Updated fire closure map
The 44 Trails zone on the Mount Hood National Forest is open for riding!
Thanks to favorable weather conditions and the efforts of wildland fire crews, the 44 zone is accessible again.
The 17 road remains closed, but 8-Mile, Knebal Springs and the rest of the 44 Trails are open for riding. Ranger Thornton was up in the area on Thursday and said there is moisture in the dirt and the trails are in great shape.
It looks like the USFS is going to maintain its existing fire closure for the foreseeable future. Sorry, but the 44 Trails area will be closed for the Labor Day holiday weekend.
The wet and cooler weather has definitely aided in the management and suppression of the Government Flats fire that lead to the road and trail closures but there is still work to be done and fire hazard in the area. The burn has been spotty in areas, which makes mop up efforts a bit more difficult to monitor assess.
What we need is a big multi-day rain cycle. In the mean time, check out rides on Gunsight ridge and the Boulder Lake zone. You can keep tabs on the fire updates at www.inciweb.org/incident/3662/
USFS 44 Trails closure map
West winds have cleared the smoke from the Hood River Valley, but the 44 Trails area is still effected by closures. As far as we know, the trails themselves have not been consumed by fire, but there will be active fire suppression efforts in the area and the threat of fire growth, so the USFS is going to keep the zone east and north of the 44 road off limits for a while.
Here’s the latest:
The Mt. Hood National Forest has announced the following closures:
The following campgrounds are closed: Knebal Springs, Lower Eight Mile Crossing, Eight Mile, and Gibson Prairie. Five Mile Lookout is also closed.
The following major trails are closed:
Forest Roads 17, 1720, 4430 and all their associated spur roads are closed along with and all other National Forest System Roads and minor trails within the closure area depicted on a map posted on InciWeb.org at http://inciweb.org/incident/maps/3662/
fire map 8/22 update
Growth of the Government Flats Fire Complex on August 21 is leading to more road/area closures related to the 44 Trails area. Although the decision is not yet final, today’s morning meeting proposes the closure of the FR 44 east of Highway 35 and north to the forest boundary. This closure will effectively close access Knebal Springs, 8-Mile and Surveyors.
The area is experiencing heavy ash and smoke as well (on 8/22), so really, it’s not a good place to try and recreate, regardless of the closure. West winds will help blow smoke out of the area this weekend and should help reduce threat to the 44 Trails area.
The fire has not burned into the trails proper but the risk of it spreading in the area is high given any east wind events.
Here’s a map of the latest fire location. FR 44 runs east/west in the bottom of the image.
Get the latest fire closure information from the USFS news feed
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