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The Carson Valley Trail Association Announced the Completion of the New James Lee Park loop
Minden Nevada – May 3, 2023 – This past week the Carson Valley Trail association had their annual members showcase meeting where they highlight the work completed in the past year, discuss the issues they currently face and provide a vision of the future to come for Carson Valley trails. One the many highlights of this meeting was an image of crews meeting together on the James Lee Park Loop trail as crews had worked in opposite directions in completing the Jacks Valley loop located just above the James Lee Loop project. (At least that is what the photo suggests!)
The James Lee Loops trail project was recently approved by the USFS in February. At roughly 4.1 miles in length, these loops will provide several flat loop opportunities in the vicinity of Jacks Valley Elementary School and James Lee Park. Hikers, dog walkers, bikers and equestrians will be able to choose variable trail loops as short as 1.5 miles, or longer loops of 3 or more miles. When used in combination with the Jacks Valley Loop and Clear Creek Trail, over 10 miles can be traversed with almost no overlap in this area of Jacks Valley.Â
Adding access to Jacks Valley and James Lee Park now brings the total trail miles being maintained by the association to 68 miles. Maintained is a key word in 2023 as the fantastic winter weather we received in 2023 has also provided a list of challenges for the association to tackle this spring so that guests can enjoy the trails. Besides the 18 Tons of Dog Poop collected and removed from the trails each year by the members of the Carson Valley trail Association, maintaining the trails in our sandy soil is a full time job when the water runs wild. Everything from clearing or building water breaks on slopes that typically don’t have water, to the filling of a four foot deep Fissure that was created on the entrance path to Fay Luther trail system after a March rain event that dropped 5 inches of rain in an hour on the Fay Luther trail.
On the seldom used Bently trail system a new floating board walk that was installed in 2022 was nearly destroyed by the same spring rain events that rose the river high enough that the floating board walk was lifted off its guides drifted and then suddenly dropped back onto the guided, effectively pierce the wood structures. During the talks it was mentioned that there are now over 300 members of the association, but it was clear like normal most of the work is being done by a minority active group that has a real volunteer passion for keeping these trails ready for your outdoor adventures.
As for the future of trails in the Carson Valley, two projects were discussed and reviewed. First a partnership with the new Virginia Truckee Railroad trail which once completed will provide a multi use trail system from the Truckee River in reno all the way into South Gardnerville, with a potential new bridge over the Carson River near Heybourne access road. More information to come on this trail, as the first set of structured access trails is complete into Carson City and a celebration ride from Reno to Carson city is planned for this fall.
The second is the continuation of the vision of former Leader Carlo Luri, whom passed away suddenly in this past year, to build a loop trail around the Carson Valley. The next stage is in front of the county for approval includes a loop between Stephanie and Johnson Lane on the East side of the valley on BLM land.
As the meeting concluded for night Debra Lang from Douglas County let guest also know that the county is doing a review of the County trails plan this year as well, and to be on the look out for a public invite for comments and input as they draft a revision for the near future in the county.
