The Ochoco National Forest trails proposal is the first project Ochoco Trails collaborated on. This proposal was submitted to the Forest Service in the winter/spring of 2019 after nearly three years of collaboration between our member groups and community input. In 2021 the Ochoco National Forest began NEPA work on the Lemon Gulch portion of the trails proposal. On November 17, 2022 they published the environmental assessment and opened the project for a second comment period. We encourage anyone with an interest in this project to review the documents and submit a comment to the Forest Service before December 19th, 2022.

More information on Lemon Gulch, including links to the USFS project pages can be found here: Lemon Gulch Project Page

This proposal is for a non-motorized trails network which includes a variety of trail types, including bike/hiker, horse/hiker, and multi-use. Most of the trails are located near Prineville, with some on the Lookout Mountain Ranger District and some on the Paulina Ranger District. The planned trails are clustered to minimize impacts on wildlife habitat, and avoid riparian areas to the extent possible to protect these natural resources. 

A Conceptual Framework

The trails proposal reflects the approximate locations or corridors within which Ochoco Trails members would like to see trails located. The trails in the proposal have not, for the most part, been GPS’d or ground-truthed. We understand that the locations of trails are likely to be modified, in some cases significantly, by the ground conditions identified by Forest Service biologists, archaeologists, and other resource experts as they conduct their environmental analyses.