Tahoe Side To-Do List
Posted: October 14, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: FOTR, RTF, To-Dos Leave a commentFor more than a decade, I’ve maintained and shared (internally) a Tahoe Side To-Do List. I’m on the Tahoe Side all the time and see things we could be doing on every trip. Over the years, I’ve shared this list with FOTR and RTF. I’ve reached out to local clubs with individual needs. Sometimes I got a good response but most of the time the list went largely ignored.
I had to look it up. I can find Tahoe Side To-Do Lists since 2012. One from 2007.
Publishing this list could be problematic if the anti-OHV crowd got a hold of it and used it to argue to close the trail because it was not being maintained. After sharing the list with a local club one year, they published it and I had to ask them to take it down.
The time has come to go public with the Tahoe Side To-Do List. I’m hoping this sparks both conversation about what needs to be done and how to best work through the issues. The annual FOTR meeting has been lackluster at best. We should at least be discussing this list and prioritizing what gets done first.
First is a downloadable version, and then I tried to copy and paste it. The copy and paste didn’t work. I had to simplify the list posted here on the website, but the download has details about each “To-Do”.
McKinney-Rubicon Springs Road To-Do’s
Entrance at residential
-Signage
-Snow Wall Issue
-Snow stakes
Logs piled on edge of trail
Thin foliage along paved road
ATV Rental Staging/Parking Area
-Logs piled
-Rock pile
Noonchester Mine Road (14N43A)
Potholes in pavement
Move/place rocks to harden edge
Bridge over McKinney Creek
Tahoma Staging Area
-Winter warning signs
-Rounds need to be removed
-Harden north edge of trail along staging area
-No parking signs
-Establish “Staging Area”
Kiosk
Oil Spill depository
Bathrooms
Buck Lake Trail (14N40)
Water Bars (Rolling Dips)
#8 Arizona Crossing
#18 Bad rolling dip
Between #23 and #24
Arizona Crossing near pond
Pond, current outlet
Ellis Trail (03-04-12-05)
Arizona Crossing
Shelf Road, Miller Creek
Potato Patch
Barker Meadow Trail (16E76)
Hummer Bend
-Bypasses
Play Step (actually a bypass)
Bypasses
Helicopter Flat
The Step
Observation Point
Log Water Bar
Upper Hairpin Turn
Lower Water Crossing
Cadillac Hill
Lower Hairpin
Graves
Miller Creek
Mud issues between Miller Creek and the Springs
.
So, there it is. If you’d like to help take on any of these issues, reach out to FOTR. If you think I missed something, reach out to me and to FOTR. We’ll get your thoughts on the list.
The downloadable list needs more detail. I didn’t get all the way to the Springs on that last trip, so not everything has an updated mile marker and GPS location. I will be going to the Springs in a week or so to finish off the list.
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Rubicon Ronin
TNF Trail Work
Posted: October 9, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: bypasses, FOTR, TNF Leave a commentThe most shocking sight today was how low Lily Lake and Miller Meadow were. Miller Lake was fine.
The TNF was out dumping rock in the low spots along Miller Lake. They brough the rock in from Barker Pass. That’s a long slow drive.
I counted 18 spots where rock was dumped.
I’m not going to show you all of them.
But there were a lot of them.
I went out as far as “The Step”. I threw around a few rocks to build up the area below the ledge on the easy route and replaced a log blocking an illegal bypass.
Further back, I once again replaced the logs defining the edge of the trail in the area some call the “S-turn”.
A little further east, I stopped and blocked even more illegal bypasses. I really don’t understand the bypasses.
I understand these small rock markers will not stop a rig from driving off trail, but at least this way the user KNOWS they are driving off trail. The small row of rocks does not show well here. They should be larger rocks but I’m one guy with an aging back.
FOTR needs to schedule a day to work this whole area. Many trees need to be brought into the area to keep users on the trail.
Returning to the Hummer Bend area, I stopped at another illegal bypass and placed a few logs.
These will not be enough to stop the idiots from driving off trail, but it’s a start.
Again, this is a Band-Aid on a compound fracture.
Part of today’s things to do was to start anew Tahoe Side to do list. In the past I’ve kept it within the group of volunteers that regularly step up. This time I might post the whole thing for the world to see how much work needs to be done on the Tahoe Side.
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Rubicon Ronin
FOTR Tahoe Side Workday
Posted: September 28, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: FOTR, maintenance, work party Leave a commentI will start by apologizing for not getting ANY pictures of the work actually done. There were two work sites. One was further in than I drove, so I couldn’t get pictures, but I completely failed to do before and after pictures at the site I worked. Sorry.
The day began very cool leaving really early from Reno. Truckee did not get any warmer! The heater in my Jeep works fine but becomes very inefficient when the doors and back glass are still removed for summer wheeling. The great news is that Highway 89 has been repaved from 80 south past the turn to Squaw Valley.
Once at the staging area, the group gathered for the morning briefing. The Tahoe National Forest brought their Rubicon Jeep.
As I said before, no pictures of the actual work done.
The first project was to remove some very large boulders from the trail that were previously placed by the Tahoe National Forest. The boulders, between Observation and the Upper Hairpin, did not hold in place and had been moved around by the 1000’s of Jeeps that drove up Cadillac Hill. They had become more of an environmental issue because they caused drivers to spin tires in the dirt, causing the famous “poof” dust that will find its way into the water system.
Many boulders were removed to the side of the trail. Some were relocated around well anchored boulders to create a hardened path for the users. We were told that the Spider excavator that did the original work will be back to rebuild the rock section, in 4-5 years.
The second project was to drop a tree across an illegal bypass that users found through an area that the Tahoe National Forest had worked. Somehow, the users saw the worked area as a place to cut a corner. FOTR went in and stopped that behavior.
Post work party, Paul cooked up a wonderful chili for the crew. There were all the regular toppings and corn bread with or without Jalapeños. Drinks and small dessert snacks were also provided. The Rubicon Trail Foundation funded all of the food and drinks.
I did not do a head count, but Shannon got all the names, as signatures, for matching funds for the grants that pay for most of the trail work. Maybe 20 people, including the cook crew and management. It was the right size for the work that day.
The work crew was hungry after a long day working the trail.
Some of the best news of the day, the handles on the bathrooms were replaced with ones that actually work! We had been asking for repairs for YEARS but it never happened. Before this project, FOTR asked for replacements or parts or whatever was need, so FOTR could do the work and fix the issue. The Forest Service never got back to anyone, but when we showed up, the handles had been replaced. Thanks you Forest Service.
There is more to do on the Tahoe side but I don’t know if anything will be planned before the snow flies.
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Rubicon Ronin
Trail Clearing, Lost Keys
Posted: May 18, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: drainages, FOTR, keys, trees Leave a commentYesterday, FOTR worked the Rubicon Trail from the residential area to the new (yet to be constructed) intersection of 16E75 (The Rubicon) and 03-04.
There were maybe a dozen volunteers, from a few different clubs. Paul even cooked burgers for us at the end of the day! The hot burgers were awesome as the temperatures dropped and a few snowflakes started to fall.
Two of us retreated from the staging area to the beginning of the trail to clear some logs from the edge of the trail to make sure there is room for wide trailers.
Yes, it could use a good stiff broom but the cyclists can come in behind us and sweep.
Not pictured is the large and growing pothole just before the bridge over McKinney Creek. We’ll let the Basin know they need to address that one.
I didn’t get too many pictures on the trail but here we had just winched that large mass of downed tree to the side of the trail behind the Jeep. Others worked to clear the drains along the trail. This was just one of many drainages cleared.
This is as far in as we went. It’s just past where the new intersection of 16E75 and 03-04 will be. We got a report that there are many more trees down further up 03-04.
I will be back out on Wednesday with the TNF to clear 16E76, 16E79 and 03-04, given time. I’ll post up with a report as soon as I get home on Wednesday.
At the end of the day, a Jeep pulled into the staging area and left FOTR a set of keys that were found between “The Step” and “Hummer Bend”. Send me a comment if you know who they belong to and I’ll work to get them to the owner.
Great day on the trail. Positive attitudes. Capable rigs. Motivated people.
That’s how a volunteer day is supposed to work.
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Rubicon Ronin
Rubicon Re-Route Issues
Posted: March 19, 2026 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: FOTR, reroute, RTF Leave a commentThe Rubicon trail Foundation (RTF) just put out a pretty good video answering a lot of questions about the Rubicon Trail reroute. I was very happy about the video…until the last two minutes.
Let me start by challenging the title of the post, something about rerouting the last 7/10ths of the Rubicon Trail. From the Tahoma staging area, you’ll need to drive about five or six miles to get to the “reroute”. With the entire trail running about 22-miles, I’m thinking that reroute is more in the middle of the trail. Remember, FOTR, the R stands for Rubicon, was established to fix and keep open the section of trail within the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU). That’s from the residential area to just before Miller Lake: the old car wash, staging area, 28-rolling dips, etc. You’ll need to drive another two or three miles to get to the reroute. It’s not at the “end” of the trail.
Construction is scheduled to begin around mid-August and be completed around mid-September. There’s a lot of information about how RTF got involved, who’s doing the work and how that contractor was picked. I’m good with all of that and RTF made it very clear and transparent about what’s going on. Well worth watching.
The kicker came right after the great news that the Forest Service (FS) will not be formally abandoning the original route. The formal abandonment is a long, costly, legal nightmare that could get the FS sued. So, yea, not abandoning. But the plan is to block both ends of the original that is being bypassed. I took that as eliminating any future use of the original route, even though it is not formally closed. Not cool.
Here’s a question, will the original route still be printed on the Tahoe National Forest’s Motor Vehicle Use Map?
If it is, I’m driving it. If it’s not, maybe we should go after the TNF for denying us of the use of our public lands, without due process.
Link to RTF Facebook page with the latest video
The Friends of the Rubicon (FOTR) annual meeting is this Saturday. It might be very eventful. Join me…
10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at:
American Legion Post 119
4561 Greenstone Rd
Placerville, CA 95667
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Doug Barr
