McCloud - Any updates on the pending road closure at the Ad Di Na Turnoff?

[Kutty]

Since folks here are in the know...

I had plans over the long weekend to backpack to Ad Di Na via the PCT, starting at the dam, and doing dispersed camping.

There has been discussion locally that PGE was planning to work on the Dam, and close access to all (cars + walkers) at the Ad Di Na turnoff.

I dont mind walking the extra 2 miles between that turnoff and the dam, but I hear differing reports on if anyone is allowed through. My contact at PGE told me No, but the shasta ranger district said they have yet to hear anything, and they think it starts in early June.

Has anyone been up there this week for first hand reports?

What else Ive heard:
- Shasta ranger district told me yesterday they had a report that at least one person (via 4x4 truck and a chainsaw) did get to Ad Di Na, TBD on how bad the road is
- No word on when Ad Di Na opens, perhaps by June 1st
- my contact at PGE mentioned the work they plan on doing it an assessment of the spillway, given what happened at Orville a few years back. I didnt get if its an assessment or some construction or reinforcement of the spillway.

[Timbers]

Don't have first hand info but this gets updated frequently. https://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/stnf/recreation/?cid=stelprdb5165648

Don't know what fishing (if any) will be like with the high flows. Couple days ago it was around 1200cfs. Looks like they're starting to drop them. Yesterday at the dam was 825cfs, and at Ah Di Nah was 925cfs.

[JasonG]

It appears from recent satellite images that the snow is completely gone from the road. What kind of condition the road is in, whether it be down trees or washouts is a different story.. You might try calling THe Fly Shop, Kennedy Brothers, Wild Waters, or Ted Fay Fly shop and ask if any of their guides have made it down the road yet.

19041

Looks like flows are on their way back down. but still might be 450-600 down at Ah di na

"NOTICE: Due to the increase in inflows from snow melt and a current maintenance outage occurring at James B. Black Powerhouse, PG&E will be initiating a spill at McCloud Dam. Flows downstream of McCloud Dam are approximately 420 cfs as measured at Ah-Di- Na (MC-1.) During the spill, flows are expected to rise to approximately 1,000- 1,200 cfs.

Update-5/17/23 The spill flows below McCloud Dam. In an effort to help minimize impacts, PG&E is working hard to reduce the scope of the current outage and reschedule a portion of the outage to a later date. With this, PG&E is hoping to have James B. Black Powerhouse (Powerhouse) back online by May 21, 2023.

Due to the high inflows, even with the Powerhouse back online, PG&E is still forecasting spill conditions in the lower McCloud. With the Powerhouse back online the spill magnitude will be smaller but still above the seasonal normal minimum instream flow release amount. PG&E is anticipating spill flows to be around 350-500 cfs pending inflows. This amount does not include tributary flows from Hawkins Creek.

As soon as inflows have reduced to a manageable amount, PG&E will exit the spill and flows will return to seasonal instream flow release amounts."


And then for the Hawkins creek road they posted this 2 days ago
"The Hawkins Creek Rd. (11) just below the McCloud reservoir dam down to Ash Camp and Big Bend is currently being worked on by PG&E. While construction is occuring over the next weeks, the work site is under a hard closure, meaning closed to all vehicle AND pedestrian traffic. The only way to access Ash Camp and that section of the McCloud River will be via Iron Canyon Reservoir. The closure does NOT affect access to the McCloud Reservoir Boat launch facility, Ah-Di-Na Campground, The Nature Conservancy lands, and Star City Creek Campground."

[StevenB]

Here is a copy and paste of an email from the forest service dated 05/23/23 that is a press release put out by PG&E:

Start Paste:

Road Along and Near McCloud Reservoir to Close While PG&E Performs Road Maintenance and Spillway Evaluation

Ash Camp and Star City Creek campgrounds will not be open

McCLOUD, Calif.— Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is performing road maintenance and spillway evaluations at the McCloud Reservoir, requiring some road closures starting June 1 through December 2023.

The U.S. Forest Service Road 38N11 will be closed to all traffic, including vehicles and pedestrians, from about 230 yards past the turnoff to the Ah-Di-Na Campground to Hawkins Creek Crossing about a mile past the Ash Camp Campground. The portion of this road south of the dam is also known as Hawkins Creek Road.

Pacific Crest Trail hikers can still access the roads but should be cautious of construction vehicles and equipment. PG&E will be performing brush clearing, ditching cleaning and minor patch paving starting May 24.

The Ash Camp and Star City Creek campgrounds will not be open during this time.

The road closure does not affect access to the McCloud Reservoir boat launch at Tarantula Gulch, Ah-Di-Na Campground or the Nature Conservancy lands.

The road is located within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

End-Paste


One thing to note is that apparently you will not be able to get to Ash Camp by driving in from Big Bend as I thought because they are gonna close the road on the far side of Ash Camp in addition to the closure at the turn off to AH-DI-NA.

Also as was mentioned I heard someone with a chain saw opened up access to AH-DI-NA, but not access to the Conservancy parking lot. That is third hand info so take it for what it is worth. I was told there was another big rock in the road between AH-DI-NA and the conservancy.

[Timbers]

Here is a copy and paste of an email from the forest service dated 05/23/23 that is a press release put out by PG&E:

Start Paste:

Road Along and Near McCloud Reservoir to Close While PG&E Performs Road Maintenance and Spillway Evaluation

Ash Camp and Star City Creek campgrounds will not be open

McCLOUD, Calif.— Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is performing road maintenance and spillway evaluations at the McCloud Reservoir, requiring some road closures starting June 1 through December 2023.

The U.S. Forest Service Road 38N11 will be closed to all traffic, including vehicles and pedestrians, from about 230 yards past the turnoff to the Ah-Di-Na Campground to Hawkins Creek Crossing about a mile past the Ash Camp Campground. The portion of this road south of the dam is also known as Hawkins Creek Road.

Pacific Crest Trail hikers can still access the roads but should be cautious of construction vehicles and equipment. PG&E will be performing brush clearing, ditching cleaning and minor patch paving starting May 24.

The Ash Camp and Star City Creek campgrounds will not be open during this time.

The road closure does not affect access to the McCloud Reservoir boat launch at Tarantula Gulch, Ah-Di-Na Campground or the Nature Conservancy lands.

The road is located within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.

End-Paste


One thing to note is that apparently you will not be able to get to Ash Camp by driving in from Big Bend as I thought because they are gonna close the road on the far side of Ash Camp in addition to the closure at the turn off to AH-DI-NA.

Also as was mentioned I heard someone with a chain saw opened up access to AH-DI-NA, but not access to the Conservancy parking lot. That is third hand info so take it for what it is worth. I was told there was another big rock in the road between AH-DI-NA and the conservancy.

Steve, thanks again for this updated information.

We were planning a trip to McCloud and driving in from Big Bend next month. Is there a way to sign up for updates about this from PGE?

Thanks

[Kutty]

Steve, thanks again for this updated information.

We were planning a trip to McCloud and driving in from Big Bend next month. Is there a way to sign up for updates about this from PGE?

Thanks

I was the original poster and have some more information.

I believe the road closure for the ad di na turnoff will happen in early june, not this week, but no specific day has been set - Ive heard June 1st.

When I talked to the PGE (contact I got through the forest service) - I was told when then construction occurs, they will block access from iron canyon res as well, around where hawkins creeks goes under the road.

Whatever they do, they would announce it through local channels (facebook, nextdoor, prob PGE currents https://www.pgecurrents.com/ shortly before they do it.

The water should be higher than normal, but Im just happy be able to backpack down to ad di na and get out someplace thats snow free...

[StevenB]

Steve, thanks again for this updated information.

We were planning a trip to McCloud and driving in from Big Bend next month. Is there a way to sign up for updates about this from PGE?

Thanks
Not that I know of.

[Timbers]

I was the original poster and have some more information.

I believe the road closure for the ad di na turnoff will happen in early june, not this week, but no specific day has been set - Ive heard June 1st.

When I talked to the PGE (contact I got through the forest service) - I was told when then construction occurs, they will block access from iron canyon res as well, around where hawkins creeks goes under the road.

Whatever they do, they would announce it through local channels (facebook, nextdoor, prob PGE currents https://www.pgecurrents.com/ shortly before they do it.

The water should be higher than normal, but Im just happy be able to backpack down to ad di na and get out someplace thats snow free...

Thanks for this info, I appreciate it.

Hope you have a great trip.

[JohnChung]

According to the 6/1 Fly Shop stream report getting to Ah-DI-Na and Nature Conservancy is "now possible".

[JasonG]

According to the 6/1 Fly Shop stream report getting to Ah-DI-Na and Nature Conservancy is "now possible".

And it looks like flows are going back to normal. 218 at the dam. 311 at ah di na. still a bit high, but definitely fishable.

Turbidity is still a bit high @5-6 ntu.. (1-3 is normal)

[ICE]

Greetings All,
I am hoping someone might provide an update to access to the AH-DI-NA campground and Conservancy. I have a trip in early Oct. and want to plan accordingly.
Patterns and suggestions welcome as well.

J. Ice

[mattv-mcfly]

I am also interested. It looks like the turbidity and flow are good. How is the road? The NF site says that the road is in very rough condition and is not advisable to travel on. Is this all hearsay to keep us from getting down there for some awesome fishing?

[StevenB]

Word as of last week is river still a little off-color but fish-able. Water is blue-white glacier runoff color not brown.
Visibility is approx 18 inches at conservancy.

Have not heard anything about the road being any worse that usual.

Some big browns have been caught recently so they are in there.

No reports on any special flys working.
The usual stuff:
size 8 Rubber legs,
14-18 Dark lords,
14 Soft Hackle PT
8 Oct Caddis Pupa

Purple flys have been working recently on the Sac so maybe the Mac too.

Purple Frenchies and Brush Hogs

https://www.driftlessangler.com/estore/thick-bodied/brush-hog

if you are a tier try tying up a few purple rubber legs just for fun.

[ICE]

Thanks Steven!

[mattv-mcfly]

I just got back from fishing there for the first time. Clarity was good and the catching was good. Fish were taking rubber legs and BWO flies but mostly on the mayfly. I was using an iron lotus that outfished the stonefly. I fished the conservancy for about 8 hours and got maybe 2/3 of the way in before calling it a day. The McCloud feels sorta... overrated? I wish someone told me that brown trout only make less than 5% of the catch rate. I don't know man it's a long drive for me.

[WLREDBAND]

Agree with most everything you said. Been FF CAL for over 50 years, and it's pretty safe to say, that if it's talked about extensively on the interweb, there's a good chance it's overfished and over rated. The challenge is finding those places that are NOT discussed widely on the interwebs, but those are few and far between but they do still exist.


I just got back from fishing there for the first time. Clarity was good and the catching was good. Fish were taking rubber legs and BWO flies but mostly on the mayfly. I was using an iron lotus that outfished the stonefly. I fished the conservancy for about 8 hours and got maybe 2/3 of the way in before calling it a day. The McCloud feels sorta... overrated? I wish someone told me that brown trout only make less than 5% of the catch rate. I don't know man it's a long drive for me.

[mattv-mcfly]

Agree with most everything you said. Been FF CAL for over 50 years, and it's pretty safe to say, that if it's talked about extensively on the interweb, there's a good chance it's overfished and over rated. The challenge is finding those places that are NOT discussed widely on the interwebs, but those are few and far between but they do still exist.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that shares this opinion. The McCloud was the last of the most popular fly fishing rivers in California that needed to fish. All the pictures of the McCloud are of big brown trout but they are way more elusive out there than advertised. The guides probably know which holes they're in but the average visitor most likely won't find any. I can name a handful of places that will give better odds on big browns. I don't know if this is typical of the McCloud but I found the wading to be equal to the Pit with rocks covered in snot. If I wanted snot rocks I would have just fish the Pit at least it's easier to get to and the fishing is 10x better.