Which Foothill Trails To Avoid During the Winter Months

It happened. We experienced our first frost of the winter season this week. Before you set out on your hike in the Foothills, be sure to check ahead of time to make sure the conditions are safe. Ridgetorivers.org is a resource that provides an interactive map of daily trail conditions which is especially useful in the wet wintery months.

Ridge to Rivers employs a full-time crew to maintain the 243 miles of trails throughout the area. Trail conditions are updated daily and it's recommended that you always check here first before you begin your hike.

Using trails when they are muddy can cause serious damage to the trails. Ridge to Rivers suggests the following when using potentially-muddy trails and how to help up preserve their integrity:

Stay off of muddy trails and turn back if you are leaving tracks
Ride or hike early in the morning when trails are still frozen during the winter
Check daily trail conditions on the Ridge to Rivers website or their Facebook page for updates
If you do encounter short stretches of mud, ride or walk through them. Don’t leave the trail and hike through the sides as this can kill trailside vegetation and lead to trail widening.

These are also some of the trails Ridge to Rivers recommends AVOIDING during the winter months