The Dirt Devil's Help Re-open Deep Creek Trail
By Heather Thomas

            It all started on a morning when most would have liked to sleep in and stay inside away from the blistering heat of the day.  But, that wouldn't do for the Dirt Devils!  The Dirt Devil's rounded up 25 members and friends to come out to the Deep Creek OHV trail in the San Bernardino National Forest. 

3N34 has been closed from Tent Peg campsite to the T-6 crossing since the "Old Fire" ravaged the area in 2003.  The fire left burned out and fallen trees near and on the trail; dead and dangerous vegetation hanging near or over the trail; and from the firefighters efforts to put out the fire, water erosion and rock slides blocked the trail.  We had a huge job to do to get this trail re-opened in the next 24 hours!  

Our plan of attack was to drive the trail, assess the damage and get right to work on whatever we found to be a danger.  The Forest Service gave us a primary goal: Clear the trail to allow the public the safest access through 3N34 as possible.  The Dirt Devils and friends cleared all immediate dangers, such as a dozen or so dead/burned trees within falling range of the trail, a very large rock slide that was almost completely blocking passage, and we counted approximately 900 dead/burned trees which would need to be removed at a later date.

           After more than eight hours on the trail, the Dirt Devils managed to clear such a large amount of the impending dangers that the Forest Service's OHV Mananger, Greg Hoffman, was able to re-open the Deep Creek trail!  Below is an email Greg sent in regards to the Dirt Devil's accomplishment:

"With the help of 25 Dirt Devil's 4X4 club members and a total contributed amount of 371 volunteer hours, we were able to clear off and reopen 3N34 from Tent Peg Group Camp to Deep Creek.  Using chainsaws, we cut and removed well over a dozen fallen trees that were partially or completely blocking the road. Using winches and rock bars we removed one large rock slide and several individual boulders from the road.

This 4x4 club has been maintaining 3N34 for many years and has successfully been able to keep the route open, signs maintained, hazards eliminated and the OHV public on the road. Our next scheduled maintenance day on this road is July 31st (meeting place and time TBA).

We have decided our primary focus in July will be on erosion control. Due to the Old Fire, many tributaries that cross the road are overloaded with sediment (from off site) or cutting the individual side drains. 

So, thanks to the Dirt Devils, the road is clear and the obstacles have been removed."

Greg Hoffman
OHV Manager
OHV Volunteer/Adopt-a-trail Programs