A Montana FS trail crew logged all of the above listed trails.

Notables:

• Trail: 11 miles. The upper and lower portion of this trail are in better condition and will be more easily maintained than the middle section.
• Tread: Missing throughout the whole.
• The middle section, about 3.5 miles, has flood effects, missing tread, very dense veg and years of deadfall.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• The trail is not passable by stock in the middle portion and passable but difficult on both ends.

Section 1 About 1.5 miles north from saddle (Junction 128/79)

Notables:

• Log: At least 88 small/27 medium/6 large
• Lots of trenching in trail tread. Braided cattle trails make it even more confusing.
• 100% mortality, most or all from Silver Fire. Lots of grasses, fern and short veg.

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Section 2 About 1.5 miles downstream

Notables:

• Logs: At least 56 small / 20 medium / 5 large. Plus 4 log jams.
• Riparian vegetation is very dense in the lower half of this section.
• Tread: Missing off and on through the lower ½ of this section. The lower 2300 ft have very dense vegetation and logouts, many old and rotten, and lots of missing tread and VERY dense poison ivy

Section 3 About 1.2 miles downstream

Notables:

• Logs: At least 65 small/41 medium/20 large (lots of rotten logs). 2 small log jams
• Mostly moderate to heavy locust, oak and riparian veg
• Extensive missing trail and crossings with many flood deposits and log jams. Poor to no delineation.
• 1/3 is obliterated and 2/3 are full of logs and veg

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Section 4 “Up and Over” to Sid’s Prong junction ~2.1 miles

Notables:

• Logs: At least 98 small/49 medium/15 large (largest about 40”dbh) Tread is hit or miss. No sign for Sid’s Prong #121 or #309. No sign of trails either

Section 5 From Sid’s Prong junction to the end of trail that connects to Hermosa #307. ~5.3 miles

Notables:

• Logs: 51 small/25 medium/6 large. ~2 log jams depending on where the trail goes.
• There are cattle and game trails that deviate from system trail and can be hard to differentiate especially because trail does not always follow GIS.
• Signage: No sign at Water Canyon #120 nor at Hermosa #307 junction

Section 1 From CDT-74 to where trail joins Circle 7 creek. ~1.2 miles

Notables:

• Logs: 7 small / 3 medium / 1 large. Info does not include work needed in missing.
• Tread: Top of trail is steep, washed out and overgrown.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Not suggested due to lost tread and unknown obstacles.

Section 2 From where it enters Circle 7 creek bottom to the lower trailhead at FR730 ~5.4 miles

Notables:

• Logs: At least 8 small / 7 medium / 2 large. Not a lot of tree mortality. logs not counted for missing or obliterated sections.
• Trail: Mostly obliterated within drainage with high flood effects for most of this section. ~8ft high log jams occur and often block what would have been a trail. Old blazes were found but tread was hit or miss in small sections, mostly gone. Dominating issues are flood obstacles and trail washed away. Trail mostly obliterated within the drainage.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Not suggested, difficult to go around all the flood obstacles.

Notables:
Trail: Approximately 60% of trail is unidentified or gone.
May exist within overgrowth and deadfall but it’s impassible and unidentified. Logouts are extensive due to 100% mortality from Silver Fire. There is considerable heavy aspen and locust.
Logs: At least 115 small, 85 medium and 26 large on the tread that has been identified, approx. ¾ mile. Upper ~1500 ft is heavy medium and large aspen deadfall not counted.

Passable by stock during assessment:
No

Notables:

• Trail: Mostly gone. Log outs are extensive due to 100% mortality from Silver Fire. A few blazes remain.
• Assessment not done from junction with S Fork Mimbres #80 to Mimbres Trail #77.
• Expect similar conditions for the top portion.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• No

Section 1 – approximately 1.3 miles

Notables:

• Logs: 2 small / 7 medium / 1 large
• Old road bed remains in sections but is usually blown out at crossings. No signs or cairns at trailhead/junction with Quaking Aspen Trail

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Yes with go-arounds

Section 2 – approximately one mile

Notables:

• Logs: 17 small/13 medium/1 large and 1 small log jam to break down. Delineation is mostly good.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Need pruning saw for one small log across, then passable with lots to go around.

Section 3 – approximately 1.6 miles

Notables:

• Logs: 98 small / 47 medium / 14 large
• Needs definition or cairns in the loose soil. Need ~15 cairns
• Signage: No sign at junction with #79 but there are 2 cairns and 1 blaze.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Passable up to a point, then very difficult to go around.

Notables:
In April 2023, a Forest Service crew cleared 4.5 miles from Reed’s meadow to just south of Reed’s Peak, plus the .25 mile spur trail up to the lookout.
Relatively sparse dead and down as well as standing dead to worry about in the future. The main issue will be keeping locusts in check.
Tread: 80-90% of the tread is good, with occasional waterbars. Could use retread in a few spots here and there, but nothing critical or prolonged.
Looking south from the peak, the trail seems to enter more standing dead.

Notables:
In April 2023, a crew cleared 5.18 miles from Reeds Meadow to just beyond Diamond Spring. No signs whatsoever on this section, not even CDT markers, and the trail is vague through several open areas near Sheep Canyon. We built cairns in all open areas. CDT beyond Diamond Spring had thick locust for .5 miles, and then looked very clear on the ridges.
Diamond Spring has no usable water on the surface and cannot be counted as a water source.
There is a spring one mile from Reed’s Meadow on this route that is quite good, and Sheep Canyon has water ½ mile from the trail.
Burnt Canyon to Diamond Peak was definitely the most intensely burned landscape on the west side of the crest. The East side of the Black Range isn’t near as burned.

From Hillsboro Peak west to Railroad trail# 128 and Animas #114

Notables:
Switchbacks near Hillsboro Peak are hard to find. Lots of locust, aspen, and oak on many parts of this trail. Several logs.

Passable by stock during assessment:
No
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From McKnight Cabin to Reeds Peak

Notables:
Over 2000 logs. Locust and brush are thicker after the junction with #78 heading north.

Passable by stock during assessment:
No, too congested with logs and regrowth.

This trail was logged in Spring of 2023. Please note that logs may be falling fast and locust may be very thick in high burn areas.

Notables:
Most damage was done by flooding. Multiple sections of the trail washed away. Some sections of the trail are undefined and confusing. This part of the canyon is fairly wide, so getting around many trail-damaged areas is doable.

Passable by stock in condition during assessment:
The first 1.2 miles is Not recommended because of the unstable bank section, but with some effort could likely go around through the creek. The remainder of the trail is passable with some go-arounds. All travel will require route finding and paying close attention.

See June 2023 Trail Assessment by Outslope Trail Solutions

See June 2023 Trail Assessment by Outslope Trail Solutions.

See June 2023 Trail Assessment by Outslope Trail Solutions

See June 2023 Trail Assessment by Outslope Trail Solutions.

June 2023 Trail Assessment by Outslope Trail Solutions

June 2023 Trail Assessment by Outslope Trail Solutions

Notables:

• Higher tree mortality at the beginning of the trail. Further down the trail, several well-defined game trails lead to tanks deviating from faint system trails. Otherwise, the trail is decent.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Yes

Notables:

• The upper part of Aspen Canyon is narrow and has mixed conifer.
• Trail: this area was severely washed out. Water cut several ~5-foot drops in the canyon floor.
• No reports on the lower part of Aspen Canyon where the canyon widens. There is hope that most of the trail is still in tack in this section.

Notables:

• Still lots of tall locust and logs on this trail.
• Not recommended.

Notables:

• The Forest Service crew logged out of the trail already. Some of it is brushy.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Yes

Notables:

• Brushy, and in some places, the trail is confusing.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Lower 3.5 miles passable. The upper part is passable but difficult due to rock outcrops.

Notables:

• Light brush and a few logs. West section tread is intermittent with some flooding and sediment covering the tread. Mid-way section lost 300-400 ft.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Unknown

From Trailhead to Monument Canyon

Notables:

• Trail:The post fire vegetation is very high and makes the trail impossible or near impossible to see in most places. Also, oaks and other shrubs are growing in the trail.
• Logs: Most of the logs have been removed from the trail.

From Trailhead to Monument Canyon:

Notables:

• Trail: The section of trail to the Mimbres River from the trailhead was affected by the fire. There are some washouts – all horses passable.
• Logs: 30+ post fire logs have already been removed from the section of trail before it meets the Mimbres River, but more may fall. More logs have been removed on the Mimbres River section.
  Trail: The trail is passable, but washed out in spots and hard to find in other areas. However, this section of the canyon was not scorched and still very beautiful.

Passable for stock during assessment:

• Yes

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Upstream of Monument Canyon to Confluence of north and south forks

Notables:

• Trail: missing or obliterated sections of trail totaling about ½ miles. Dead standing.
• Logs: Lots of logs.

Passable for stock during assessment:

• Not suggested; difficult to go around log and rock debris.

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Upstream of Confluence of North and South Forks to Crest

Notables:

• Mortality was high from the Silver fire with high flow, incision, and high log jams from Silver and Black Fire flooding—lots of standing dead trees.
• Logs: Over 200 logs, sections go locust moderate to thick.
• Tread: Much of the tread is unidentified or washed away.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• No

Notables:

• Tread: Tread damage due to drainage issues. Expect some trenching in the trail. The tread is obvious in most places. 13 trees

Passable for stock during assessment:

• Yes

See June 2023 Trail Assessment by Outslope Trail Solutions.

See June 2023 Trail Assessment by Outslope Trail Solutions.

From Crest Trail #79 to Junction with Railroad Trail #128

Notables:

• Logs: over 200 logs on the trail.
• Tread: Some tread damage

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Not suggested; deadfall too difficult to go around.

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From Junction with Railroad Trail #128 to trailhead at Railroad Campground

Notables:

• Logs: 20 logs plus brushy creek crossings

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Not suggested due to dense crossings.

From TH to S. Fork Palomas Cr

Notables:

• Route needs attention to be better delineated but is very open and passable.

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From S Fork Palomas Cr to Marshall Cr confluence

Notables:

• Route passable and tread mostly delineated except at crossings

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From S. Fork Palomas Cr/Marshall Cr confluence to Marshall corral

Notables:

• Trail: 200 ft section that seems to go through the creek is very unclear and may cause difficulty for stock Route passable and mostly delineated.

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From Marshall Corral to Sawmill Well

Notables:

• Section is passable and delineated.
• From junction #123 to Box Corral

Notables:

• Logs: 75 logs, jungle just before and through box canyon. 650 ft of tread is gone or washed out.
• Trail: The trail pretty much stays in the creek bottom in box canyon with most tread gone.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Not stock passable and won’t be where the canyon walls bottleneck.

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From Box Corral to confluence 2.4 miles below the Crest Trail # 79

Notables:

• Tread: The tread is missing for most of this section. Tread is mostly washed away and obstructed by small flood debris.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• Stock passable with some difficulty on go-arounds but rather irrelevant if above and below the trail is not passable for stock.

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From Confluence to Crest Trail #79 ~2.4 miles

Notables:

• Trail: Over a half mile of extreme locust with aspen regrowth and lots of dead aspens also blocking passage.
• Tread: Most of the tread needs to be redefined or completely recut.

Passable by stock during assessment:

• No