Siskiyou Upland Trails Association (SUTA)

10/10/2026

SUTA's Winter 2026-Spring 2027 are set!

Mark your calendars for these upcoming work parties!

Monthly work parties from November through April to help maintain the Sterling Mine Ditch Trail and Jack-Ash Trail. This season's dates are:

November 21, 2026
December 12, 2026
January 16, 2027
February 20, 2027
March 20, 2027
April 10, 2027

Watch for notices for the time and location.

Work parties are a key part of our efforts to maintain the trails and keep them open for all users. They're a lot of fun too! SUTA provides tools, trail snacks, and a hot lunch after the work is done.

Work parties generally go from 9-1 on Saturdays once a month from November through April. We will identify maintenance priorities for each work party and send that out with the announcement in the week prior. Wear comfortable and supportive hiking or work boots. Also bring work gloves, and dress in layers appropriate to the weather. Bring your own water bottle and SUTA will have water at the trailhead for refills.

Check our website or page for special event updates as they come up. Mark your calendars!

Visit us at www.SUTAoregon.org for more trail information, maps, events, and more! You can also sign up there to be added to our email list so you will receive our event announcements. No spam, just SUTA trail-related news and events.

If you're out on any of the trails and notice any downed trees, we'd appreciate an email with location information, photos, and descriptions of the trees or damage so we can plan to send volunteers out to clear the trail. Thanks!

06/19/2026

Lots of exciting trail news in an update from SUTA President Joy Rogalla!

**SUTA had just enough funding left to hire a w**d trimming crew for 10 days, and the crew, plus numerous of our hero-volunteers managed to get over 30 miles of the Sterling Mine Ditch and Jack-Ash trails systems trimmed before fire season shuts down the power equipment use! Way to go, String Trimmers!! You ROCK!

**There are still at least a dozen trees down, and with limited power equipment hours for fire season we may not get to them all right away. Please be patient. If you are a USFS or BLM certified sawyer with a current cert and want to help, please contact us at [email protected]!

**The upcoming Siskiyou Out Back (SOB) 100-k ultra-run on July 11, which starts and ends at MtAshland, will incorporate much of the Sterling Mine Ditch and Jack-Ash trail systems this year! This will make for some awesome running with spectacular views on great trails (freshly string-trimmed!) for all the competitors! You can find the maps on the SOB website www.siskiyououtback.com and more details.

**SUTA and other local trail groups are joining Oregon Trails Coalition in hosting the 2026 Outdoor Recreation Summit in Ashland October 22-24! SUTA Pres Joy Rogalla and SUTA power-volunteer Liz Shen are on the planning committee and will be among those giving presentations. SUTA will also host a guided hike on some of SUTA's most scenic trails during the weekend.

**SUTA will be working with A Greater Applegate (AGA) in September during the Jacksaphine Country Faire week to host a guided hike on the Siskiyou Crest Viewpoint trail, an easy out and back with a stunning 360 view. This is a great hike for families, about 2.5 miles total. Watch this fb page for announcement of details and date.

**SUTA will be installing trailhead and wayfinding signs on the brand new Poormans Creek Trail loop this month. Once installed, the trail will be officially open for non-motorized use. This is a very pleasant and beautiful 8-ish mile loop, total. Stay tuned for that announcement!

04/14/2026

REMINDER!
•Our Last SUTA Trail Work Party of the Season is
SATURDAY April 18, 2026
•9:00 am -1:00 pm Trail maintenance on the Upper Bear Gulch Trail
•Free hearty lunch after we work!
•Meet up at Wolf Gulch Trailhead (directions available on google maps or on our website; www.sutaoregon.org)

This trail is on a steep side slope and is now several years old and the tread is in need of maintenance to 'clean the hinge'. We also need to repair damage from elk, gophers, and ground squirrels that have been using the trail and left some holes we need to fill in. This is mostly tread work but there is also some light vegetation trimming needed.

Wear comfortable and supportive hiking or work boots. Also bring work gloves, and dress in layers appropriate to the weather. Bring your own water bottle and SUTA will have water at the trailhead for refills. SUTA will also provide some yummy home-baked trail snacks! We provide tools, but if you have a favorite tread tool, loppers, or pruning saw, feel free bring it (write your name on it please)

Watch the weather forecast and your email in case of weather cancellation, or check www.sutaoregon.org

RSVP: If you plan to come, please email [email protected] so we can plan the lunch and snacks! Thank you!

04/13/2026

Come out to the Applegate Fire District Training Room at 7744 Upper Applegate Road to help us celebrate all the wonderful volunteers in our beautiful valley! SUTA will be there! Come see us and get free maps and stickers! 1:00 PM. See you there!

04/09/2026

04/09/2026

This is an amazing and important film. Some of us got to meet the producers at the premier here in the Applegate Valley several years ago. We highly recommend seeing it.

The Amazon is not someone else's problem. It's your rainfall. Your food. Your future. This Earth Day, meet the people protecting it. We Are Guardians — premiering on streaming worldwide April 22. We are ALL Guardians. 🌿 LINK IN BIO

On facebook at We Are Guardians Film. Or visit weareguardiansfilm.com

01/02/2026

01/02/2026

Please join us for a conversation with the Bureau of Land Management on January 8, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. at the Applegate Fire District Training Building, 1095 Upper Applegate Road. See meeting announcement flyer below. The meeting will also be available via Zoom - please email [email protected] for the zoom link. The meeting will be facilitated by Kirsten Shockey and an agenda will be emailed before the meeting. Please share this meeting announcement with anyone who is interested.

12/17/2025

Trail Construction Crew Openings! Apply now!

SUTA needs 4-6 crew members to build several miles of trails!

The project will begin in mid-January 2026 and go through late February or early March.

Pay is $21.00/hr, possibly more for experienced crew members.

We plan 4-day work weeks, approximately 8 hrs per day. This is challenging but very rewarding work. You can expect hike several miles per day and move a lot of dirt! Your 'office' is the great outdoors. SUTA provides tools and PPE.

If you or someone you know might be interested in this opportunity, please have them contact us at [email protected] or
call or text Joy at 541-974-0039 to discuss.

Building and maintaining trails is a great way to see some new terrain and make a difference in your community at the same time! We really need crew members - please spread the word.

12/04/2025

Our Next SUTA Trail Work Party is
SATURDAY December 13, 2025

9:00 am -1:00 pm
Light brushing and tread repair on the Tunnel Ridge-Bear Gulch section of the Sterling Mine Ditch Trail system. Free LUNCH following!

Join us on Saturday, December 13th, 2025 for some light brushing and tread repair in the Tunnel Ridge-Bear Gulch section of the Sterling Mine Ditch Trail. There are a couple segments of the Tunnel Ridge Access Trail with tread damage that we'll be repairing along with some brush trimming and lopping along the entire loop.

Meet-up at the Tunnel Ridge Trailhead at 9:00. The trailhead is near the 10 mile mark on Little Applegate Road. Check our website for driving directions if you haven't been there before.

Expect to hike up to 5 miles round trip.

What to Bring: Wear comfortable and supportive hiking or work boots. Also bring work gloves, and dress in layers appropriate to the weather. Bring your own water bottle and SUTA will have water at the trailhead for refills. SUTA will also provide some yummy home-baked trail snacks! We provide tools, but if you have a favorite tread tool, loppers, or pruning saw, feel free bring it (write your name on it please).

There IS such a thing as a FREE LUNCH! SUTA will provide a hearty hot lunch back when we are finished working.

RSVP: If you plan to come, please email [email protected] so we can plan the lunch and snacks! Thank you!

Thank you for helping us keep these community trails open!

(Watch the weather forecast and your email in case of weather cancellation, or check www.sutaoregon.org)