Between the recent historical derecho wind storm and numerous construction projects, the trails of the Fraser Valley have been hit hard with closures, but local efforts will allow some favorites to remain open this summer.

Two projects in the Fraser Valley that originally were going to close trails in the Vasquez area and limit access to Devil’s Thumb Trail have been adjusted or delayed, opening the trails back up to use this summer.

“We were successful in getting some reroutes of trails, so like the Vasquez Road closure reroute is on Denver Water that diverts to the north so that you can connect with Sunset Pink,” Meara McQuain, executive director of Headwaters Trails Alliance, said. 

The other project that would’ve closed Forest Service Road 128 and impacted Devil’s Thumb Trail access has been deferred to 2021, McQuain said, so Forest Service Road 128, north of County Road 8, will remain open this season. 

The Jim Creek Trail will be also accessible through the Bon-Fils Stanton Trailhead or from Midland this summer since the development work at Roam will not need to close the area, as previously thought, McQuain added.

On top of those changes, many trails in the Idlewild area were inaccessible this past week due to the June 7 derecho knocking down thousands of trees onto the paths. HTA continues to work to clear those trails, having already removed over 7,000 trees.

“If we are dropping hazard trees adjacent to the trails then we do put a closure in place,” McQuain explained. “For the most part there shouldn’t be any long term closures in the area beyond the middle of next week.”

Since the mitigation work is ongoing, HTA is posting updates about trail work to its Facebook page and under the trail conditions tab on its website so recreators can stay aware.