first traveled that road in 1972, long before anyone ever heard of an ATV.

Please READ EVERYTHING very carefully before attempting to correct me.

 

[Houndoc]

Apparantly some of you don't know proper terminology, or the rules for backcountry travel, especially in National Parks. The information is readily available, a search on Google or Yahoo, or whatever search engine you prefer will yield official websites, just like the Canyonlands website you linked, for all the National Parks, Monuments, and Recreation Areas. The rules for backcountry travel in all of them are the same concerning the use of ATV's. Notice I didn't say JEEPS?

I just love it when someone doesn't really read what I write. In response to the previous post:



I said ATV's aren't allowed in National Parks, ATV's are NOT street legal 4x4's. Therefore, what I said concerning ATV's never having been allowed in National Parks was true.

So you drove your Jeep on the Salt Creek road. Guess what? So did I, well not actually a Jeep, back in the day when the road was open. In fact I first traveled that road in 1972, long before anyone ever heard of an ATV.

Please READ EVERYTHING very carefully before attempting to correct me.

I don't see anyone correcting anyone there. Me thinks you need to slow down and read more carefully. You seem to be looking for a throat to jump down and I can not even follow who's. I was talking about letters to the editor etc in the paper that claim (wrongly) that young healthly people on ATVs use Salt Creek. I don't see a reference remotely directed at you in my previous quote.