Update on Access to Ash Camp on the McCloud river

Short version - it ain't gonna happen this summer.

Longer version:

So we have been waiting for two years now for them to fix the road onto Ash Camp.
Last report was that they were gonna fix it last fall with the intent of having done by Jan 2023

It appears it did not happen. Report from a friend who went over there recently is that the barrier is still in place.
(and the fishing was slow)

But even if it had been repaired we are still out of luck.

Info from the Forest Service in Mt Shasta says:

"PG&E will be conducting repairs on the McCloud Dam starting this May and will have the road blocked for access right after the turnoff for Ah-Di-Na. It sounds like the road will be closed for access through December at least. This will cutoff access to Ash Camp on the McCloud River."

So it looks like no access at all this summer, even worse than before because now we can not even walk to get to it.

You may be able to get there by going the long way around
(coming in from the Pit river side via Iron Canyon lake)
which might be kinda cool since it will keep the crowds down but for us locals it sure makes it a lot longer drive and there is no benefit over going to Ah-Di-Na.

The road around McCloud lake to the barrier is now ice free out so there may be a short window between now and whenever in May PG&E closes the road to get a little fishing in.


all the prior info is to the best of my knowledge but is based on some second and third hand info. No promises about accuracy are offered.

Thanks Steve for that helpful info.

Thank you for this information. I was just wondering about this and now I have an answer.

Does anyone have any information about the road from the Pit River side?
I have often thought about taking this road over, not just to fish the McCloud but also to travel to the Upper Sac....which of course is out until the Ash Camp road is repaired and the dam work is done. Thanks for any input.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BobVP

Thank you for this information. I was just wondering about this and now I have an answer.

Does anyone have any information about the road from the Pit River side?
I have often thought about taking this road over, not just to fish the McCloud but also to travel to the Upper Sac....which of course is out until the Ash Camp road is repaired and the dam work is done. Thanks for any input.

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I've driven that road about 8 years ago. It takes a long time to get to Big Bend, a couple hours if I recall. The road is slow going, but nothing that requires a gnarly 4x4. I have a 4x4 Xterra. We were camped at Ah-di-nah and the fishing was slow and very crowded. So we said screw it and drove over to our favorite river, the Pit, where the fishing was great and never saw anyone else.

~Jeff

I have not driven the road in a couple of years (since the slide closed Ash Camp), but I know what it was like.

Good dirt/gravel most of the way if you are coming from the Big Bend side until the last few miles before Ash Camp then it gets narrow and rough but as stated you do not need a 4x4, just decent ground clearance.
Reasonably straight forward route, most of the side roads are poorer than the main road so you know not to turn off.
There are one or two "main" side roads that can mislead you, but try to stay heading west-ish (maybe NW) and downhill.

One road to watch for goes to Grizzly Peak, I think there is a sign, don't go that way.

Not gonna be passable until a bunch of snow melts.

If you are one of the first to do it after snow-melt a chain saw can be handy, often trees come down across the road during the winter.

Prior to the Ash Camp closure the PG&E guys would use the road to get to their Pit facilities from the McCloud side so it was somewhat maintained.

Thanks for the update. Wondering if "dam repairs" means erratic flows as we experienced last fall. Flows were bumped to 800 and then down to 150 at Lake Shasta.