The Almanor Basin Trails Alliance has been planning the “Lassen/Lake Almanor Basin Regional Trails System Conceptual Plan” since 2015 as a tool to guide future planning, design, fundraising, construction and maintenance. The Concept Plan describes a proposed network of trails that will connect communities within the watershed of the North Fork Feather River, located in northeastern California [Figure 1]. The Plan grew out of long held dreams of a system of “trails around the Lake Almanor” and a connection from Lassen Volcanic National Park on the west to the “Bizz Johnson Rail Trail” on the east.
The plan was written by members of the Trails Alliance who have a passion for outdoor recreation, community vitality, economic development, and the preservation of open space in the watershed. Almanor Basin Trails Alliance representatives included Almanor Park and Recreation District, the Mountain Meadows Conservancy, Almanor Ranger District, Lassen County, Lassen Land and Trails Trust, Plumas County, Sierra Nevada Conservancy, Lake Almanor Watershed Group, Lassen Volcanic National Park, Lake Almanor Chamber of Commerce, Feather River Land Trust, and staff from the National Park Service Rivers Trails and Conservation Assistance Program who guided the planning process and whose volunteer staff are assembling the Concept Plan.
The regional trails portion of the Concept Plan is based on community input collected by the Plumas County Transportation Commission during outreach meetings conducted for their Active Transportation Plan (ATP). It forms a recognized basis for guiding future active transportation in the County. The Trails Alliance conducted added outreach through polling and 5 community meetings in 2018 and 2019 which included the development of architectural renderings of the look and feel of planned trail amenities. The draft concept plan is due for formal publication in December 2020 and elements are available at www.yourARPD.org
This story is part of our Connected Communities project, a vision for a recreation-focused lifestyle through community investment, shared stewardship, economic opportunity and important new local jobs in California’s Plumas, Sierra, Butte and Lassen Counties. Find out more about the project and read about the towns on our Connected Communities web page.