Cedar Creek Falls Trail Will Remain Closed Until April
The Forest Service will assess the needs for a management plan and hiking permits.
Cedar Creek Falls, the popular hiking destination near Ramona, will be closed until April 1, the Forest Service reported on Monday.
The falls and its trails were officially closed July 9, following the death of a teenage hiker. The Forest Service originally planned to re-open the area Nov. 8.
"The purpose of the closure is to give the Forest Service time to design and implement a management plan to address issues of public safety, overcrowding, and resource impacts," the Service reported in a news release Monday.
The Forest Service is moving ahead with the development of a management plan for the area and will conduct an analysis under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) prior to finalizing and implementing the plan, the news release stated. "The target for the completion of the NEPA is late March, 2012. A decision on whether or not a permit would be required to hike the trail in the future will not be made until the conclusion of the NEPA process. The permitting system course of action is one that will be studied, while other alternatives will be studied as well.
The closed area includes the trailhead at Thornbush Road in San Diego Country Estates, the trail to and from Cedar Creek Falls from the Thornbush Road Trailhead, the trailhead area at Saddleback (on Eagle Peak Road), the trail from Saddleback, and the specific Cedar Creek Falls site. The closed area extends for ¼ mile on both sides of the trails and the falls.
Residents of Thornbush Road complained about the behavior of hikers heading to the trail last summer, as reported on this video on Ramona Patch.
Back Country Hiker
7:06 pm on Monday, November 7, 2011
Really, they haven't had enough time already to come up some sort of plan? As a resident of the Country Estates area I have enjoyed this trail as a way to keep fit and take in the beauty of the area I live in. Being kept out of this area by a bunch of bureaucrats who didn't plan accordingly to begin with is unjust. The trail gets minimal usage during the winter months anyway so it seems to me that they could reopen it and try some of the emerging ideas they have on these lesser crowds. Or maybe they just don't have any ideas yet and come April another statement will be issued that the trail will not be open for the summer months. A year will go by and we still won't have access to this beautiful area. Sad situation for those of us who enjoyed and respected the area long before the Forest Service got the bright idea to make it more accessible. Every city dweller who heard about the waterfall figured he could put on his flip flops and head out there with a cooler of beer and a beach towel. Now those of us who enjoyed it long before the trail upgrade are being kept away from what is in our own backyard. I can only hope that the Forest Service is truly working on a plan and not just stringing us along.