Rant: They widened the path on my favorite hike and it feels like a highway now

I used to hike the Canyon Creek trail every other week for the narrow, rocky sections that made you focus. Last fall, some crew came through and blasted parts of the rock to make the path twice as wide. Now it's just this flat, boring gravel road where you can walk three people side by side. Half the fun was squeezing through tight spots and watching your step on the uneven ground. I went up there yesterday and a guy on a mountain bike almost ran me over because there's so much space he was going too fast. The whole rugged feel is gone, and it just reminds me of a sidewalk in the suburbs. I get that they want to prevent erosion or something, but they ruined what made the trail special. I'm honestly thinking of driving farther out to find trails that haven't been 'fixed' like this.

3 comments

3 Comments

the_mary1mo ago

Did they ever hike the trail before deciding to 'fix' it?

ryan_moore731mo ago

Can you believe they used bulldozers on a slope that's prone to landslides? Someone told me they just looked at a satellite image and called it good. Now there's erosion cutting across the new switchbacks. The whole section is crumbling after one heavy rain. They basically made it more dangerous for everyone. It's such a waste of money and effort.

emma5221mo ago

Satellite images are the new soil survey, apparently.