# What happened to FR501 and FR110 south of Strawberry?



## Lone_Hunter (Oct 25, 2017)

Decided to hit the local mountains with the family for fathers day, and discovered a couple of..ehh.. road closures?

Forest road 501: (AKA Indian springs road)
https://goo.gl/maps/9C93twc1Awwm7am2A

Forest road 110:
https://goo.gl/maps/nnLcPcZQ5ecdtU7h6

Originally, I had planned to start out on Indian springs road, and loop around to FR 110 and come out near strawberry. Never traveled the entire road/trail before, but figured now would be a great time to check it out. I've camped off indian springs road a couple of elk seasons ago, so I was somewhat familiar with that area. Went out there yesterday and found myself impressed at what appears to be a very though job of trail removal. It was GONE, as far as I could glass, and they graded/filled in the trail to match the topography of the area. If the vegetation had filled in today, you'd never know it was ever there. It was like they took a giant eraser to it. There wasn't even equipment track marks left behind. Total erasure.

Not to be outdone, I drove up to strawberry and figured i'd try the loop from the other side, and found the same thing - one very good grading/fill in. I have to wonder if the entire trail is gone, or just the parts you can see from the main roads. I'm half tempted to day hike, or overnight backpack it to find out for grins and giggles.

Mind you, I'm not complaining. I love roadless areas. It put the kibosh on yesterdays trip, but I can see it being better habitat in the future as a result.


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## mlob1one (Aug 29, 2014)

Are you going to day hike it then? I'd like to know if the whole way back is the same.

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## Lone_Hunter (Oct 25, 2017)

mlob1one said:


> Are you going to day hike it then? I'd like to know if the whole way back is the same.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk


If i do, it won't be for a couple weeks. I should have taken some pictures, was in a hurry cause we left late.

Anyone know what happened there? Or maybe I should say, anyone know Why and when? I'm guessing they didn't do it that long ago. At any rate, surprised the heck out of me.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

You need to call the Forest Service office if you want to find out.


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## Lone_Hunter (Oct 25, 2017)

As usual, the most obvious answer escapes me. :roll:


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## Lone_Hunter (Oct 25, 2017)

Took me a little walk, and a little drive this morning. Basically, what it looks like is the forest service removed one road, and added another. 



If you look at my OnX screenshot, the purple track is what I walked this morning, and it represents the road they removed. The cyan track, is what I drove in the truck. It's an entirely new road, and you probably won't see it on any of your maps yet. It connect the area that was left inaccessable when they removed the one road. The X waypoint, is where the road destruction ended. The truck waypoint is where the road destruction began. The camp icon is leftover from a couple years ago. 



I didn't bother investigating the road that was closer to strawberry.


Aside from that, some deer are going along the creek, and Yogi was there at some point, but that was about all that was really interesting.


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## backcountry (May 19, 2016)

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...FjAAegQIBhAC&usg=AOvVaw1MQ0m5QTjoHVlrElJ7hEhV

Many of these USFS roads are older than the birth of modern ecology. Across the West the USFS is doing it's best to remove roads that have noticeable impact on fisheries, especially ones with endemic species. Impressed they got through the entire approval process as it can be tough in many states. Removal with relocation probably explains the success.


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## taxidermist (Sep 11, 2007)

Nice BoBo track! 

They were in the process of closing the Indian Creek road off last year during the archery hunt. Indian and Squaw roads/trails have been in existence since the 60's. 

The new road that replaces Indian is one slick sucker when its wet!!


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## TPrawitt91 (Sep 1, 2015)

I was hunting up there last fall they moved the road just north of the old road. They had the equipment up there making the new road last August. I had heard the old road was being closed when the other opened.


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

taxidermist said:


> Nice BoBo track!
> 
> They were in the process of closing the Indian Creek road off last year during the archery hunt. Indian and Squaw roads/trails have been in existence since the 60's.
> 
> The new road that replaces Indian is one slick sucker when its wet!!


Every unpaved road up there is slick when wet

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