Staging Area Partly Blocked
Posted: June 23, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: LTBMU, staging area, tree Leave a commentOn my way in to clear trees this morning, I discovered the staging area had a HUGE area blocked off. Last week I posted about a guy calling me about a hazard tree. I thought that would have been taken care of by last weekend. Nope.
The main route is closed. You must go through the staging area.
It seems the Forest Service didn’t want to drop the tree while there were trucks and trailers in the parking lot. Now I didn’t drive out via Rubicon, I exited via Blackwood Canyon. I’m hoping the tree was taken care of today but I very much doubt it.
Now there is still green on that tree. So, I’m not sure what the hurry is all about.
So, if you’re headed up for Rubithon, parking might be tight. There is parking up Forest Road 03 or Blackwood Canyon, but you then need to run Forest Road 03-04 over to the Rubicon. Again, lower Hobbit is blocked by a down tree across the trail.
I have emailed the Forest Service to let them know this is unacceptable and I cc’ed the Rubicon Trail Foundation to help with more eyes on the issue. We’ll see who gets what done.
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Rubicon Ronin
Rubicon Meeting Tomorrow!!!
Posted: May 27, 2025 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: meeting, Placer, staging area Leave a commentLet me start by being pissed off about the extremely short notice of this meeting.
I only learned of this ten minutes ago. It appears to be posted to the Rubicon Trail Facebook page two hours ago. Even the Placer County page has it being posted today. The El Dorado County changed the page I referred to in a previous post.
Here is the added paragraph to the El Dorado website:
Planning consultant (NCE) will be hosting a public meeting for this project on May 28, 2025 from 5pm-7pm at the Granlibakken Lodge in Tahoe City to solicit community feedback on the proposed project and to answer any potential questions the public may have.
From the Placer County website:
Popular Rubicon Trailhead in North Lake Tahoe to undergo expansion; community meeting scheduled for May 28
Published May 27, 2025El Dorado County, Placer County and NCE, a local engineering firm, have scheduled a community meeting for Wednesday, May 28, to discuss improvements to the Rubicon Trail staging area in Tahoma.
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. El Dorado County maintains the Loon Lake and Wentworth Springs trailheads, while the Tahoma staging area is within Placer County.
“Currently, when the parking lot is full at the Tahoma staging area, parking will spill along the access road, which can lead to overcrowding and resource damage to the adjacent lands,” NCE Associate Scientist David Rios said. “Overflow parking further encroaches into nearby residential areas when the lot and road are full, so this project is designed to prevent those issues and help us create an experience we can all enjoy.”
The Rubicon Trail Parking Lot Expansion project aims to improve safety, reduce neighborhood impacts and enhance access to this popular destination. The project is slated to include 32 – 34 additional trailer parking spaces at the Tahoma staging area on the Lake Tahoe Basin side of the trail by adding 35,140 square feet of new pavement. Following the expansion, shoulder parking would be prohibited to reduce the spillover.
“These trailhead improvements not only contribute to better recreational access, they help mitigate soil erosion and parking overflow as well,” Placer County’s Tahoe Engineering Manager Seth Warren said. “This trailhead is one of several being improved in the county over the next few years, including the Lower Sawtooth and Ward Creek trailheads.”
The project may also include a natural surface trail, parallel to the roadway, to provide alternative pedestrian access from the nearby Tahoma neighborhood, provided there is enough public interest.
Members of the public can provide their input on the project by:
- Attending the public meeting on May 28, 2025, at Granlibakken Resort (725 Granlibakken Road, Tahoe City). The meeting will take place from 5-7 p.m.
- Click here to take an online survey about the project
- Or call the El Dorado County Parks & Trails Division at (530) 621-5360 and leave your input with staff
The NCE project team will complete technical studies to evaluate the environmental effects of the proposed project and those studies will be made available for public review. A second public meeting will be held to solicit feedback on the project and potential environmental effects at a later date.
I’m going to try and make it, although I had other plans.
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Rubicon Ronin
LTBMU brings in boulders to prevent illegal trailer parking (while the trail was closed)
Posted: September 29, 2022 Filed under: Access, Maintenance | Tags: parking, staging area, trailers Leave a commentIn a previous post, I documented that trailer parking was getting out of hand at and near the Tahoma staging area. I had also informed the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit (LTBMU) about the issue. While the Rubicon Trail was unnecessarily closed due to the Mosquito Fire, the LTBMU went to work.
Tuesday afternoon, right after the trail was reopened, I drove up to the Staging Area to check out that all signs of closure were actually gone. What I found was a lot of new granite:
The area on the north side was left open for overflow use. Sorry, no picture.
A few logs were thrown in to make it look natural.
Some of the rocks are a little on the small side but the users will get the idea.
They even worked the edges of the staging area itself.
We’ll see if it works.
If you trailer your rig to Tahoe, you might want to get there early as there are far fewer parking spots for trailers.
No users were informed that this work would be happening. No input was given other than the work needed to be done. No signage was added to support the rocks. So much for a partnership with the Forest Service.
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Rubicon Ronin
Blackwood Canyon parking options
Posted: June 7, 2021 Filed under: Access, Maintenance, Travel | Tags: closure, paving, reroute, staging area Leave a commentWith the staging area closure June 21-25, access will be through Blackwood Canyon to the north about four miles.
The paved parking at Highway 89 is for the Kaspian Campground right there and day users. FYI, that is also a winter park area, permit required during the winter. Blackwood Canyon is a popular snow mobile area. There is OHV parking further up the canyon.
So, about two miles up the canyon, stay right onto the dirt road (15E38), before you go over Blackwood Creek:
At the Blackwood Canyon Campground, there is limited parking, pit toilets and maybe a dozen campsites that require reservations.
The drive up 15N38 is not difficult but you have to pay attention. At the top, there is more parking. This parking is accessible by driving the paved Forest Road 03 all the way to Barker Pass summit.
16E79 is marked with good signage. In this photo, you’re looking down Forest Road 03, the pit toilets for the Rim/PCT is off to the right at the white vehicle, 16E79 is off to the left. The Rim/PCT is visible to the lower left by the sign.
If you choose to take the really easy way to the Rubicon, stay straight on Forest Road 03. In two miles, look for the freshly downed tree on the left, that will be the sign for the left turn you need to take to get on to Forest Road 03-04. And that runs all the way to the Rubicon. 16E76 The Hobbit Trail, will be a right turn off 03-04 and is easy to miss.
There will be an effort to get sandwich sign boards out on the trails to mark the turns needed to do the reroute.
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Rubicon Ronin
The 'Other' Rubicon 