Private property owner blocks access to Gila National Forest in Kingston

Kingston Main Street turns into Forest Road 40E approximately 1 mile west of the end of the paving. The Forest Road takes you to the Ladrone Gulch Trailhead where there is a parking area. This is on Gila National Forest land. There was an old (100 year old) mining road in this exact location. For as long as Kingston has been here, people have passed along this route regularly and unimpeded in cars, trucks, on horseback, and on foot.   

Below are pictures of an area no longer accessible to the public.

debris-filled Middle Percha Creek
Flash flood debris deposit on Middle Percha Creek close to the Ladrone trailhead in August 2013 following the Silver Fire. Note the double trunk alligator juniper at the edge of the creek and, in the background, live and burned trees.
same creek after debris cleared by flash flood
Same place in September 2013. 10 feet of the debris has been washed out by another flash flood. The base of the tree is now high above the creek.

                     

April 2022 beyond 6th crossing
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Véronique De Jaegher
Véronique De Jaegher

Born and raised in Brussels, Belgium, I lived 20 years in the San Francisco Bay Area and have been living in Sierra County, NM for the last 20 years. I have been taking photographs for 40 years as a way of sharing my point of view. Beauty surrounds us, we just need to pay attention. I believe in the power of images as they say “One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words”. ”Local” is very important because we can engage in a more personnel way whether reading the news or buying food. That’s why I was sorry to see the Sierra County Sun go and want to support the Sierra County Citizen by being on the board of the Sierra County Public-Interest Journalism Project and posting local images.

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One comment

  1. Thank you Veronique for this post. The greater community can see a glimpse of what we in Kingston know we have lost. There is no easy way in to this canyon without that road access, as we who live here know very well.

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