Survey announced for the Lake Almanor/Westwood area trail system
“If you enjoy trail-related recreation in our region, we want to hear from you,” said Nils Lunder of the Mountain Meadows Conservancy based in Westwood.
A local coalition of trail enthusiasts from Plumas and Lassen counties is developing a regional trails conceptual plan.
The network of trails presently planned will extend from the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, west of Chester, then eastward to Westwood and the Bizz Johnson National Recreation Trail, and around Lake Almanor.
The northern extent of the project area is Lassen Volcanic National Park. Community connections via these regional trails, as well as easy access to the trails from community neighborhoods, are important goals of this planned trail network.
The Almanor Recreation and Parks District, Mountain Meadows Conservancy, Feather River Land Trust, Lassen Land and Trails Trust, Volcanic Legacy Community Partnership, Lassen County, Lassen National Forest, PG&E, National Park Service and local citizens are partnering to prepare the conceptual plan with input from the public.
For the past two years, the coalition has been working with public and private landowners to design the proposed trail system. When completed, the system will fill in the gaps that currently exist between existing trails and may include the 14-mile Collins Pine Rail Trail. “This is exciting,” said Elizabeth Norton, chair of the Trails Committee with the Lassen Land and Trails Trust.
“These critical connectors will provide a continuous 50-mile trail from Susanville to Canyon Dam. A 9-mile trail connector is also planned from Chester to the Pacific Crest Trail,” she added.
“This conceptual plan will serve as a tool to guide planning, fundraising, construction and maintenance of the proposed trail network,” explained Lunder. “This is an ambitious plan that will take many years to fully complete, but we are hopeful that with support from our communities and with cooperation from all involved that we can make it a reality.”
The coalition has developed a trail survey to get a better sense of how the public currently uses and considers existing trails and how they would like future improvements to local trails and facilities in the region to look and function.
Local residents and visitors are encouraged to complete the short survey to share their ideas and to attend future public meetings when they are scheduled. The survey takes about five minutes to complete and can be found at surveyhero.com/c/f68298b7 .
“We value everyone’s feedback to help us build more trails that you’ll enjoy using in the future,” said Carlos Espana with the Almanor Parks and Recreation District. The survey will be open until Aug. 1 for respondents to complete.
Lassen Land and Trails Trust, a nonprofit membership-supported organization, actively works to conserve significant natural areas and working landscapes and to promote and enhance a system of public trails in northeastern California — where the Sierra Cascade meets the Modoc Plateau and the Great Basin, a region rich in agricultural heritage, wildlife and scenic vistas.
For more information about the Trust’s work or about trails to enjoy, visit www.lassenlandandtrailstrust.org.
