Tahoma Parking Issues
Posted: June 30, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: access, illegal, parking, ticket Leave a commentRubithon was held last weekend. I happened to visit the staging area that Friday for another OHV project I’m working on, and I witnessed some very improper parking. Let’s call it what it was, ILLEGAL!
Parking off pavement may or may not be legal, depending on how it is done. I believe you can pull over enough to get off the pavement as long as you are not on any vegetation. We’re talking pulling off the trail one vehicle width; only enough to get off the trail. Don’t quote me on this as I’m not a law enforcement officer.
The parking in these pictures (and I could have taken more pictures) are all illegal. It is either a straightforward illegal parking ticket or a much more expensive resource damage ticket. Again, not a LEO.
We as OHV users need to do better. Images like this will be used by the anti-OHV crowd to put us in a bad light and get our trails and staging areas shut down. Yes, they might pull these images off and use them against us. For the record, I am not giving anyone permission to use these images, for any reason.
There was/is an effort underway to enlarge the parking at the Tahoma Rubicon staging area. That project is on hold as the Lake Taheo Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) has had people retire and others move to other forests. There is a lack of personnel and thus some projects have slowed to a stop.
A small parking lot is no reason to park illegally. If you can’t find room at the staging area, drive back out to the residential area and park along the street.
There has been a trend over the last 20+ years to trailer rigs to the trail. Back in the day, everyone drove to the trail. And then drove home! I get not wanting to drive a trail rig a couple of hundred miles, but those living closer should drive. There has been a trend of bringing non-street legal rigs to the trail. And I’m not talking just side-by-sides, but they are growing in number as well.
Everyone comes to the Rubicon Trail for a challenge. Why not take on the challenge of building a rig that can be driven 100+ miles, do the trail without breaking, and then be driven home? Where’s the challenge of building a buggy with an LS, one-ton axles and 42″ tires?
The parking area was paved a number of years ago. At the time, the FS agreed not to stripe the parking area and to allow the users to park as they wished. For the most part, it has worked. Occasionally, someone parks weird and messes up the flow for everyone else.
I believe that the outer ring of the staging area should be a no parking zone. It should be left open as a guaranteed through route for those looking to park and for emergency vehicles. The area directly in front of the kiosk could be a staging area for rigs coming off or entering the trail. Drivers must remain with their vehicles, if parked there.
We can do better. We must do better. Don’t be that guy. Don’t let your buddy be that guy.
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Rubicon Ronin
Traffic, Gates, Camping, Parking, Fires…
Posted: June 9, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: access, gate, gates Leave a commentI left my house at 6:45 this morning. My laptop told me I had a one hour and eleven-minute drive to the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) offices in South Lake Tahoe. The plan was to walk in as they opened their doors at 8am.
I walked into the headquarters at 9:45. At one point, the entire road was red with traffic on my phone. Yes, I had to drive through that entire traffic jam.
There was more than a one and a half hour delay due to construction, once into the Tahoe basin.
The LTBMU is in disarray. People have left; retired or moved to other forests. Some positions have been filled but they do not have the experience, at the position or on the LTBMU. Misinformation is being communicated within the LTBMU. The phones have been out for five weeks. But, I finally found someone who could help.
Progress was made as the latest employee responsible for opening seasonal gates guaranteed me the gate on 15N38 would be open by the end of the week. She even said she would drive up the west side of the lake today and open the gate. Cautiously waiting on her email.
My plan is to be out tomorrow morning to make sure the Middle Fork Trail is safe and clear. It sounds like some clearing has been done already by one of the Fire Prevention people.
The camping at Kaspian at the lake on Forest Road 03 and the Blackwood campground are now being managed by Vista Recreation. Part of the agreement includes charging for parking for “day use” at the SnoPark lot during the summer. I’m hoping we can stop and use the restrooms without being charged.
There have been numerous lightning strikes over the last few days but the only fires in the basin was a single tree above the Kings Beach area.
We’re close. We’re very, very close to getting our OHV trails open. Please be patient, stay on the trails. “Turn Around, Don’t Turn Around”.
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Rubicon Ronin
Side Trail Conditions…
Posted: June 2, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: access, snow Leave a commentI was asked about side trails: Buck Lake, Richardson Lake (Sourdough Hill), Ellis, etc. I have not personally been out on those yet.
The people I referred to in the last post about locals getting out in the side-by-sides and clearing trees said they had been on and had “cleared” all of the side trails. Sourdough will have one or two sections with nasty side hills. They said Buck does have a very side hill section before the rocky climb just above the lake. Ellis always has snow later in the season.
Some of the “clearing” they had done was before the last big snow melt. That melt exposed tress we cleared out yesterday. Who knows what’s out there. This time of year you should carry a saw , of some kind, and be prepared to winch trees out of the way.
“Turn Around, Don’t Go Around!”
They were in a well-built set of side-by-sides. I would expect that a street legal rig would have a much more difficult time traversing the snow, especially a side hill snow drift.
The snow will melt very fast. Two weeks will make a HUGE difference.
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Rubicon Ronin
There’s Still Snow!
Posted: June 1, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: access, gates, snow, trees Leave a commentThe plan was to go in through Blackwood Canyon and up the Middle Fork Trail (15N38) and clear trees to the summit. If we had time, we were going to head down the Red Cabin Trail (upper hobbit/Barker Meadow OHV Trail, 16E79) and then down the actual Hobbit Trail (16E76).
Well, the gate at the bottom of Forest Service Road 03 was still locked. Long story for later. So, we headed over to the Rubicon to go around the back way.
When we got to the intersection of the Rubicon and Forest Road 03-04, we took 03-04 toward Barker Pass. It wasn’t too long before we found trees that needed attention. This is actually the third tree we removed. The first was on the Rubicon and people had stacked rocks to get over it!
Some were so rotten, we just pulled them to the side. So many times I forgot to get out the camera.
This one took some rigging for the winch to be able to pull it to the side.
As we got around the north side of Ellis Peak, the snow became deeper. The snow wheeling was actually pretty fun. The snow kept traction as long as you were going stupid slow.
We made it past Bear Lake but the northern aspect protected the snow and it was becoming quite a side hill.
Here is the guy in front of me dropping down the last hill we went down.
We finally came to a downhill section we decided we didn’t want to crawl back up. We turned around and headed home. The side hill was pretty steep right here but it doesn’t show.
We never made it over to any of the three trails we were trying to get to. I will be looking into the situation with the locked gates.
On the way out, We stopped at the Rubicon intersection and met two side-by-sides going out 03-04. They were locals who had been clearing trees on a bunch of side trails for the last three weeks! Awesome.
I need to thank Stan and John for hanging out today. Always safer with others. Maybe we’ll get out next week and clear more trails.
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Rubicon Ronin
Rubicon Survey About Planned Parking Expansion
Posted: May 15, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: access, edc, parking Leave a commentI just got an email from El Dorado County (EDC) about a planned parking area expansion on the Tahoe side. Going to their website, you can get the same info. From the EDC website:
Take this Rubicon Trail Survey to let us know what you think about the proposed Rubicon Trail Parking Lot Expansion Project at the Tahoma staging area in the Tahoe Basin. The deadline for the survey is Friday, June 13, 2025, and will take less than 5 minutes to complete. Click here to learn more about the Rubicon Trail Parking Lot Expansion Project.(PDF, 173KB)
Here is the project description from NCE from the “learn more” link. NCE is an engineering firm with seven offices including Reno and Lake Tahoe.
Title: Rubicon Trail Parking Lot Expansion Project
Preliminary Project Description:
The Rubicon Trail is a highly valued off-highway vehicle recreational trail that passes through both El Dorado and Placer counties. It is located on land managed by El Dorado National Forest, Tahoe National Forest, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, and includes private properties. El Dorado County has easements from the El Dorado National Forest and private property owners; however, no easements exist for the portion of the project in Placer County.
The Rubicon Trail has three major trailheads or access points. El Dorado County maintains the Loon Lake and Wentworth Springs trailheads. The Tahoma staging area, or access point, is within Placer County. Currently, when the parking lot is full at the Tahoma staging area, vehicle parking will occur along the road shoulder, which can lead to overcrowding and resource damage to the adjacent lands. Overflow parking further encroaches into nearby residential areas when the lot and road are full.
To address this issue, the Rubicon Trail Parking Lot Expansion Project would provide expanded parking at the Tahoma staging area on the Tahoe basin side of the trail. Disturbance would occur on approximately 0.91 acres and include 35,140 square feet of new paving. This will provide an additional 32-34 trailer parking spaces. There is also a desire to decommission and restore the existing small staging area along Rubicon Trail (1.25 miles northeast of the parking lot expansion area). Shoulder areas would be closed to parking. Additionally, the project team would like public input on the community’s interest in and/or concerns about a natural surface trail, parallel to the roadway, to provide alternative pedestrian access from the neighborhood to the Tahoma staging area.
The project team will complete technical studies to evaluate the environmental effects of the proposed project. The technical studies will be made available for public review, and a public meeting will be held to solicit feedback on the project and potential environmental effects prior to completion of required environmental documentation.
I’m assuming that the expansion would be behind the current kiosk, further up the trail. But again, I am only guessing as no map has been distributed yet.
The other portion of this proposal is to eliminate the lower dirt parking area once used by the ATV rental company. At the moment, I am opposed to eliminating this area. Once gone, it will never come back. A much further and deeper conversation needs to take place before I let that area go. Those visitors wanting to walk dogs or skate the paved section use this section without having to drive all the way to the staging area. It would also allow an option to parking in the residential area.
The last item is the construction of a natural surface trail parallel to the current paved section of McKinney Rubicon Springs Road. This is something I have suggested before. It would (should) eliminate any conflict between motorized and non-motorized users of the area. Think of it like a sidewalk on any road in the country. Hopefully, it would be designed, constructed and maintained for year-round use.
Here is a copy of the actual survey:
The Rubicon Trail is a highly valued off-highway vehicle recreational trail that passes through both El Dorado and Placer counties. It is located on land managed by El Dorado National Forest, Tahoe National Forest, Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, and includes private properties.
The Rubicon Trail has three major trailheads or access points. El Dorado County maintains the Loon Lake and Wentworth Springs trailheads. The Tahoma staging, or access point, is within Placer County. Currently when the parking lot is full at the Tahoma staging area, vehicle parking will occur along the access road shoulder, which can lead to overcrowding and resource damage to the adjacent lands. Overflow parking further encroaches into nearby residential areas when the lot and road are full. To address this issue, the Rubicon Trail Parking Lot Expansion Project would provide expanded parking at the Tahoma staging area on the Tahoe Basin side of the trail.
Please answer the following survey questions to help us understand what thoughts you may have, if any, about this proposed project:
Which option below best describes your living status:
Full-time Tahoe Basin resident, Part-time Tahoe Basin resident, Visitor, Other
Do you live within 3 miles of the Tahoe staging area?
Yes, No
How frequently do you visit the Rubicon Trail?
Weekly, Monthly, A few times per summer, Annually, Other
What season do you visit the Rubicon Trail?
Summer, Winter, Fall, Spring
What means of travel have you used to access the Rubicon Trail?
Off-highway-vehicle, Walking, running, or hiking, Biking, Other
Is a natural surface trail, parallel to the roadway, to provide alternative pedestrian access from the neighborhood to the parking area, an improvement you would like to include in the project?
Yes, No
Do you have any concerns about the project? Please select the option that best fits:
Emergency Access/Response, Private Property Concerns, Environmental, Other
Please provide any additional comments to expand on the previous question
(1000 words or less)
The survey takes no time at all. I’m questioning the local aspect. Does it matter where you live or for how long you’re there?
I took the survey and here’s why, if you don’t voice your opinion when it matters, you should complain later if it doesn’t go your way.
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Rubicon Ronin
The 'Other' Rubicon 