AWTA TRAIL EVENTS

Next Events     Past Events

photo by Sean Bagshaw

Trail events are one of main activities because we are physically able to create and maintain trails and trail access in the Ashland viewshed. During our two year existence, the AWTA and its volunteer members have been responsible for building and/or maintaining over 10 miles of trails.

We need people like you to come out and help us create trails for today and for future generations. All of our events are managed by the Ashland Parks and Recreation Department. Snacks and refreshments are provided. It’s a great way to meet new people, see Ashland’s newest trails, and get some exercise.

We are working closely with the Southern Oregon Mountain Bike Association (SOMBA) to promote their trail building activities which also support hikers. Please feel free to help during their events as well as ours.

Come on and join us!

Saturday May 9th

Hearts Trail: We will gather at the Parks Department in Lithia Park. We will complete construction of this, our newest trail, leading from Granite Street to the TID Ditch Trail. Start time will be a civilized 12:30 pm. Join us for the event and beer afterwards!
For additional information please call Rob at 482-4392, or email .

Saturday June 13

Pacific Crest Trail: Help us work to complete a two mile reroute of the trail up towards Greensprings. The views down toward Ashland are fantastic. We will be gathering at the Forest Service office on Washington at 8:30am to carpool. Bring gloves, lunch and water.
For additional information please call Rob at 482-4392, or email .

Sunday July 5th

Pacific Crest Trail: We will be clearing and improving the trail towards the west of Mt. Ashland. This area is known for the abundant wildflowers and we should be up there close to its prime. We will be gathering at the Forest Service office on Washington at 8:30am to carpool. Bring gloves, lunch and water.
For additional information please call Rob at 482-4392, or email .

Saturday August 15

Pacific Crest Trail: We will be working on the area near Grouse Gap, joining a group from Americorp. The major work will consist of stabilizing the areas that are prone to run-off. We will be gathering at the Forest Service office on Washington at 8:30am to carpool. Bring gloves, lunch and water.
For additional information please call Rob at 482-4392, or email .

Saturday September 26th

Pacific Crest Trail: Location TBA. This will be one of our biggest events of the year due to participation from the SOU Students during their Civic Engagement Day. This is our third year with the program and we appreciate their help.
For additional information please call Rob at 482-4392, or email .

Summer Schedule

Other: We will also be working on the Wagner Gap Trail during various times early in the summer. We’re looking at some weekday afternoons. If interested, please drop us a line. This trail leads from Rd 2060 in the watershed up to the Wager Butte Trail.
For additional information please call Rob at 482-4392, or email .

Summer of 2008
Again we spent the summer on the Pacific Crest Trail, working on various sections of the 30 miles we have adopted. The highlights of the work were introducing people to various sections of the PCT (in particular some of the wildflowers) and receiving thanks from many of the through hikers (Mexico to Canada) that stopped and talked to us about their journey.

January 26th and February 23 2008
AWTA worked with the Ashland Parks and Recreation Department to develop a new trail off Granite Street leading to the TID trail. We had over 15 people at each event, including some very helpful students from SOU. We appreciated everyone’s help and at the end of the February event were almost done with the trail. Other than a couple of sets of stairs a majority of the trail has been constructed. It should be opening soon. Please read more about this trail in our latest newsletter under the News tab.

Summer of 2007
Five different days along the Pacific Crest Trail allowed us to maintain and improve over 30 miles of this wonderful and nearby pathway. During that time we visited with a number of through hikers that were thankful for our efforts. Help from members of the Pacific Crest Trail Association as well as students from Southern Oregon University made for a very successful summer. We had six people earn their very own PCTA hat by participating in at least three of the five events during the summer. A special thanks to those individuals!

Saturday, April 28th, 2007
We completed the top section reroute of the BTI today by creating large water bars made from cedar logs, then covering the old trail with a jute mesh. The final touch was to seed the mesh with grass seed and cover the old trail with large logs and branches. The group that finished the work can take pride in knowing this day culminated work spanning over three months and countless hours.

Saturday, February 17, 2007

more images from this project

We began the reroute of a particularly dastardly section of the BTI trail, right where it meets Alice-in-Wonderland trail. Approximately 15 hard working trail users turned out to help. Special thanks to the Southern Oregon Mountain Bike Association for their efforts. By the time we left, the rough out was mostly complete. Further work on the tread and switchbacks were still needed.

Saturday, January 27, 2007
We completed the trail from Glenview to the Loop Road. This trail, which we’ve designated as Rich’s Trail, provides a nice alternative to the heavily trafficked Glenview. Board member Rich Vanderwyst spent a considerable amount of time to research and design this trail. Special thanks to Ashland Parks and Recreation Department and Jeff McFarland.

November 18th, 2006
We again worked on Hitt Road, improving the drainage, clearing culverts and smoothing out the surface. We also spent time improving the drainage of the culvert section worked on the prior month. This section had not been maintained for many years and the erosion was starting to be severe. We covered some cuts in the middle of the road that were 18 inches deep.

October 21, 2006
AWTA members put in a new culvert, replacing one that had been washed out many years ago. This means that bikers no longer have to dismount to carry their bikes over the ditch and walkers/runner no longer have to watch out that they don’t slip and fall. We could not have done this work without the efforts of Parks Department employee Jeff McFarland. Thanks Jeff!

September 1, 2006 NATIONAL PUBLIC LANDS DAY:
National Public Lands Day. Some of our members participated in this BLM sponsored event. Optional Friday night camping was followed by a hearty breakfast. We adjourned to the Pacific Crest Trail for some maintenance near the Highway 66 crossing. We were able to significantly improve the tread along this section. Sack lunch was provided as was dinner.

August 5th, 2006 MOUNT ASHLAND HILL CLIMB FUND RAISER:
We held the Mount Ashland Hillclimb, our fundraising event for the year. Turnout was fantastic, with over 120 participants. The day was lovely, and whether a hiker or runner, a good time was had by all. A special thanks to our sponsors, especially the primary one, Standing Stone Brewery.

July 22, 2006 PCT MAINTENANCE:
We had a good turnout for a work project on the Pacific Crest Trail up near Pilot Rock. AWTA has adopted this section of the PCT and was readying it for the through hikers. We met a few coming through that day and all were appreciative of our efforts.

June 10th, 2006 HALD/STRAWBWERRY PARK:
Scotch Broom had no chance of survival during this event. On a near perfect day, approximately 15 people helped rid Hald/Strawberry Park of this invasive species. At last report, little poison oak was experienced by the fearless workers.

June 3rd, 2006 NATIONAL TRAILS DAY:
We celebrated National Trails Day by beginning the construction on a new trail above Lithia Park. This section of trail, when completed, will provide a great bypass, allowing quicker access to Ashland Loop Road from Glenview. We had some new faces that helped with this construction, and a total of around ten people were out.

March 18th, 2006 PCT/SODA MOUNTAIN MAINTENANCE:
We began our year of maintenance on our 18 mile section of the Pacific Crest Trail on the Soda Mountain side. Working along side an experienced crew from Americor, we created a much improved tread for a couple of mile section. We also cleared some of the overgrown vegetation. We had close to 15 people helping.

Feb 11, 2006 LOWER BTI BYPASS TRAIL:
Over 20 hardy volunteers worked to create a bypass trail on lower BTI. We dug in drainage and placed drain pipe, laid down gravel, and finished with a nice top dressing of decomposed granite. This well-engineered bypass trail gets a lot of use and should stand up well over time. To check out our work, take the first right turn after the Lithia Park reservoir as you head uphill on Glenview Drive. Go through the locked gate and follow the trail on the right. Thanks to all for participating in this well done project!

Nov 12, 2005 CLAY CREEK LOOP:
It was time to work on a trail closer to town. AWTA volunteers worked on improving the Clay Creek Loop near the White Rabbit trailhead. Numerous water bars were placed and chips and gravel were laid to improve the trail tread. Another fun day had by all.

Oct 22, 2005 PACIFIC COAST TRAIL EVENT:
Our next event on the PCT saw us repairing the trail east from Soda Mountain Rd just past Hobart Bluff. We had more than a dozen fun-loving and hardy volunteers working on overgrowth that was removed from the trail and we repaired the trail tread.

Aug 27, 2005 PACIFIC COAST TRAIL EVENT:
AWTA has now taken on a portion of the PCT to maintain it on an ongoing basis. About 20 volunteers worked our inaugural PCT trail project and made fantastic headway in cleaning up and maintaining the trail for future hikers. We cleared overgrowth, fallen trees, and reworked tread on the PCT east of Pilot Rock. What a day.

May 21, 2005 ASHLAND QUARRY TRAIL:
It was time to clean up and maintain the beautiful Quarry trail that connects Lithia Park with the TID trail. More than a dozen AWTA volunteers completed the maintenance project on the Quarry trail above the upper duck pond above Lithia Park. Stairs were resealed and trail regraded and chipped.

Mar 12, 2005 COTTLE PROPERTY:
A large group of volunteers and AWTA members came out to help with the Cottle Property Project, which was a connector trail to the TID ditch trail below Terrace street. The team planted nearly 200 trees and native plants to help restore this generous gift of open space from the Cottle family to the city of Ashland. Come check out the trail and have a walk on the TID.

Jan 29, 2005 BIRDSONG TRAIL PROJECT:
A group of ambitious and hardy trail enthusiasts helped us to put the finishing touches on the construction of the Birdsong trail between Hitt Rd. and Birdsong Lane. Rock work and trail cuts were completed and chips laid down to finish the trail. It looks beautiful, come have a look.

Applegate Lake: In partnership with the Southern Oregon Mountain Bike Association we worked together on the Applegate Lake trail to extend the Ashland trail system beyond the Southern Rogue Valley.

Lithia Park: We worked on the BTI trail above Lithia Park, which needed quite a bit of work including some rerouting near the top. For those who helped on the trail event, they had the chance to get know this natural beauty of a trail. It is one of the steeper trails we’ll work on, but is relatively short in its length.

Ashland Watershed: In partnership with the Southern Oregon Mountain Bike Association, we helped to work on a variety of trails in the watershed, to help improve connectivity and keep trails in the area stable.

Caterpillar Trail: Again, in partnership with SOMBA, we completed work on the Caterpillar trail, improving connections and rebuilding water bars.

Oredson-Todd: We built a new trail to relieve traffic from a property owner’s driveway. Our work contours the canyon leading into the beautiful Oredson-Todd park. An all weather trail, this is one of the most unique outdoor areas of Ashland and allows the neighborhood to better utilize the park.

White Rabbit Trail: We continued the work begun at Oredson-Todd by helping to maintain the White Rabbit Trail. Oredson-Todd can be accessed by either our new trail off of Lupine Drive or via Park Street. The White Rabbit Trail is heavily used by walkers, bikers and equestrians. We widened and smoothed the trail plus readied it for the winter. The White Rabbit Trail eventually ties into the Ashland Loop Road and is part of the Crest to Creek Trail Route.

Liberty Street Trail: One of our best turn-outs to an event, we made quick work of creating a trail that will allow a complete neighborhood access to the TID Ditch Trail. The property owner cooperated with the Parks Department to allow access where none existed and we followed their work by our own activity. The result is a beautiful half mile trail for the entire neighborhood’s enjoyment.

Granite Street Trail: A bit of maintenance and a bit of building, we cleaned up, widened and created further access from Granite Street to the TID Ditch Trail. Ashland has seen some trail closures, the TID Ditch Trail being the highest profile, and as a result this trail became more important. Again, our activity provided better use and further access for the neighborhood to utilize Ashland’s green space.

North Mountain Park: A small event held over a Thursday through Saturday, we worked with the Parks Department to create and develop trails and access points into North Mountain Park. This event helped directly supplement the work of Ashland’s Parks Department and allowed for a speeding up of the completion date.

Laurel Street: Our smallest trail building, we created a block long trail connecting two streets leading down to an elementary school. Following the informal trail outline, we created steps, hauled gravel and secured the hillside to make this path all weather.

Lithia Park: With two work parties under our belt, we have spent a considerable amount of time maintaining and widening the secondary trails in Lithia Park, Ashland’s largest. Clearing some of the downed trees, creating water bars, cutting back vegetation, and working to create the ideal slope are all parts of the job here. With Lithia Park so big our job is never done. Future work parties will continue our effort for the benefit of all Lithia Park walkers.

Hald-Strawberry Park: At the crest of Strawberry Lane sits Ashland’s newest Park. Designed primarily for walkers/hikers it provides beautiful views of the valley below. Our help was in creating new trails on this site, primarily to provide access to both neighborhoods above and below it, but also to particular vistas where the view can be enjoyed.