Gash Creek Road west of Victor was briefly closed last week but opened within a few days upon reconsideration. The opening, however, was accompanied by an advisory warning to winter recreationists to use extreme caution when driving it.
The road, Forest Road #737, accesses the Bear Creek Overlook and Gash Point areas, both popular with backcountry skiers. The Gash Creek area has received significant snowfall (60+ inches) since February and due to excessive snow, there is currently insufficient road width for two-way traffic along with no pullouts. The parking lot at Gash Creek Trailhead has not been plowed, so no public parking is available, and parking is not permitted on private land without permission.
On Tuesday, March 12, after hearing concerns expressed by adjoining landowners, Acting Forest Supervisor Rob Grump decided to temporarily close the road for safety reasons. But that decision didn’t sit well with some members of the public who use the road all winter. Grump stated in an email to one respondent that he had taken a hard look at the information that had been provided and decided to change his mind and open the road.
“Instead of a road closure, I have asked the District Ranger to clearly post the conditions that public users will face when they travel up to the traditional parking area on the road to Bear Creek Overlook,” wrote Grump. He said the posting will be low enough in elevation so that public accessing the area can make a safe choice. The posting will alert the public that the road itself is a single-lane plowed access with no public parking currently available at the end of the road due to the height of the snow berm at the traditional parking area – all of which is subject to change with the changing spring conditions.
The public notice released by the Stevensville Ranger District states additionally that with spring arriving next week and above average temperatures in the forecast, flooding and spring break-up could make travel difficult and unsafe on many forest roads.
It goes on to state:
Early spring conditions can create safety hazards for the public as well as concerns for the integrity of the roadbed. Widely varying temperatures generate excessive snowmelt and the resulting runoff freezes to create sheets of ice that are dangerous to negotiate. At the same time, the runoff also creates a soft roadbed that is easily damaged by vehicle traffic. When vehicles drive on soft roads, they create wheel tracks and ruts which can hold and channel water and lead to erosion, expensive repairs, and sometimes road failure.
If motorists find themselves on a soft road bed, they should turn around before they become stuck or cause damage to the road which could result in additional closures.
Hazardous conditions can also develop quickly from rapidly rising waters. Roads and trails that are passable early in the day may become unsafe in the afternoon as rivers and creeks rise due to increased snowmelt. The condition of a roadbed cannot be determined when the road has moving water over it and it may be partially washed out. Outside shoulders of roads may also be soft due to snow melt. Motorists are advised to use extreme caution in these situations and
asked to notify the agency of any road damage, downed trees, plugged culverts or flooding conditions on Forest Service roads.
Officials are advising motorists and recreationists to contact local Ranger Districts to get current information on closures and any flooded roads and trails. The forest also posts closures on their website along with road condition updates on the Discover Bitterroot National Forest Facebook page.
For more information, contact the Stevensville Ranger District at (406) 777-5461.
Bill LaCroix says
note: can you publish this as a LTE? Thanks.
Editor,
Regarding Gash Cr. Rd: After hearing about how bad the Forest Service thought Gash Cr. Rd. was in relation to all the other Bitterroot Face roads that are in similar to equally-bad shape each and every spring, a bee in the back of my bonnet suggested that this “emergency” was baked up by the relatively-new residents who chose to build their houses along that PUBLIC road. Sure enough, thanks to the Bitterroot Star article I just read, I find that the bee was right. I live on Sweathouse Cr. at the base of Gash Creek Canyon and this dire emergency on this road that I have used for decades is literally in my back yard and–surprise–there is no emergency. There is a Montana, though, where mountain roads get challenging every spring. I have watched these new owners come in over time, buying up the inholdings the Forest Service should have incorporated into the public domain back in the 80’s but didn’t, building homes in the middle of highly-flammable landscapes, receiving (make a guess of how many) thousands of dollars each time a fire threatens them, and then hanging “no trespassing” and “no parking” signs all over the trees, as if they own that road–which of course they don’t. The “T” at the junction of Gash Creek and Bear Cr. Overlook (South Gash Cr) road was the traditional place to park one’s vehicle during the winter to avoid getting stuck. Now there is a sign informing us that the adjacent landowner has decreed that he or she is the sole arbiter of who can park there or who can’t. This has been wrong for too long and needs clarification from the Forest Service as to exactly how much of the public’s right-to-access did it think it gave away to these landowners who maybe felt they were “getting away from it all” and and then–too late I guess–realizing they had built their (usually very flammable) homes right in the middle of a public access road that people have been using for decades. So here are the question I have to the Stevi Ranger District: what’s the right-of-way width for Gash Cr. Rd.? Can you specify that on these visually obnoxious signs you’re adding to the already-too-many “no trespassing” signs up there so we all know just exactly how far away from the center-line our tires can legally sit? Then if we feel you have given away too much, you’ll hear from us in an informed manner. I think this would help forest users and landowners alike. As most of us who’ve been around here awhile know, people buy property without realizing what they’re getting into (the county sure doesn’t give them the news!) and then follows the conflict. Public access is getting more and more constricted and conflicted due to the timidity of public officials (county and federal), the ignorance of landowners and–yes–the abuses of forest users. P.S. Consider this a personal rant at everyone abusing our forest commons. More information, more better, but god this is getting old.