Northwest Youth Corps - Lakeview Trail Upgrade

Ten workers from Northwest Youth Corps, along with a trio of working supervisors, spent Tuesday and Wednesday repairing and upgrading what's informally known as the Lakeview Town Trail, a half-mile loop route that begins near the Lakeview swimming pool.

''We're trying to put this in the hillside a little better, trying to make it a little more environmentally friendly'' said Larry Hills, the trail specialist for the Fremont and Winema National Forests who helped arrange the work.

The trail, originally built in the 1980s, has deteriorated over the years on the steep hillside. It also has several sharp zigzag turns, which have created some drainage problems. To lessen damage, wheelbarrow loads of rocks were gathered and used to build retaining walls while drainage drips were created to reduce erosion.

The initial several yards of the trail were also slightly rerouted to create a gentler slope.

''The crews are doing a great job,'' said Wells, not the in-town project was especially enjoyed because work crew members were able to enjoy lunch breaks with fresh cookies and cold soft drinks. Normally, trail work is done in remote locations.

Before working in Lakeview, the youth corps crew did trail work on the Rogger Trail, 8-1/2 miles east of Lakeview up Bullard Canyon.

Hill said the Fremont National Forest is substantially upgrading trails, including 56 miles on the North Warners Mountain section of the Fremont Recreation Trail.

''It's a whole different trail,'' Hill said of the redone North Warners trail, which has been re-signed, has several new signs and, more importantly, has had extensive work to make the trail easier to follow.

The North Warners section begins near the Oregon-California border, goes to Vee Lake northeast of Lakeview and includes a spur from the Soth Fork/Crooked Creek trailhead to the Mill trailhead off Highway 395.

The Lakeview Town Trail connects with a fire road that can provide users with more walking opportunities up Black Cap, the mountain directly behind downtown.

Among the trail's attractions is an old Fordson, a wrench that was powered by a six cylinder engine. Although now inoperable, the equipment was built into the hillside on a wooden platform. A favorite with young hikers, the equipment has been used often enough that the handles appear polished.

Views of downtown, including the swimming pool, are frequent from stopping points along the trail.

Courtesy of the Herald and News July 18, 2003

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