Thumbs up or thumbs down?
The Thumb
By Gretchen Ammerman
Oregon Coast TODAY
You might hike a nature trail for fitness, to give your canine companion new places to sniff or to get that perfect, Instagram-worthy shot. And you might not even think about what it takes to keep those places accessible and maintained. But there are people who do, and if you are one of the thousands who use the trails in the Cascade Head area, located between Neskowin and Lincoln City, they are asking for your input.
“We are balancing the desire of the love to go to pretty places with protecting those places,” said Dan Miller, who is representing the National Park Service for the Cascade Head access and trails collaboration. “The goal is weaving recreation together with the needs of the natural environment to make sure our natural areas aren’t getting loved to death.”
The process of collecting comments from adjacent landowners and local residents has been going on since last year and, in an effort to broaden the net, the deadline to contribute has been extended until Thursday, Sept. 30.
“We have received over 200 responses so far,” Miller said “We really wanted input from the landowners in the area and we’ve had online discussions with them, so we have a pretty good idea of what they are excited about, but we’d like more comments from the recreational users.”
One of the primary suggestions planners have received — and already made some headway on — is increasing the number of places where people can access the area’s trails, thereby relieving some of the pressure on existing sites.
“Spreading folks out is always going to be a good thing,” Miller said. “We are looking at providing different access points and building or improving parking to help with the current congestion issues.”
One potential change is no longer keeping the access gate to Forest Road 1861 at Highway 101 closed between January and July. This seasonal closure was originally put in place to stop the poaching of eggs of a threatened raptor species. However, due to increased trail use, the poaching has ceased.
“The landowners near Knight’s Park and the fishermen who use the parking area there are excited about the 1861 trailhead,” Miller said, “because it will relieve the congestion that happens there half the year by people hiking to The Thumb.”
Another proposal is officially designating the name of the popular lookout spot:
“People who have lived here for years always knew it as ‘The Thumb, and that is what is on most documents,” Miller said. “But a journalist called it ‘God's Thumb’ in an article and it kind of took off. The public land managers we’ve spoken to want to have one name that is consistent throughout and most prefer to go with the original one.”
Other recommendations include new trail sections and other potential parking places. For the full list and to take a trail survey and contribute your comments before the comment period closes, go to CascadeHeadTrails.org.