Needles closure information with map

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Peter

Trad climber

San Francisco

May 22, 2012 - 11:32pm PT

Looking for a little clarification on access to the Needles this Memorial Day weekend...

Peter

Trad climber

San Francisco

May 23, 2012 - 01:30pm PT

I'm hoping to climb the Needles this weekend and will be driving down from San Francisco. I'm having no luck getting a definitive answer from the Forest Service about when the gate might be open, or even if it is already open. Does anyone know for sure if the gate is open and if not when it will be open?

If the gate is not open is it possible to bike the road to the trailhead and hike in? Is the trail open around the Magician?

Fat Dad

Trad climber

Los Angeles, CA

May 23, 2012 - 02:29pm PT

Assuming there's no closure around Magician, it's totally possible to bike in on the road and even ride most of the trail in. It's a pretty gradual climb but if you don't bike much you might be kind of tired by the time you start hiking, which is still a pretty involved hike. If you're a decent biker the ride in won't be bad depending on how heavy your pack is. Still, great time of year for Voodoo or Dome Rock.

Peter

Trad climber

San Francisco

May 23, 2012 - 02:35pm PT

Thanks for the reply and to Kris for the very useful updates.

G_Gnome

Trad climber

Pebble Wrestling.... Badly lately.

May 23, 2012 - 04:04pm PT

Weather at Dome will be 60ish all weekend. Perfect temps to get slabbed out!

kev

climber

A pile of dirt.

May 23, 2012 - 04:43pm PT

From last Friday until the cleanup is finished all routes on Magician are closed.

Posted on may 16th in this thread.

Peter

Trad climber

San Francisco

May 23, 2012 - 07:34pm PT

I know that the routes on the magician are closed. However, my conclusion after a long talk with the Springfield ranger station this morning was that the trail past the magician is open.

Ksolem

Trad climber

Monrovia, California

Topic Author's Reply - May 23, 2012 - 07:35pm PT

I just heard from Linn Gassaway up there at GSNF. She does not have a specific opening date for Needles Road 21SO5 but says they are trying to have "all the roads open by the holiday."

You will see signs which prohibit:

"Going into or being upon the Needles Lookout closure area, which includes the Needles Lookout, The spire known as The Magician, and a 100 foot buffer around the base of the spire."

The good news is that the District Ranger is okay with my recommendation allowing use of the climbers trail around the north side of Magician to access the rest of the formations, all of which are open to climbing.

So please do not climb anything on Magician, rather enjoy the many great routes on everything else for now.

The access trail will be closed during the short 3 to 5 days when a hazmat crew is working at the lookout site. I will post the exact dates when they are set, but figure weekdays in late June. Having seen the amount of junk precariously perched up on the site I completely understand the safety concerns while work is being done. Linn tells me they are bringing in a large professional outfit accustomed to this kind of work, for whom this is a small job, and it will require 3 to 5 days to complete.

When the work is done all closures will be lifted.

Linn has done a great job for us by hiking out and examining the trail with me to ascertain that it does not need to be closed, except during the short time workers are actually on the summit, and getting the District Rangers OK on this recommendation. Basically they are being flexible in the interpretation of the 100 foot buffer in the closure notice, which was written by lawyers in DC.

I'll post more when I get it...

edit... If you're planning to go up this weekend you can try calling

Tule River Ranger District
Springville, CA
(559)-539-2607

about the status of the road (21sO5.)