Desoto Scout Trail WORK DAY Saturday July 9 2011

[CanyonCrawler]

First I want to say that I am a new member and I can't believe that I have not found this site sooner!  I have been going through the posts and such and it is a great resource. Thanks!

All information on this work day and other events will be on our facebook page:
 DeSoto Scout Trail Project

8:00AM Saturday July 9 2011 meet at Little River Canyon Center for a brief orientation. NPS will provide limited transportation so carpooling may be necessary . A vehicle with ground clearance is needed to get to the trail head but 4wd is not needed. Tools, water, snacks, PPE and more will be Provided. Bring suitable clothes, boots, a water bottle and a lunch. 3 riverside campsites are available at LRCNP.  Much more info on the facebook page.

Little River Canyon National Preserve has recently been awarded a 25k grant from the National Park Foundation to restore and revitalize an 8 mile section of the DeSoto Scout Trail.
If you have never heard of it before, it is a very scenic 16 or so mile trail that has been around since the 60's and most of it follows the West Fork of Little River.  It stats at Comer Scout Reservation, goes through DeSoto State Park, and into Little River Canyon National Preserve. It was covered with debris from some of the tropical storms that blew through here in the past, so only sections were used and a lot of the trail was diverted upland.

The grant is mostly for building bridges, the most notable is a 40 ft bridge over Straight Creek.  There will also be road signs  pointing to the trailhead and many other signs. It will establish a canoe trailhead on Backcountry Road 5 for the 7 mile Class I-II run to Highway 35. The rest of the money will go to educational materials a tool cache for the trail, Protective equipment, snacks, cameras etc.

The project relies heavily on Volunteers to get most of the work done and we could really use the help.

The KICKER is:  After this 8 mile section is completed, it will be added to Little River Canyon National Preserve's trail inventory and it can apply for cyclic maintenance funds.. This also may allow the rest of the southern end of the trail (which is presently on a dirt road) to be repaired in the future.

I am super excited about this and i hope that it will bring many more trail opportunities at Little River.

Thanks a lot for reading this if you made it this far.

[Firedog]

We hiked the Desoto Scout Trail in the 70's when going on outpost camp while at Comer. The last time I was there was in the summer of 76. I remember it as a beautiful hike. It is exciting to know it will be protected. 5 of the most memorable summers of my life we spent at Comer Scout Reservation. I only wish it could be preserved as well.

[squidbilly]

We hiked the Desoto Scout Trail in the 70's when going on outpost camp while at Comer. The last time I was there was in the summer of 76. I remember it as a beautiful hike. It is exciting to know it will be protected. 5 of the most memorable summers of my life we spent at Comer Scout Reservation. I only wish it could be preserved as well.

Hey Firedog, this sounds like a worthy project. Are you going to be there?

[Firedog]

Had to work yesterday. I've been offline a few days and haven't check stuff. I will keep up with this project though.

[squidbilly]

I had planned on participating, but the work schedule got changed at the last minute. The good news is- I got the next two weekends off!

[Roscoe]

Wild South work day this Sat.

[squidbilly]

Wild South work day this Sat.

I'll be there.

[squidbilly]

Just to remind everyone: there is another DeSoto Scout Trail work day this Saturday. Volunteers should meet at the lodge parking lot at DeSoto State Park at 0800. Details at the link above in the first post.