Trestle Trail

This afternoon I took advantage of a light snow pack in the old logging area of the California Door Company. I've been looking for a weekend where I could survey the Trestle Trail in Eldorado National Forest east of the community of Grizzly Flat.

Very little evidence of the Diamond & Caldor Railway and its parent company, California Door Company, remain in the forest. Trestle Trail is a hiking trail that travels along one of the logging company's main feeder lines north of Caldor.

Here are three photos of our hike:

To access Trestle Trail, take Capps Crossing Road from Grizzly Flat to Forest Road 9N86. Continue east along the road for a half mile. Turn right onto Road 9N86A. An abandoned vehicle about three-tenths of a mile down the road partially blocks the road.

After you drive another half mile (or so -- I didn't clock it), you'll see this sign to the left up on the old railroad grade. Park your car in the wide spot and hike the trail.

Partially buried railroad ties are visible a few hundred feet from the trail head. Please don't disturb the ties.

You can visualize a Shay locomotive pulling a consist of empty skels up the grade toward Camp Webster.

Here's what the Eldorado National Forest website has to say about the trail:

Trestle Trail: Follow the Capps Crossing Road from Grizzly Flat or the North South Road (Forest Route 6) to the dirt road 9N36. Turn south on this road and stay to the right for approximately one-half mile to the trailhead. This pleasant foot trail follows a railroad grade for 1.2 miles to the site of the main bridge (removed) over Steely Fork Creek. The trail is in excellent condition, and passes three collapsed trestles (wooden railroad bridges) on the steep hillside. Return to the trailhead along the same route.

Technorati Tags: Shay locomotive, Diamond & Caldor, Eldorado National Forest, Grizzly Flats, railfan, narrow gauge, Trestle Trail