Forest Service opens parking areas in Huntington Canyon
The Manti-La Sal National Forest is opening two additional areas in Huntington Canyon for day-use parking. Nuck Woodward Trailhead and the mouth of Engineer Canyon will be opened to give people access to open trails in the burned area. The parking areas at Stuart Guard Station and McElprang Canyon will remain open.
Day-use means one-half hour before sunrise until one-half hour after sunset.
The agency warns that parking outside the signed, designated areas is illegal and could be dangerous. “Visitors to the burned area must obey all signs and closures, should stay out of drainage bottoms and locate camps away from burned trees and potential flood areas,” warned Darren Olsen, Ferron-Price District Ranger.
Most trails in the burned area are open. However, certain trails have been severely damaged, present a danger to the public, and remain closed. They are:
Bob Wright (FS Trail 378), Huntington Pipeline (FS Trail 958) Old Folks Flat to Stuart Guard Station (FS Trail 395) Pole Canyon (FS Trail 073) Second Water Canyon (FS Trail 407) The last 0.25 mile of Castle Valley Ridge (FS Trail 068), east of Nuck Woodward Road. The Left Fork of Huntington National Recreation Trail (FS Trail 130) and the Corner Canyon Trail (FS Trail 400) will be open to foot travel only.
In the interest of public safety, all overnight camping in Huntington Canyon along Utah Highway 31 in the burn area will remain closed.
People venturing into the burned area should check weather forecasts, assess the current weather on the forest and let someone know where they are going. The burned area is subject to flash flooding and debris flows, unstable and falling dead trees, loose rocks and logs, and burned out stump holes.
All motorized travel is restricted to official routes as shown on the 2013 Motor Vehicle Use Map for the Ferron-Price and Sanpete Districts. The maps are free and can be obtained at Forest Service offices in Ferron, Price and Ephraim. They can be viewed online at http://1.usa.gov/14EsD8N.
A new visitor use map for the Ferron-Price and Sanpete District has been released and can be purchased at Forest Service offices.
The Manti-La Sal National Forest manages watersheds for people living in eight southeastern Utah counties and two western Colorado counties; it cares for 1.4 million acres of wildlife habitat, fisheries in 1,600 miles of perennial streams and 8,100 acres of lakes and reservoirs; it maintains 2,940 miles of road, 430 miles of trails, provides 550 developed campsites and is the source of 85 percent of the coal mined in Utah.
Forest Service opens areas for parking in Huntington Canyon
"Darren Olsen walks through the recently improved parking area at the trail head at Nuck Woodward Canyon. Day use is being allowed in the burn area. "