by Ed » Mon Jan 25, 2016 11:46 am
The Coldwater Trail was an excellent trail, much better than the Holy Jim Trail, with its #%@! access road. And now there is a #%@! wall of brush on both sides of the trail, plus the #%@! bicycles. The Coldwater Trail was closed years ago. The reason was said to be objections by the Glen Ivy Hot Springs resort; the trail crossed its property, or the parking area was on its property. Something like that. Perhaps Glen Ivy's objections had something to do with trashy people doing trashy things there. It was not a problem when I hiked the trail; despite the fact that it was a beautiful winter weekend day, there were no other people at the trailhead or on the trail, and no trash.
Evidently the USNFS folded, despite the fact that the trail had been used by the public for many years, which does confer some legal right to continue use. I am sure the Forest Service could have worked something out with Glen Ivy, with some combination of carrots and sticks. But they did not. What a shame, shifted all the traffic to the Holy Jim Trail.
Since the trail has not been maintained for many years, I assume much of it is overgrown with brush, but much of it is probably useable. I would be very interested in knowing its current condition. I hiked the Holy Jim Trail in 2010, one of my first hikes in my renewed hiking career, and swore I would never do it again. I have very good memories of the Coldwater Trail.
I think your research on access is better than my memory. I vaguely remember a short spur of paved road to the east of the resort, with limited parking. I think we could see some of the resort buildings from the parking area, and they were not far away. Your map shows much more around there than I remember.