USFS Rd. 19 restricted

The Willamette National Forest will close part of Forest Service Road 19, also known as Aufderheide Drive for fire recovery and safety mitigation. The closure order went into effect on April 4th and will continue until June 3rd.

The work will take place between milepost 54.32 and milepost 56.32 near Cougar Reservoir, and a gate will be installed south of Forest Road 1900-408.

Access to several popular recreational day-use sites and campgrounds, including Terwilliger "Cougar" Hot Springs, will not be accessible from Highway 126. Other affected recreation sites include the Echo Boat Launch; Sunnyside Campground; Slide Creek Campground; Cougar Crossing Campground and Boat Launch; French Pete Campground; Hard Rock Group Campground; Red Diamond Group Campground; Roaring River Group Campground; Frissell Crossing Campground; Box Canyon Guard Station; and the Box Canyon Horse Camp.

Officials say that after snow melts, recreation sites will only be accessible from the south side of FSR 19 through Westfir. People with reservations at campgrounds off FSR 19 will be impacted by the closure order.

The Forest Service is recommending that all reservation holders contact the McKenzie River Ranger District at 541-822-3381 one to two weeks prior to their campground reservation dates to check for Road 19 status updates. More information is avalable at https://go.usa.gov/xztMR for alternative recreation opportunities.

The closure is designed to protect public safety because of continued landslides and rockfalls. Contractors working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will remove hazards from the Holiday Farm Fire that include fire-damaged trees, loose detached rock, and downed trees lying on the slope, as well as other debris that could cause hazardous conditions on the road.

"The rock scaling and fire-damaged tree removal on Road 19 is part of fire recovery and safety mitigation," said McKenzie River District Ranger Darren Cross. "The fire impacts have affected several parts of the road, and we are working diligently for the safety of the public and employees."

The official closure order and map are available online at https://tinyurl.com/d5c7nsku and https://tinyurl.com/54n2e2z4. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @WillametteNF for more updates.