Oregon’s trail legacy is in trouble. For decades, our trail system has been underfunded and disrupted by logging and road-building. Today’s system is less than half of what existed only a few decades ago, while the hiking population has exploded, leaving many trails crowded and showing the effects of overuse.
Trailkeepers of Oregon (TKO) was formed by hikers in 2007 to reverse this trend with active advocacy and stewardship to restore and save threatened trails, provide outreach and education to raise awareness of the threats to our trail legacy, and advocate on behalf of hikers for the needed funding and protections for our trails.
ADVOCACY BEGINS WITH EQUITY
Most of our trails were built for utility, not recreation. The earliest trails were created by indigenous people for trade, gathering food and for spiritual purposes. In the early 1900s, many of these indigenous trails were incorporated into the network of forest trails we know today, and connected early guard stations and fire lookouts.
Today, trails are mostly used for recreation, but their utilitarian design can mean steep grades and challenging surfaces that make them difficult for many people to navigate. TKO’s goal is to create new trail opportunities so that everyone has options for a trail experience in Oregon.
How our trails are managed, including directional and interpretive signage, trailhead features and permit requirements, can also provide barriers that create inequity in who can access and travel trails. Reducing these barriers is also part of TKO’s goal to ensure that everyone in Oregon has trail experiences that are welcoming and accessible.
HOW WE ADVOCATE
TKO tracks federal, state and local public land management across Oregon to promote trail protection on behalf of Oregon’s hiking community. Some current trail advocacy work that TKO is involved in includes:
Oregon Coast Trail
The dream of a trail that follows Oregon’s 362-mile coast line through some of the most spectacular scenery in the world dates back nearly fifty years. Today, that dream continues to move closer to reality, one trail segment at a time.
TKO has joined the commitment to this dream with stewardship coordinators on the north, central and southern Oregon Coast. Our volunteer crews on the coast help land managers keep pace with winter storm and lush rainforest understory that combine to make trail maintenance here challenging. Our crews are also helping extend the Coast Trail while rebuilding existing sections to ensure their survival.
Gorge Trail Recovery
TKO had volunteers on the ground within weeks of the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire to help assess the trail impacts, and begin the hard work of restoring the network of Gorge trails. TKO’s view was that every trail affected by the fire should be restored, despite the monumental effort that represented. Volunteers started clearing and rebuilding some of the most iconic trails, like Angels Rest, Multnomah Falls, Horsetail Falls, the Oneonta Trail and Elowah Falls.
Our work in the Gorge continues today, as our volunteer crews move further into the backcountry to save wilderness trails like Bell Creek and Nesmith Point that were nearly lost to the first, and we are closing in on our goal of saving every trail. Without the work of TKO volunteers, many of these trails would have been lost forever for lack of Forest Service resources to save them.
Gorge Parks Plan
In 2015 TKO worked closely with a coalition of advocates to ensure the first major update to Gorge Parks Plan in more than 20 years addressed the many pressing recreation and conservation needs in the Gorge. Today, TKO is focusing our efforts on ensuring that the plan becomes a reality.
This includes exciting new trails at Bridal Veil Creek, Angels Rest, Viento State Park and Mitchell Point that will not only take pressure of today’s most heavily traveled routes, but also provide a wide range of experiences to ensure that every hiker can have a trail experience in the Gorge, no matter their experience or ability.
TKO is also working to reopen the iconic Perdition Trail, the historic connection between Multnomah Falls and Wahkeena Falls that was closed after the Multnomah Falls Fire in the 1990s.
Mount Hood Trails
In 2005 a section of the internationally renowned Timberline Trail was destroyed by repeated flooding on the Eliot Branch, near Cloud Cap Inn. The deeply eroded glacial canyon made repairing the former crossing impossible, and this segment of the classic around-the-mountain loop was closed for nearly a decade.
Hikers from around the world come to Oregon to experience the Timberline Trail, and the closure didn’t stop hikers from making the dangerous crossing, despite the closure. In 2015, TKO worked with the Forest Service to relocate the Timberline Trail to a new, downstream crossing and finally reopen the Timberline Trail.
TKO was formed with advocacy on Mount Hood in 2007, when we began our work to save the Old Vista Ridge Trail. Today, our commitment to rescuing Mount Hood’s backcountry trails includes annual work to maintain popular trails like Vista Ridge and Old Vista Ridge while also restoring long-neglected trails like Pinnacle Ridge and Bluegrass Ridge.
Our Mount Hood advocacy includes building new trails and trailheads to better serve hikers and enhance the hiking experience, while addressing the unprecedented number of hikers coming to the mountain.
Central and Eastern Oregon Trails
As TKO expands our presence in Central and Eastern Oregon, we have completed stewardship projects in places like the Eagle Cap Wilderness, Smith Rock State Park and along the Deschutes River corridor. We are currently advocating for a new accessible trail to an overlook of the Deschutes canyon from the Scout Camp Trail that would provide a low-barrier way to experience this remarkable place.
Our future plans call for expanding trail opportunities in Central Oregon, including the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, where visitation by hikers has grown dramatically in recent years.
OREGON TRAILS COALITION
Since 2017, TKO has been the fiscal sponsor for the Oregon Trails Coalition (OTC), a statewide coalition of trail advocates that includes hikers, cyclists, equestrians and other trail users. The mission of the OTC is to influence statewide trail policy and funding through our collective efforts as advcoates. The coalition is guided by a broad advisory board representing trails groups, public agencies, land managers, outdoor industry, travel and tourism partners, and other trails professionals and community leaders. TKO is represented on the advisory board, where we advocate specifically for the interests of hikers.
HOW CAN I ADVOCATE?
Hiking is the most popular recreation activity on our public lands, and yet hikers are among the least organized among recreation groups. TKO formed to help reverse that trend, but our formal advocacy for hikers is just one piece of the puzzle. You can help by simply weighing in as a hiker. Our elected officials and land managers hear surprisingly little from hikers, so even a few letters, e-mails and voice messages can have a real impact.
What is the best way to weigh in? Here are some tips:
- keep it short– less than 250 words
- use real examples – let your true passion show with trails or places you care about
- be yourself – in this era of internet anonymity, using your real name can make a real difference
- provide hard facts – use data or specific examples to make your case
- ·offer real solutions – it’s okay to be against something, but being a problem solver is a great way to have a real impact
So, if you see something threatening trails or hiking in your corner of Oregon, roll up your sleeves, start typing or even consider making a call to your representatives – you can make a difference!
If you need help with your advocacy, you can also reach out to TKO for help. We may already be advocating on the issue that you’re concerned about, or can connect you to the right land manager or elected official to make the best impact.