I found this description below on another site written by several locals who have hiked the area for years, and hope you will have the time to let Cleveland National Forest know what they have done.
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Before any actions are to be taken by Cleveland National Forest, they must ask the public on their opinion. With their arrogance, they are not likely to listen or even consider public opinion, but this is a way to get your voice heard.
http://www.fs.fed.us/nepa/fs-usda-pop.p ... ject=37332
Heres how they ruined the area:
- Cedar Creek Falls was once a very secret and harder to get to area. The "trail" used to be a very small footpath that twists and bends with the mountainside. You feel like you are actually in the wilderness. It was some of the most pristine, beautiful, and untouched areas in San Diego. The fresh air and rushing creeks were simply amazing. At most, there would be about 2-5 people a day hiking in the area. Many of them knew eachother. In 2010, completely ignoring several cries of opposition from the public, Cleveland National Forest took out their bulldozers and heavy machinery and started blasting and hacking up the mountainside. Thousands upon thousands of tons of rock was blasted and hacked away. The mountain, which in the past looked like a perfectly natural hillside, now had a huge gaping line streaking from one side to the other. The purpose for doing this was was to create a wide fire road to the falls, because a few people had been rescued from the area previously. The forest service didnt see, that in making the area more accessible more people will get hurt!! Even several rangers complained to Cleveland National Forest saying this was a very bad idea, but they, along with the hikers, were completely ignored.
-As soon after access to the waterfall was completed, people started streaming in and rescues increased dramatically. Because access was so easy, very inexperienced hikers started hiking in the area. 90% of rescues were due to dehydration. Some have even died on the 2 MILE FIRE ROAD TRAIL. Several tourists who have never even hiked a mile in their lives attempted to go to the waterfall. Several of the people who disapproved of this new trail in the first place once again complained to the forest service, but were once again ignored. Several people started drinking, partying, and doing drugs at the falls, and the entire area soon turned into a trashed, dirty, overcrowded place. The water, which was once fresh and clear, have pieces of garbage and empty beer bottles floating in it and sometimes have a putrid smell. Many rescues involved helicopters pulling people too drunk to walk out of the area.
-When Cleveland National Forest found out this was happening, they then "devised" another "smart" plan. Once again, completely ignoring opposition from the public and several rangers, Cleveland National Forest decides to construct ANOTHER 1.9 mile trail to the waterfall, this time from the city of Ramona. Rumor has it that a few rangers who were against this idea were fired. The purpose of this second trail was hopefully supposed to even out the flow of visitors onto two trails. As expected, this idea did not work out at all. The first trail started from the city of Julian. The second trail started from the city of Ramona, an even bigger and more populated area than Julian. Once again, the bulldozers were brought out and the hacking of the mountainside began. The hikers who objected to this were told to mind their own business. The amount of visitors now nearly doubled, and the area was more trashed and polluted than ever. The second trail started from a residence in Ramona. People partying in the area began to ruin the neighborhood. There was a dramatic increase of vandalism, destruction of property, parking in front of driveways, and excessive noise.
-In summer of 2011, Cleveland National Forest was bombarded with complaints from angry hikers and residents. In April of 2011, a bathroom and picnic tables were built at the Ramona trailhead. All this had costed around 1 MILLION DOLLARS. The main thing was, that they STILL would not admit and apologize to the public that they screwed up. They would tell the public to mind their own business, and would say that their method of "smoothing out" the trail made it a more safe and easy for hikers and made for less rescues. As a matter of fact, the number of rescues had been steadily increasing from the time the first trail was constructed. More people were trashing, getting drunk, and doing drugs at the waterfall. It was no longer the quiet and secret place it used to be.
-In July of 2011, tired of complaints and rescues, Cleveland National Forest decided to close the entire area to hikers. On a morning of a day in the first week of July, the forest supervisors were having a meeting about how they were going to close down the area. Later that day, an inexperienced teen slipped and fell to his death at the waterfall. This was a complete accident. The teen was not drunk. Cleveland National Forest used this incident as the reason that they shut down the waterfall. In their arrogance, they never told the public that the real reason was because of them.
-The entire area surrounding Cedar Creek Falls was scheduled to be opened in November 2011, but now is pushed back to April 2012, and might be pushed back even further. The current proposed solution to the problem by Cleveland National Forest is to build ANOTHER trail to the waterfall and implement permits in the area, which will have to be reserved well in advance. Heavy fines would result in not having a permit. There will be heavy restrictions on what times of day and year hikers are allowed to be in the area. The area would be heavily patrolled by rangers. Open toed shoes will not be allowed, and there is to be no jumping into the swimming hole with a heavy fine for doing so. The list goes on and on.
-Currently, the Cedar Creek Falls area is similar to a war zone. Cleveland National Forest has spent nearly another 1 million dollars to keep hikers OUT of the area. Police are stationed at every trailhead and multiple groups of police patrol the trails. A helicopter is flown on a regular basis over the closed area to make sure no hikers enter from other areas. Entering the closed area solo will result in being arrested and a $5,000 fine, with an even greater fine for groups that enter. Police stationed at the trailheads are paid to exaggerate the difficulty of the 2 mile and 1.9 mile trails, saying its deadly and dangerous, and even the most experienced hikers should think twice before doing the hike. To this day, Cleveland National Forest still dosent admit that they screwed up and still say all they have done was for the best.
This is where you come in. Click on the link above and give your opinion to Cleveland National Forest on how to handle the situation
Please spread this message, and let Cleveland National Forest know how they have screwed up one of San Diego's most pristine and beautiful secrets!!
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A photo I took a few years back. Shortly before the first trail was constructed. This is before the area was trashed, overcrowded, and graffiti was all over the rocks.
