ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Horseshoe Lake Loop Trail is one of the most popular trails in the Lakes Basin, with over 500 visitors each day over the Summer months. Many visitors and locals alike enjoy the trail as it is the only multi-use, soft surface trail in the Lakes Basin that allows bicycles. The Horseshoe Lake Trailhead is the terminus of the Lakes Basin Trolley route and where the Lakes Basin Path begins the extremely popular several mile descent back into Mammoth Lakes. 

A vital bridge along the Trail was significantly damaged by snow and ice during the Spring Runoff of 2017. The bridge was impassable and posed a safety hazard to the public. 

The United States Forest Service (USFS) estimated the cost to replace the bridge to be $10,000, with no funding available for the project. As part of the Memorandum of Understanding and Challenge Cost Share Agreement the Town of Mammoth Lakes (TOML) has a with the USFS, the TOML is authorized to perform trail maintenance on facilities within its municipal boundary. Typically, this type of maintenance is paid for with Measure R tax revenues allocated to the Mammoth Lakes Trail System, but because the bridge is not Town owned or managed, restricted Measure R funds could not be used. In dire need of replacing this bridge, MLR was asked to fill the funding gap and successfully raised over $14,000 to cover the costs to replace the bridge. 

The bridge was dismantled and removed through a cooperative effort between the USFS, Cal Fire and the TOML in October 2018. During the Summer of 2019, TOML Trail Crew working with crews from USFS, and Cal-Fire began work to replace the bridge. All the materials needed to be transported to the work site by hand. Over the course of several days, the buttresses were replaced, and the span was rebuilt. Now we have an entirely new bridge which allows hikers and cyclists to complete the loop safely.

The following Summer, TOML Trail Crew built a second bridge on the Horseshoe Lake Loop Trail with funds raised by MLR. This second bridge offered a way for trail users to safely cross a small drainage that was notoriously boggy and offered no alternative to soggy socks!

Mammoth Lakes Recreation thanks each partner for helping to fund the bridge replacement with an extended thank you to Beverly Langston and the Langston Family Trust for their continued love and support of the Horseshoe Lake area.