Coyote Wall - The Labyrinth Loop — Saturday, Mar. 23, 2013

Southwest Washington > Columbia River Gorge - WA

During the past two months WTA volunteers have worked to open up three re-routes on the Labyrinth trail designed to reduce erosion and protect the natural resources there. You'll know that erosion is going on when the trail starts to cup, of form a v-shaped valley, Most often this occurs when trails go down the fall-line rather than traversing across the slope. Water bars or check steps are one way to manage erosion, but they aren't that friendly to mountain bikes and they merely slow down the erosion, they don't eliminate it. Thanks to a generous grant from the National Forest Foundation and Skamania Lodge WTA engaged in a year-long project to design and build the highest priority re-routes in the Coyote Wall area. To do so we worked closely with the Columbia Area Mountain Bike Advocates (CAMBA) to design the reroutes in accordance with the Forest Service Recreation Plan. As you hike the new routes you'll notice they are more circuitous - that is to discourage water from running down the trail, but also to add some interest and challenge for mountain bikers while reducing their speed in a way that is more fun that just putting up speed bumps (e.g. water bars). SIDE NOTE - this trail is designated as a mountain bike designed route that is open to hiking and equestrians. Please help nature reclaim the original routes by sticking to the new routes even though they are a bit more meandering - after all it is called the Labyrinth Trail! Thank You to all the volunteers who helped to make this project a reality!