“Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
– Red Queen in Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872
Description
– Distance: .5 miles
– Min/max elev.: 2414’/2756′
– Elev. gain/loss: 387’/-79′
Click here for routes and maps with Lower Red Queen trail.
This pedestrian-only trail connects Ashland Loop Rd to JubJub, Bandersnatch and Red Queen. Part of the Forest Ecology interpretative trail, various signs point out a forest in transformation.
The trail features some very steep sections with some narrow, switchbacks, but quickly connects to other trails.
History
The original trail here seems to be a combination of the old Alice in Wonderland trail and various other random trails that eventually consolidated into one trail as houses were built and other routes were blocked off. The Ashland Forest Lands commission suggested in 2015 to AWTA that they try to bring the trail into compliance or see it decommissioned. A particular challenge in this regard were two slope crossings that were deemed to be incompatible with the soils geology.
The trail was substantially rerouted in early 2016 by AWTA and the upper part, connecting to Jubjub, was rerouted by an Ashland Parks and Recreation summer youth group with Jeff McFarland overseeing the work.
Written by Torsten Heycke 04/29/2020