Mount Shasta Trail Association
Inspire • Create • Conserve
Join us on Thursday September 28th at the Weed Community Center for our annual meeting. Do you see yourself in the photo below? That’s a blast from the past from our 2018 meeting. Doors open at 5:00 PM and we promise to be done by 8:00. Hors d’oeuvres and refreshments to be served!
Giving Tuesday is TODAY November 29th 6:00 am to 8:00 pm
northstategives.org/mountshastatrailassociation
Click here for more information on the Gateway Trail. And in case you missed it, here’s this years’ promotional video: “The Trail Crew gets a Call”
Once again, the Mount Shasta Trail Association has created a new Giving Tuesday movie, entitled “The Trail Crew Gets a Call”. This award winning movie is out performing MSTA’s previous winners: “Santa on the Trails”, “Do you Love Us” and “Oh Yeah”. This engaging iMovie was created with the hopes of inspiring donations to the MSTA for Giving Tuesday which is on November 29th, from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm this year. Early giving begins November 15th. Please share with other trail lovers — whether they are hikers, mountain bikers, runners or equestrians.
For more information and to donate, click here.
To begin your search for the fifth trail treasure, start at the trailhead that is at the one mile marker of the highway named after a forest supervisor who died fighting the Bear Springs Fire. Travel along the main trail. After crossing a newly build causeway you will see your first glance a basaltic andesite outcropping that looks like a prow of a ship. Find the formation that is remnants of the Sand Flat Cone. This was one of the first of the Mount Shasta flows, which occurred around 600,000 years ago.
Here are the rules of the hunt. Each time you locate a treasure, send us a photo or description of the treasure along with your contact information to: mtshastatrail@gmail.com. Then, your name will be entered into a drawing for the grand prize. In addition, the first person to locate each new treasure will receive their choice of a prize, and their name will be placed into the grand prize drawing. For example, if you find 5 treasures your name will be added five times to the grand prize drawing.
The Trail Challenge for 2022 has begun! Here’s the clue to finding “treasure” along one of the trails in the Mount Shasta area:
To begin your search for the first trail treasure, go to the Gateway Trailhead and then hike, run or bike to the trail that is named for the phase of construction for every house, the first makeup that is applied, or the name of a philanthropic organization. Continue along the trail looking for a tree that is unique to the entire Gateway Trail system. You will know this tree because it will remind you of a time at the beach when you got a bad sunburn and peeled. If you come to the trail that is named after you and me, you will know that you went too far and missed the tree.
To help you, below is a map to the treasure.
Here are the rules of the hunt. Each time you locate a treasure, send us a photo or description of the treasure along with your contact information to: mtshastatrail@gmail.com. Then, your name will be entered into a drawing for the grand prize.
In addition, the first person to locate each new treasure will receive their choice of a prize, and their name will be placed into the grand prize drawing. For example, if you find 5 treasures your name will added five times to the grand prize drawing.
The US Forest Service Shasta-McCloud Management Unit fire and fuels programs will be burning slash piles on the newly constructed Ten Gallon Trail (BMZ-7), which is within the Gateway Phase 2 trail system. The first ¾ miles of trail will be CLOSED on Weds., December 8th (from proposed trailhead to where trail crosses the road – approximately ¾ mile long). For safety of yourself and FS fire personnel please respect this closure and stay out of the area. Prescribed burning signs will be posted on sites of closure.
As weather permits, the remainder of slash piles on Ten Gallon, BMZ-11, and BMZ-12 will be burned as well over the coming weeks. The trails will be closed during burning operations. See map for locations.
Attention Gateway Trail users!
Mastication equipment is starting work near the trailhead on Monday, November 22nd. They’ll be working the trail sections closest to the parking lot and around the Lollipop trail. There will be temporary closures next week. As a reminder, never approach working mastication equipment. Stay at least 300 feet away. Thank you and stay safe!
The Mount Shasta Trail Association (MSTA), in partnership with the Forest Service and Bike Shasta, is pleased to announce work has begun on the expansion of the Gateway Trail network.
This project, located on national forest system lands administered by the Shasta McCloud Management Unit, will add 46.5 miles of multi-use non-motorized trail to the existing Gateway trails. While the final trails will be open to hikers, equestrians, trail runners and bikers, the primary use is expected to be mountain biking. Thus, the trails are being located, designed and built, meeting USFS trail standards, with mountain biking in mind.
District Ranger Carolyn Napper approved the project on October 18, 2019, after a thorough review of all applicable environmental requirements and the Forest Plan for the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Funding the planning effort came from a variety of partners and grantors, including BikeShasta, the McConnell Foundation, the Mountain Wheelers, and the Mount Shasta Trail Association – truly a project with the community pulling together!
On-the-ground trail construction under direction from the Forest Service is being coordinated by the MSTA and Trail Labs, CO., a small business owned by internationally-known trail designer Andrew Pellkofer. The initial work is the clearing of vegetation from the trail construction corridor, making way for future building of the trail itself. On-the-ground construction of the trails by Trail Labs, CO. is expected to begin later this year. Trail Labs has hired local labor to conduct these activities. Completion of the project is expected to take 4-5 years.
At this time, work is proceeding with strict COVID-19 safety precautions. While the post-COVID-19 future is unclear, the Mt. Shasta Trail Association, Bike Shasta and the Forest Service are pleased to share this good news with the community. Construction of the Gateway Trails will be a major contribution to outdoor recreation around Mt. Shasta. As we move forward on this project, we expect that it will contribute significantly to Mt. Shasta City’s reputation as a hub for muscle-powered and trail-based recreation. When things get back to normal, these fantastic trails will be there for everyone’s enjoyment.
