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Ellicott’s Trail
MAP
28 miles from G.T.)
moderate/steep 4 miles R.T.
FS 13E13 Robbs Peak Quad sec 26 connects Uncle Toms
to Ellicott bridge
This old trail used to be the only way to Ellicott’s ranch (1890’s) from
Uncle Tom’s cabin. The upper section was abandoned because it crosses
SPI land and a detour was built to connect it to FS 13N91. That detour
is mostly used by OHV and few hikers use the old trail anyway as it has
been superseded by Eleven Pine Road 11N08. The trail comes down about ¼
mile before the bridge where it can be seen alongside the road. It also
had a side trail to Slide Point trail. Trail needs clearing of down
trees but they are dissuading OHV use in the mean time.
This trail was the easiest way for early travelers to get to Ellicott’s
Ranch from Uncle Tom’s cabin, until 1964 when Ellicott’s bridge was
built for Eleven Pines Road to cross the Rubicon River. If you look
upstream from the bridge you can see remnants of the old crossing where
the trail used a low-level bridge that frequently washed away from
seasonal high water.
Ellicott’s ranch was a way station
operating in the 1890’s. I still find it difficult to imagine people
living year-round at its remote location.
Directions:
This one is easy to reference from the
bridge. Go to the approach side from Georgetown and turn Right, just
before the bridge, into a large parking lot sized area. Park somewhere
close and look for a trail that heads uphill from the area marked with a
plastic sign.
The trail
heads up briefly before swinging to the right and paralleling the road
coming down to the bridge. It slowly leaves the road and climbs steeper,
working its way up out of the canyon. About one half mile from the T.H
the trail intersects the abandoned Slide Point Trail on the
right; stay left and continue uphill. The trail sneaks through some
old-growth trees until you reach a junction just below a clear cut. The
weird deal here is that the original, long used, and practical trail
continued up along the drainage and met the Wentworth Springs Road about
a half mile on. In 1985 this was
one of the most beautiful old trails around—anywhere. It climbed through
an ancient forest with spring flowers galore and morel mushrooms along
the waysides. Then it suffered a logging operation that was, well,
shameful. To add insult to injury the U.S.F.S. built the “new” detour
trail that no one uses, that goes south from here until it intercepts
spur road (13N31). Ho Hum.
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