| Local Weather Ellensburg Cle Elum Easton |
| Rodney Smoldon, District Ranger District Ranger Station, 803 W. 2nd Street, Cle Elum, WA 98922 PHONE NUMBER: (509) 852-1100 Fax: (509) 852-1080 (509) 674-9770 (TTY) Office hours are Monday through Friday 7:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. |
| Important Winter Links and District and Forest Information The Northwest Avalanche Center Wenatchee National Forest Official Page Alpine Lakes Wilderness Information Off-Road Vehicle Official Page Fire Information NW Weather Link Woodcutting Restrictions Campfire Restrictions USFS Employment Opportunities Alpental B.A.R.K Search and Rescue K-9's Camping Opportunities Cle Elum Recreation Report Fl Flood Photos |
| DOT Road Conditions Snoqualmie Summit Easton Bullfrog - Roslyn Exit Elk Heights Blewett Pass |
| Grants and Support by - |
| Cabin Rentals Table Mountain A-Frame and the Teanaway Guard Station are available rentals on the Cle Elum Ranger District. For more information or to make reservations, please call 1-877-444-6777 or click here. |
| Kids Page |
| Welcome to CleElumTrails! Click here for TRAIL GUIDE Updated for 2009! |
| Northwest Forest Passes can be purchased from: The Cle Elum Ranger Station Ellensburg Chamber of Commerce Mountain High Sports (Ellensburg) Sportland Yamaha (Bullfrog road, Roslyn) Roslyn Cyclery Teanaway Mercantile $5.00 day passes are available at or near trailheads where passes are required. Click here for more information regarding the NW Forest Pass program.e m |
| Let us know about your Cle Elum Adventure by contacting the CleElumTrails Webmaster. Don't forget pictures! |
| We want you to know what's happening on the Cle Elum District. Get involved, know what's happening, and feel free to comment! Click here for the latest 2008-2009 trail work planning and analysis information. |
| 2009 Ranger Trail Reports June 2nd, 2009 May 16th Report May 14th, 2009 Report May 6th, 2009 Report |
| Updated |
| Updated on July 2nd, 2009 - Click here for Ranger Report |
| Travel Analysis has been posted. |
The Okanogan Wenatchee National Forest’s Motorized Travel Management
Proposed Action is now available for public review and comment. This proposed
action considered all of the input gathered over the past two years from meetings,
written comments and from District Resource specialists. It is the first step in the
NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) planning process. Maps of the
proposed action and additional information about our Travel Management effort
are available at this web page:
www.fs.fed.us/r6/okawen/travel-management
Hard copy maps are also available for review at each Forest office.
Interested parties are encouraged to log-on to the address above and to submit
comments before the deadline. Public meetings are also coming up in April.
Proposed Action is now available for public review and comment. This proposed
action considered all of the input gathered over the past two years from meetings,
written comments and from District Resource specialists. It is the first step in the
NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) planning process. Maps of the
proposed action and additional information about our Travel Management effort
are available at this web page:
www.fs.fed.us/r6/okawen/travel-management
Hard copy maps are also available for review at each Forest office.
Interested parties are encouraged to log-on to the address above and to submit
comments before the deadline. Public meetings are also coming up in April.
| Looking for winter? Click here. |
| Updated April 8th |
| UPDATE May 6th - NEWS - Loss of NOVA Funding for 2010-1011 |
As most everyone has heard, the new budget passed by the Washington State
Legislature transfers all NOVA money - which had formerly been available for
outdoor recreation grants - over to State Parks. This will mean about a 70% cut
in funding for the Cle Elum district trails, wilderness and ORV programs for
2010 and 2011. But the effects of this cut will actually become noticeable this
coming summer. Some of our existing NOVA grants are two-year grants, so in
order to have SOME money available in 2010, we are looking at all possible
ways to save NOVA money this year. By not filling some of our summer jobs,
and by farming the crews out to other departments, we hope to save enough
money to fund at least one trail crew and some education/enforcement folks
next year. But of course this means less trail maintenance this year. In effect,
we are ramping the trail program down in 2009 to make the drop-off less
precipitous in 2010. We ask for everyone's patience and understanding, and of
course, we thank in advance all our hard-working volunteers. Stay tuned for
more updates as the situation unfolds.
Legislature transfers all NOVA money - which had formerly been available for
outdoor recreation grants - over to State Parks. This will mean about a 70% cut
in funding for the Cle Elum district trails, wilderness and ORV programs for
2010 and 2011. But the effects of this cut will actually become noticeable this
coming summer. Some of our existing NOVA grants are two-year grants, so in
order to have SOME money available in 2010, we are looking at all possible
ways to save NOVA money this year. By not filling some of our summer jobs,
and by farming the crews out to other departments, we hope to save enough
money to fund at least one trail crew and some education/enforcement folks
next year. But of course this means less trail maintenance this year. In effect,
we are ramping the trail program down in 2009 to make the drop-off less
precipitous in 2010. We ask for everyone's patience and understanding, and of
course, we thank in advance all our hard-working volunteers. Stay tuned for
more updates as the situation unfolds.
Storm Damage
Warning! We are
discovering roads, lower
trails, and campgrounds
that have suffered fairly
severe storm damage
from last January's epic
rain on snow storm.
The Taneum
Campground will be
closed for the season
due to flood damage.
Please report to the Cle
Elum Ranger District
(509-852-1100) any
storm damage you
might find while driving
around this spring. Stay
alert and travel
cautiously!
Warning! We are
discovering roads, lower
trails, and campgrounds
that have suffered fairly
severe storm damage
from last January's epic
rain on snow storm.
The Taneum
Campground will be
closed for the season
due to flood damage.
Please report to the Cle
Elum Ranger District
(509-852-1100) any
storm damage you
might find while driving
around this spring. Stay
alert and travel
cautiously!
| Hey, let us know what you see out there! Send a couple photos along with your hiking, biking, 4x4in, horseback riding, etc. dventure story. We are always very happy to hear from our trail friends. cleelumtrails@yahooo.com |
| Campgrounds All campgrounds are now open except Kachess Kachess, which is closed indefinitely. Hazard tree removal in progress. (Please call 509-852-1100 for updates). Mineral Springs group site is open, but individual sites remain closed pending removal of hazard trees. Haney Meadows, Lion Rock, Quartz Mt, Fish Lake and Owhi are still snow bound. Manastash and Riders Campground are open. Icewater Campground is open. Taneum Campground is closed for the season due to flooding. Taneum Junction is open. |
| It is dry and hot out there. Even though the snow just left the lower areas, Wildfires can occur. Please use caution and recreate responsibly. |
| Fun on memorial Day weekend! Liberty. |
| Photos of the North Fork Bridge damage. The January rain on snow event left a lot of interesting trail damage, including taking out five bridges on the North Fork. Click here for more photos. |
FIREWORKS ARE NOT PERMITTED ON THE NATIONAL FOREST! LAW IS
STRICTLY ENFORCED.
The 4th of July is this Saturday. Please remember that possession of fireworks
is against the law on the National Forest. The trails are slowly clearing of snow,
but there is still quite a lot within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness boundary. Our
Wilderness Ranger is back on duty and hiking the trails, so look for better high
country updates. We will update the page again on Thursday.
Taneum Area: Everything is open east of the Northridge Trail. Our crews will
start pushing toward Blowout, but there is still a lot of snow on the Manastash
Ridge Trail. Lower loops are all open. The North Fork Taneum Trail remains
closed Peoh Point Road to Fishhook Flats Trail due to bridge damage (our
crews are working hard to get the big bridge rebuilt, but expect water crossings
this season).
Manastash Area: All trails are logged out and passable.
The Cle Elum Valley and Teanaway Areas: From the Non-Motorized Trail Crew:
Bean Basin, Standup Creek, Stafford Creek, Beverly Creek, Pete Lake, and Knox
Creek are all clear. Hyas Lake Trail is clear and open. Waptus River Trail is
maintained to the 7.5 mile mark, but is snow free to the lake. Hiker only trails,
due to the funding (NOVA) situation, will not be logged out this season.
Table Mountain - From our Volunteer Crew (Lori Taylor and crew): On Sunday
four of us headed to Table Mountain to ride and clear some trail. The attached
map shows the route we rode. There's also a shot of me cutting a log out of Owl
Creek Trail. Someone had already cleared about half of the trails we rode and
some sporatic clearing on others. We did some clearing on Howard Creek,
Nameum Creek, Drop Creek, Owl Creek and Standup Creek (I think it's signed
as Nameum Ridge Trail). Owl Creek, Standup Creek and the northern portion of
Nameum Creek (going into Haney Meadows) are way too wet to allow any use of
right now, including non-motorized. We got out into the soft stuff and had a tough
time riding through trying to minimize impact; turning around would have been
really ugly. Probably need to give those trails a couple weeks to dry out.
STRICTLY ENFORCED.
The 4th of July is this Saturday. Please remember that possession of fireworks
is against the law on the National Forest. The trails are slowly clearing of snow,
but there is still quite a lot within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness boundary. Our
Wilderness Ranger is back on duty and hiking the trails, so look for better high
country updates. We will update the page again on Thursday.
Taneum Area: Everything is open east of the Northridge Trail. Our crews will
start pushing toward Blowout, but there is still a lot of snow on the Manastash
Ridge Trail. Lower loops are all open. The North Fork Taneum Trail remains
closed Peoh Point Road to Fishhook Flats Trail due to bridge damage (our
crews are working hard to get the big bridge rebuilt, but expect water crossings
this season).
Manastash Area: All trails are logged out and passable.
The Cle Elum Valley and Teanaway Areas: From the Non-Motorized Trail Crew:
Bean Basin, Standup Creek, Stafford Creek, Beverly Creek, Pete Lake, and Knox
Creek are all clear. Hyas Lake Trail is clear and open. Waptus River Trail is
maintained to the 7.5 mile mark, but is snow free to the lake. Hiker only trails,
due to the funding (NOVA) situation, will not be logged out this season.
Table Mountain - From our Volunteer Crew (Lori Taylor and crew): On Sunday
four of us headed to Table Mountain to ride and clear some trail. The attached
map shows the route we rode. There's also a shot of me cutting a log out of Owl
Creek Trail. Someone had already cleared about half of the trails we rode and
some sporatic clearing on others. We did some clearing on Howard Creek,
Nameum Creek, Drop Creek, Owl Creek and Standup Creek (I think it's signed
as Nameum Ridge Trail). Owl Creek, Standup Creek and the northern portion of
Nameum Creek (going into Haney Meadows) are way too wet to allow any use of
right now, including non-motorized. We got out into the soft stuff and had a tough
time riding through trying to minimize impact; turning around would have been
really ugly. Probably need to give those trails a couple weeks to dry out.
| ***** Deception Pass Trail 1376 - Closed to Stock from July 19th through August 1st - News Release ***** |
Cle Elum—The Deception Pass Trail #1376 will be impassable to stock from
lower Hyas Lake to Deception Pass from July 19 to August 1, 2009 for the
construction of new puncheon bridges. There are no viable detours around the
construction zone for stock, but hikers will still be able to get through. Hikers
can expect occasional short delays while the construction zone is made safe to
walk through.
Funding for this project is made possible by a grant from the Washington State
Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO). The trail work is a cooperative effort
between the U.S. Forest Service and the Washington Trails Association. The
new puncheon bridge will replace an aging and increasingly dangerous
structure on the trail near upper Hyas Lake. The public’s cooperation in this trail
improvement project is greatly appreciated.
For immediate release: July 1, 2009
Contacts: Jon Herman – Trails- 852-1055
Kim Larned – Cle Elum Ranger District – public affairs officer – (509) 852-1062
lower Hyas Lake to Deception Pass from July 19 to August 1, 2009 for the
construction of new puncheon bridges. There are no viable detours around the
construction zone for stock, but hikers will still be able to get through. Hikers
can expect occasional short delays while the construction zone is made safe to
walk through.
Funding for this project is made possible by a grant from the Washington State
Recreation and Conservation Office (RCO). The trail work is a cooperative effort
between the U.S. Forest Service and the Washington Trails Association. The
new puncheon bridge will replace an aging and increasingly dangerous
structure on the trail near upper Hyas Lake. The public’s cooperation in this trail
improvement project is greatly appreciated.
For immediate release: July 1, 2009
Contacts: Jon Herman – Trails- 852-1055
Kim Larned – Cle Elum Ranger District – public affairs officer – (509) 852-1062