Portions of what was to become the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail were under construction as early as the 1920's. In 1935, the Pacific Northwest Region of the United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service established the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in Oregon and Washington along the Cascade Crest and Oregon Skyline Trail routes. At approximately the same time, Clinton C. Clarke organized the Pacific Crest Trail System Conference, a group of hiking and riding clubs devoted to the development of a trail system extending from Canada to Mexico on existing and new trails. In addition to the aforementioned trails, the Lava Crest, Tahoe Yosemite, John Muir and Desert Crest trails were envisioned as part of this system.

In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson called for the development and protection of a balanced system of trails to help protect and enhance the total quality of the outdoor environment as well as provide much needed opportunities for healthful outdoor recreation. The Secretary of the Interior was requested to take the lead in a nationwide trail study. A four member steering committee, representing the four agencies with jurisdiction over federal trails, was appointed to conduct the study. In December 1966, the results of the study were published in a document entitled "Trails for America". It contains several recommendations pertinent to National Scenic Trails, and the Pacific Crest Trail specifically:

• Each National Scenic Trail should stand out, in its own right, as a recreation resource of superlative quality and physical challenge.
• Built to harmonize with the natural areas they cross, they afford the visitor closeup instruction in nature and her ways.
• The entire length of each national scenic trail, together with sufficient land area on both sides to safeguard adequately and preserve its character, should be protected in some form of public control.
• The natural and scenic qualities and historic features along and near national scenic trails must be protected.
• The Pacific Crest Trail traditionally has served horseback and foot travelers. This use pattern, accepted by most visitors to the trail, should be continued.
• In areas where private holdings are large and relocation of the trail to avoid them is not practical, incompatible activities such as logging or land development projects could threaten the trail's quality.
• On public lands, existing management practices on National Parks, National Forest Wilderness areas, and State Parks probably will suffice to protect trail quality. For lands managed primarily for other purposes, Federal and state agencies should modify the timber harvesting, livestock grazing, and special permit practices to protect trail quality.

"Trails for America" formed the basis for the original language of what was to become the National Trails System Act. Passed by Congress on October 2, 1968, the Act called for the creation of "national scenic trails which will be extended trails so located as to provide for maximum outdoor recreation potential and for the conservation and enjoyment of the nationally significant scenic, historic, natural, or cultural qualities of the areas though which such trails may pass."

However, in acknowledging the concerns of resource extractors and land developers, Congress significantly altered the suggested language in relation to the way the trail would influence the management of adjacent lands, ". . in selecting the rights-of-way, full consideration shall be given to minimizing the adverse effects upon the adjacent landowner or user and his operation. Development and management of each segment of the National Trails System shall be designed to harmonize with and complement any established multiple-use plans for the specific area in order to ensure continued maximum benefits from the land."

 The Pacific Crest and Appalachian were the nation's first National Scenic Trails.

The Act gave the USDA Forest Service management responsibility for the Pacific Crest Trail. A Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail Advisory Council, representing a diverse group of trail users, but dominated by land managers and private land owners, developed and recommended for approval the "Pacific Crest Trail Guide for Location, Design and Management" based on the language of the Act.

The Pacific Crest Trail Conference was organized in 1977 to advise hikers and equestrians on use of the trail. The Conference was a small band of Pacific Crest Trail enthusiasts, mostly hiking clubs numbering no more than a few hundred members, and some individuals who served on the Advisory Council. With Warren Rogers, a dedicated leader who loved the trail, members often helped with trail construction and maintenance projects. As the organization grew, and as it's membership changed in nature from clubs to individuals, the name was changed to the Pacific Crest Trail Association in 1993.

The Association brought together the visionaries who labored for the creation of the trail with a new generation of outdoor recreationists and environmentalists who were concerned with the protection of a national treasure — the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. A formal mission statement was adopted to guide them in their efforts:

The mission of the Association is to protect, preserve and promote the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail so as to reflect it world-class significance, for the enjoyment, education and adventure of hikers and equestrians.

The Present

A Memorandum of Understanding, recognizing the Association as the government’s major partner in the operation of the trail was signed with the Forest Service, National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management in 1993. With financial assistance from the Forest Service and its 700 members, the Association Board of Directors hired its first paid staff member in 1993 and adopted a long range plan to guide and gauge its growth in 1995.

With the addition of over 1,800 new members, the Association made significant strides in its efforts to attract and involve trail enthusiasts in its mission during 1996 and 1997. Utilizing modern technology, the Association has created an Internet web site with up-to-date information on trail conditions, elevation profiles and links to other sites with valuable information for trail enthusiasts.

Volunteer trail maintenance crews dedicate thousands of hours to clearing and repairing the trail tread each year. A toll-free telephone helps line provides up-to-date trail condition reports 24-hours a day, and a knowledgeable staff is available during normal business hours to assist trail users in planning their adventure on the Pacific Crest Trail.

Today, the Association is addressing an issue that looms large on the horizon — urban encroachment on the trail and its corridor. This would not be possible if it were not for the efforts of a strong Board of Directors, the financial support of many members, and a constituency of more than 3,000 friends of the trail.

The Future

While technically located on federal land or right-of-way easements across private land, the PCT is far from being protected from urban encroachment or the ravages of resource extraction. There are 307 miles of private land right-of-way easements between Mexico and Canada, many as narrow as eight feet, and some even less.

 As unappealing as it sounds, it is possible that this National Scenic Trail could become a narrow swath of weeds between the back fences or down the street of a housing project!

Unlike the Appalachian Trail, its sister trail in the east, the Pacific Crest Trail has never received the federal resources necessary to purchase an adequate trail corridor through private lands. On-the-trail timber harvesting is an old problem, but the threat of urban encroachment is new. What were once remote sections of the trail are now crossed by six lane freeways, and as urban sprawl follows easy access "For Sale" signs on private land easements share space with PCT trail markers.

 In 1999, the National Park Service will wind down its purchase of private lands for the Appalachian Trail corridor. The Pacific Crest Trail Association believes Congress should earmark $5 million per year of Land and Water Conservation Funds to purchase PCT private lands and add them to the federal land trust.

 Citizens in the west deserve the same trail opportunities that those in the east now enjoy on the Appalachian Trail. If these vulnerable sections of the Pacific Crest Trail are not protected now, all the people of the United States will have lost an irreplaceable resource. The Pacific Crest Trail Association is prepared to do its part, and invites the Congress to join it in this effort by providing the monies from the fund that was established for this very purpose.

PCT Places in Need

The PCT is at risk. Approximately 250 miles of the trail corridor are owned by landowners other than the managing partners (i.e. the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and California State Parks.) Most of these miles have very weak or non-existent easements. The existing easements are typically substandard, being only 8-20 feet wide. Currently, passage is usually permitted; however, trail conditions and user experiences vary widely on these easements. There are dangerous road-walks, hazardous logging operations, ski and other incompatible commercial areas, residential areas, trash problems, and a host of other activities and situations never envisioned when the National Trails System was created in 1968.
In order to protect the trail from further degradation and enhance the user experience, the Pacific Crest Trail Association (PCTA) and the managing partners are working together to identify and prioritize land acquisition projects. As part of our coverage of such PCTA Trail Protection projects below are photos of places where the current experience is not befitting of a National Scenic Trail and updates on our progress to improve the conditions.

This photograph shows an area where the PCT runs along side-slopes just within the border of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park along the east and north sides of Terwilliger Valley. Private property adjacent to the trail and park has been subdivided for development into two- to five-acre hillside “ranchettes,” some of which will sit on leveled plots above the trail. Because the PCT runs along the slopes, the housing plots and dirt roads often go unseen by trail users but the proximity remains unsettling. An OLR (optimal location review) was completed for this portion of the trail a number of years ago but, says PCTA Southern California Regional Representative Suzanne Wilson, “land parcels have been further subdivided since the OLR and we need to revisit this issue again.” Potential options for improvement include relocating the trail deeper into Anza-Borrego Park or helping to purchase private parcels that could be added to the park and help buffer the PCT from development and associated trail experience degradations. “The PCTA has received a grant that will allow us to complete corridor land acquisition planning in California,” says Liz Bergeron, PCTA Executive Director, “As part of this land acquisition planning, we’ll be better able to understand what’s needed to improve the trail experience – now and in the future – in the rapidly changing Terwilliger Valley.”

Eventually, this dusty, waterless trail route across the Antelope Valley, the western arm of the Mojave Desert, along the Los Angeles Aqueduct will be a relic of the past. The PCTA and the Forest Service are in negotiations with nearby Tejon Ranch (which owns 270,000 acres 60 miles north of Los Angeles) to relocate the trail up off the valley floor and onto Blue Ridge (elevation 5,400 to 6,000 feet) in the Tehachapi Mountains. As part of this process (it will likely be ten years before the new 35-mile trail relocation will be ready for use, says PCTA Southern California Regional Representative Suzanne Wilson) the PCTA is advocating for funding to allow the U.S. Forest Service to purchase land from Tejon Ranch and to route and build this new portion of the PCT through what will be 100,000-acre Tejon Ranch Preserve.

Just south of where the PCT passes beneath Interstate 10 in southern California, at the end of the PCT’s current road-walk through Snow Creek village, trail users encounter this “No Trespassing” sign despite the fact that the trail is, indeed, open for use by hikers and equestrians. “As you can imagine,” says Liz Bergeron, Pacific Crest Trail Association Executive Director, “it’s quite confusing for trail users in this area.” The PCTA, the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management (or BLM, which manages adjacent land) are currently undertaking an “optimal location review” (OLR) to potentially route the trail away from Snow Creek Village and local water district private property. The OLR is looking at the possibility of taking the trail east, across the alluvial fan below Mt. San Jacinto and away from Snow Creek Village and the road. Another option is to move the trail off of the road and onto natural tread alongside it, thus placing the trail on public BLM property. If this option is chosen, there may also be the opportunity to create a new trailhead with improved signs including information and maps explaining the land management in the area, with the goal of making it less confusing and more inviting for trail users.

This photograph was taken just north of where the PCT passes beneath Interstate 10 in southern California near the location of the old thru-hiker refuge and trail angel operation (no longer in service) known as the “Pink Motel.” The PCT passes through private property in this area and, as you can see, portions of that private property are currently filled with refuse including old cars and machinery. Some views of the “junk yard” are partially shielded by camouflaged netting, which in itself is not befitting of the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. An optimal location review (OLR) is looking at a potential re-route of the PCT in this area. One route being considered would have the trail head up Whitewater Canyon from under Interstate 10. There is, however, an approximate 50% likelihood that multiple factors will make such a re-route impossible. “If we cannot relocate the trail,” says Suzanne Wilson, PCTA Southern California Regional Representative, “we will try to work with the landowner to improve the conditions you see here.”