In January 2024, a successful Regional Trails Summit was held, marking a significant collaboration among agencies and partner groups in northwest California forests. The summit focused on trail system improvement, with plans for future work and collaboration. Key objectives included community building, trail maintenance, and funding discussions. Notably, the summit saw participation from 35 in-person and 5 virtual attendees, signaling a major milestone for the region’s trail development.
2023 Volunteers of the Year
Michael Kauffmann, founder of the Bigfoot Trail Alliance, acknowledges the significant contributions of Karen and Les, professional trail work volunteers, who since 2018, have dedicated 160 hours to maintaining the Bigfoot Trail. Karen and Les recount their experiences and provides advice for potential new volunteers, encouraging newcomers to take a plunge into volunteering with backcountry trails.
2023 Annual Report
Founded in 2016, the Bigfoot Trail Alliance continues to grow and positively impact local communities. With initiatives like the Youth Stewardship Project, they work to engage youth through place-based experiences and career awareness. Moreover, they have secured significant agreements for trail work on National Forests. Alongside aiming to increase diverse board membership, they also plan to hire key personnel in 2024.
Getting Acquainted with the Bigfoot Trail
Based upon the experience of five Bigfoot veterans, here are five ways to dip your toes into the Bigfoot Trail. You can obtain more information including digital and hardcopy maps and other resources on the website.
Marble Valley Trip #3
For the third time in 2023 the Bigfoot Trail Alliance returned to Lover’s Camp to get our crew into upper Wooley Creek. While our target is one of the most remote trails in California, we are making steady progress in its rehabilitation.
Ron Crete and the BFT
It is a hard trail, as we learned in our last hiker report post. Ron Crete has been working at hiking it all for a few years and here is his report from these adventures. We appreciate his take on the trail and what it takes to hike it. Questions for Ron? Email him.
Hell Gate Collaborative
A first of its kind collaborative kicked off last weekend on the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. BFTA was joined by Trinity Trail Alliance, RCMBA, and The Watershed Center to forge new pathways for recreation and trail work. We had 18 volunteers join for a day of trail work on the Smoky Creek Trail followed by a day of mountain bike riding. The trail work involved brush removal and tread work and the riding was a 15 mile route on the Smoky Creek Trail to the South Fork NRT back to our campground at Hell Gate.
Marble Valley Trip #2
A volunteer crew of 12 worked down Upper Wooley Creek where we cleared around 40 logs and did about a mile of tread work.
