A Peek at the Carnage in Soquel Demonstration State Forest

If you’ve been following along with our trail programs, you know that this month we were supposed to kick off “Demo Days”, a four-week push to reopen and revamp trails throughout the beloved Soquel Demonstration State Forest following winter storms. We were extremely excited to kick off this work and get folks back out on trails they love. But, what’s that saying about best-laid plans…?

In classic fashion, it turns out Mother Nature wasn’t quite done with her deluge. Recent rain, snow(!), and windstorms have pushed the forest into even worse condition than before. When our crew went out to start scoping volunteer tasks for Demo Days events, they were shocked to find a horrible mess of tangled trees, fallen power lines, and unsafe roads.

Due to the severity of the damage, Demo Days events are on hold until we can ensure safe working conditions for our volunteers. We’ll do our best to get these events back on the calendar soon, but need PG&E to address the electrical hazards in the forest before we can host folks out on the trails.

In the meantime, take a peek at the below photo gallery for a peek at the carnage our crew encountered out in the forest.

Power lines had fallen across the road, barely missing the roof of the truck.

Some of the crossings were a little difficult.

A crew of seven SCMTS staff and key volunteers trudged through fallen trees on Hihns Mill Road.

Enormous tangles of branches and trees covered the fire road every 20-40 feet.

The crew estimates that they removed ~32 trees in one day (a new record!), but that the tangles made it extremely challenging to count the fallen trunks.

All in all, it took the crew about five hours to make it to the entrance of the forest. They cleared as much brush as they could, but had to call it a day before they could make it onto the trails. Check out this proud group photo!

The culprit?? Still some snow out there.

We’re grateful to our Demo Days sponsors for supporting our trail stewardship efforts throughout the hardest of times. Big thanks to Silicon Valley Mountain Bikers, Ride Wrap, and mom-and-pop bike shop Trailhead Cyclery for all that they do to take care of SDSF and its trails. While our Demo Days volunteer events are on hold for the time being, please consider supporting these sponsors the next time you need anything bike-related!