Читать книгу Trinity Alps & Vicinity: Including Whiskeytown, Russian Wilderness, and Castle Crags Areas. A Hiking and Backpacking Guide онлайн

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Castle Crags Wilderness is even smaller than the Russian Wilderness, with only about 10,500 acres of protected wilderness. This small pocket of backcountry is bordered by Castle Crags State Park to the southeast and national forest land to the northwest, but the remaining land around the wilderness is a checkerboard of private and public holdings. There are nearly 30 miles of maintained trail within the wilderness. Castle Crags State Park adds another 4,000 acres to the Castle Crags complex, and another 30 miles of hiking trails. Due to the compact size, the Castle Crags area is best suited to day hikers.

Owners of mining claims within the designated wilderness areas may continue to explore and mine their claims, and must be allowed reasonable access to do so. Fortunately, no new claims may be filed without an act of Congress. The USFS validated all existing claims in the development of the Wilderness Operation Plan, which established strict environmental regulation of all mining activities.