I heard this through the grapevine last night. Flagstaff Ranger District is getting tired of the protesters camping out.
Flagstaff ranger district announces forest order 04-11-12-r . Camping to be closed within 1 mile of snowbowl road and snowbowl ski lifts until August 29 2013.
I can't find the documentation on the Coconino or ranger district site, though. Does anyone know what's up with this?
P.S. I'm not trying to start another battle about the protestors. Seriously.
chumley wrote:The closure order was signed yesterday. I've attached it here, including the map. You may also find it on the Coconino NF website.
The closure area appears to include all the useable sites in the area of Fremont Saddle (still shown on their map as Doyle Saddle, because a good mistake is worth repeating forever).
And since the whole thing is political theater, I'm 100% certain that if you camp anywhere in the closure area as a hiker/backpacker, or redneck beer-swilling hick wanting to spend a few days in the woods, you'll be left alone. But it gives the FS the legal right to cite/fine/remove protestors.
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
Yeah, no one and I mean NO ONE is going to hike to Fremont saddle to inspect for camping violators. Same goes for the couple of camping spots on the Humphrey Summit Trail. When I was hiking the trail this summer, I always saw tents, sometimes a few tents, at the camping spot at the end of the 6th switchback. I doubt anyone will enforce no camping there, either.
chumley wrote:There has always been restrictions to camping outside of the numbered sites.
That depends on your definition of "always"... I remember in the 70s and 80s we would camp on the peaks anywhere we wanted, as long as it wasn't private land.
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement.
The best Freidlein Prairie sites will likely be taken by noon Friday, but I would expect you to find an empty one before dark, and possibly even Saturday.
Weekends are hit-or-miss, but the camping crowds are less in the fall once school has started. In summer you might need to be up there on Thursday.
There are variables though, such as hunting season, and when the aspens begin to turn, which can affect the number of people camping out over the weekend. One weekend there might be several open sites all weekend, and the next they might all be taken by Friday morning!
If you don't find a spot at Freidlein, I would head out to Hart Prairie where there are numerous dispersed areas available.
I'm not sure what my spirit animal is, but I'm confident it has rabies.
MelissaDonovan wrote:Can anyone tell me whether the Freidlein prairie Rd sites fill up? Going up Friday afternoon.
In my experience, they've only filled up completely on very busy weekends (Labor Day, etc). I believe there's 14 of them, and they go quite a way back. The farther back you go, the rougher the road gets, but I've seen sedans make it pretty far down. Have fun!
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