Wistful waterfalls, rambling rivulets, crowns of conifers, a trail of tales – the
makeup of a new park coming to the Mountain.

The wayside trail is a collaboration between the county and BLM, and the
vision of 25-year Mountain resident Mitch Williams.

“It’s sweet and clean, perfect for a hiking area,” Williams said as he showed
the way through the park-to-be. “This piece had to have a purpose, or it
would be clear-cut.”

The trail system will feature a wayside parking area and an interpretive loop
that will result in a 6 to 8-mile path for hikers and bikers, according to Zach
Jarrett, the outdoor recreational planner for BLM.

“The site plan selected for implementation provides a park design that
maintains a natural feel throughout the park, focusing on day use visitation
only,” Jarrett said. “Appropriate levels of carrying capacity were taken into
consideration to support non-motorized trail and river users, interpretive
activities, and environmental education in a way that seeks a balance between
the developed and natural portions of the site.”

The park – which should be completed this summer if all goes as planned – is
located at river mile 38 along the banks of the Sandy River and the Sandy-
Salmon confluence where the cloudy, glacial waters of the Sandy mix with the
clear waters of the Salmon.

“The location of the site, working in concert with a proposed access point at
the Marmot Dam site and other existing access points downstream, makes it a
good fit for the needs of kayakers, anglers, boaters and other river users,”
Jarrett said.

On a walk-through with Williams, the raw beauty of the area was
breathtaking. A double canopy of native cedar, Douglas fir and hemlock hold
the hiker in their arms. Joe’s Creek cuts back and forth like a watery snake,
fed by tiny streams that spring from nowhere and clever waterfalls that find
their way over narrow ravines cut centuries ago.

The forest floor is sprinkled with a nature’s bouquet of huckleberries, spring
lilies, bleeding heart, trillium, Oregon grape, and to keep the floral array from
becoming sickeningly sweet: skunk cabbage.

Williams has worked for years to bring the park to this point. He has joined
and cajoled county and BLM officials with one goal in mind: preserving the
space. “It’s habitat. It was going to be logged,” he said.

Youth crews from BLM and members of AmeriCorps are assisting in the
project.

There will be 10 parking spaces, a pit toilet, foot bridges and an ADA path
through parts of the trail.

Eventually, the park will act as the primary trailhead for approximately 20
miles of multiple use non-motorized trails that have designed to the west of
Forest Road 14 (Homestead Road), and to the southernmost boundary of the
Little Sandy River Watershed.

But for now it’s the result of dedication and dreaming, from the efforts of
Mitch Williams, who is a person who prefers to stay in the background.
At the wayside park site, he blends in.

by Larry Berteau/MT