STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
Leaf peepers who enjoy checking out the changing aspen colors in Adams Gulch and Lake Creek may find their usual fall hikes and bike rides impeded over the next few weeks.
The Adams Gulch Trailhead will be closed for reconstruction, beginning Monday, Sept. 26. That’s the day following Mountain Humane’s 50th anniversary community dog trek scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 25.
Workers will enlarge and reconfigure the trailhead parking lot to accommodate trailers and install a new vault toilet.
Heavy equipment will be operating in the area and trucks will be using Adams Gulch Road, which will be closed to the public beyond its intersection with Old Mill Road.
Beginning Oct. 3, the Ketchum Ranger District will begin enlarging a footbridge on Old Adams Gulch Road Trail No. 146 to allow hand-cyclists to use it. The ranger district hopes to have the project wrapped up and the Adams Gulch Trailhead reopened by early November.
Trails in Adams Gulch will remain open during work, but users must access the area through the trailhead at Wanderer’s Way off Warm Springs Road or from Lake Creek.
- That said, Lake Creek also will be closed from time to time this month and next as the Bureau of Land Management makes improvements to the trailhead.
The trailhead will be partially closed with limited parking capacity on Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 26 and 27, as the BLM prepares to expand the parking lot. The BLM will also excavate around the existing vault toilet to ready it for removal and replacement.
The trailhead will be closed for the parking lot expansion from Oct. 3-14, and it will not reopen before or after normal working hours.
- Sadly, the BLM has announced it will not be able to construct any additional trails this fall due to labor shortages, according to Chris Leman, trails coordinator for the Blaine County Recreation District.
The BLM announced last year new projects around Bellevue and Hailey to address a crucial need for trails in those areas. It got started on its multi-year plan by building a trail in Slaughterhouse Canyon last fall.
The agency is considering additional contracting partnerships to get back on track in 2023.