Sinkhole Closes Wild Mad Road, Possibly for Two Years
Collapsed culvert under the Wild Mad Road. [Image from the U.S. Forest Service – Shasta-Trinity National Forest]
The U.S. Forest Service issued a closure order for Wild Mad Road near the community of Payne within the boundaries of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest. The closure is in effect from Saturday, May 15, 2025, until May 15, 2027, or when the order is lifted.
Wild Mad Road experienced failure of a culvert beneath it, which resulted in a large sinkhole that compromised the roadway.
The sinkhole spans the width of the road and presents a hazard to public safety. The sinkhole appeared on Wild Mad Road at the Dark Creek Canyon crossing southeast of the community of Payne in Trinity County.A large sinkhole nearly crosses the entire road. [Image from the U.S. Forest Service – Shasta-Trinity National Forest]
Those exempt from this order include:Map of where the sinkhole is located. [Image from the U.S. Forest Service – Shasta-Trinity National Forest]
- Persons with Forest Service Permit No. FS-7700-48 (permit for use of roads, trails, or areas restricted by regulation or order), specifically exempting them from this order.
- Any federal, state, or local officer, or member of an organized rescue or fire- fighting force in the performance of an official duty.
This prohibition is in addition to the general prohibitions contained in 36 C.F.R. Part 261, Subpart A. Violation of this prohibition is punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000 for an individual or $10,000 for an organization, or imprisonment for not more than six months.
For more information about the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, go to https://www.fs.usda.gov/r05/shasta-trinity About the Forest Service: The USDA Forest Service has for more than 100 years brought people and communities together to answer the call of conservation. Grounded in world-class science and technology– and rooted in communities–the Forest Service connects people to nature and to each other. The Forest Service cares for shared natural resources in ways that promote lasting economic, ecological, and social vitality. The agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, maintains the largest wildland fire and forestry research organizations in the world. The Forest Service also has either a direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 900 million forested acres within the U.S., of which over 130 million acres are urban forests where most Americans live.Another view of the sinkhole.[Image from the U.S. Forest Service – Shasta-Trinity National Forest]
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2 years? That could be fixed in 2 days.
Kind of like Elk River road , and up to Ridgewood. Been getting worse and worse over the years, but alas, no real fixes. Just more bandaids.
Also Mattole Rd, particularly a few spots between Cueno Creek horse camp and below windy nip. Some sizeable dips have appeared and some on areas just repaired.
Of course, and as we know there’s an entirely different agenda at play. When I was contracting with the Routt in Colorado one project involved a dispute between the F.S. and a private party. The F.S. employee spearheading the claim and I had an on site meeting, and I’ll never forget her comment. “I want these people out of my forest”. The family of “those people” settled on that land in the 1850s twenty five years before the F.S. existed. Thankfully the family prevailed after great expense and anguish.
There’s two different devils in play on forest lands. One that wants to shore up lands away from development for “public use” that never really happens, and now an administration that wants to also kick off the public in favor of development of lands for mining and other uses. All in the name of “national interest” or course. Meanwhile you and I don’t get to use it at all, not without a permit anyway.
It’s an unfortunate consequence of a lack of balance in politics. Of adversarial government which can’t acknowledge that the other side has any point of value that should be considered. Compromise and reality are not tolerated. Agenda and fantasy rule.
When I worked with them there were indeed “two different devils at play”. One was the old school rangers and the other the new school enviros. Enter Forest road 7 to the Devils Causeway in Colorado. The Quaking Aspens were hit with a beetle infestation that was discovered early. Old school rangers In the Steamboat office said a controlled burn of the infested area was the way to address the issue. The young greenies stopped the burn protocol claiming it best to leave it alone. The greenies won and miles of beautiful Aspen groves are now an impassable wasteland of down and dead trees.
Build a ramp on both sides! Braaap
I’m a child of the 70’s. I’m all in on car jumps (and Daisy Duke)!
IMHO: This looks like a Forest Service ‘revenge’ on Trump.
Or maybe just another example of USFS inaction… but heck, I dunno.
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Meanwhile… imagine a collapse of a major culvert filled with soil.
Feeding the Trinity River ! Oh my gawd !
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If a dope garden or timber outfit allowed that to happen there would be an hideous outcry.
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State Legislature Reps/Senators and US Congress Members would be visiting.
Game Wardens called out, State Water Board, County Supervisors, EPIC, PMFC, CalTrout, NEC, County building officials, Indian Tribes, CARB, Arcata City Council, Eureka City Council and lots of committees involved… and I mean MEGA Committees.
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Kinda weird eh ?
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— AI USFS Mission Statement , or was it written by a graduate of an Eastern University ?
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The USDA Forest Service has for more than 100 years brought people and communities together to answer the call of conservation.
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Grounded in world-class science and technology– and rooted in communities–the Forest Service connects people to nature and to each other.
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The Forest Service cares for shared natural resources in ways that promote lasting economic, ecological, and social vitality.
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Lots of Biden/Newsom words up there.
Heaven help the taxpayer.
“Lots of Biden/Newsom words up there.” you got that, trump responses would be a series of grunts and gurgles
This is exactly how Trump got elected. Bozo offered some specific complaints about his perspective on how government has a double standard, mentions what he sees as the words showing how government excuse its behavior while attacking other’s for the same behavior and the respinse is picking out one small phrase to make it all about despising Trump. That is how Trump was kept viable after he lost the 2020 election.
Did leave out a few words though.
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Resilient.
Vibrant.
Under-served People.
Climate Change.
Sea Level Rise.
Bicycle Lane.
Alternative Transport Enabled.
Pedestrian Friendly… (with Landscaping).
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Etc.
Along with “it will be like nothing like this country has ever seen before”.
🤮
‘Many people are telling me this’!
Hell, the Environmental Impact Report will take 23 months. Then another month to fix the road.
A couple of old railroad flat cars will fix that.
No – this hole will keep getting larger.
Yeah, slapping even a concrete culvert (and just the culvert) in won’t stop water going around and under it. Needs reinforcement at the opening sides, etc.
Also, not that I agree with the 2 year time span, sadly that road is not high on the repair agenda.
While I’m here, I just got back from Westport, Washington. The amount of road slippage, asphalt patching and BUMP signage from the repairs on 101 (and WA105) in both states was amazing. All the way down***, even to right down to the town I live in. I’m not exaggerating when I say Alderpoint Road is in better condition.
Anywhere where a creek or other water comes down under the highway the road is screwed.
***Of course, it continues all the way down the coast into Northern California. As we all know.
Uhhh. Replacing the culvert is the solution. This is not a hard fix. Simple in fact. It’s a culvert failure. Shovel with big bucket, cat, and dump truck. 2 people. Driver and equipment operator. Culverts are installed to seal water from going around or underneath them. Culvert Installation 101. It’s a no brainer. Rip rap will be placed around inlet head wall and rip rap will be placed at outlet for energy dissipation. Again, simple. Culverts will be plastic or metal depending on size and fire interval. Cement? No. Should cost around 50 to 100k depending depth of culvert overfill and culvert size. Looks quite large, like a person could stand inside it. Probably need a 10+ foot diameter culvert, which comes in half’s which are bolted together. Culvert will be a third of the cost at this size for this project. The bottom line, this is chump change for the USFS. It could be completed this summer but for the bureaucracy of Golden parachute Cement people. So much for the downstream anadromous salmonids. Guess they actually don’t matter in this case for some WEIRD Cement person reason.
By looking at the photos, I see no reason that a new stronger culvert can’t be placed in that hole. Maybe a concrete intake side would stop the water from going around the culvert and flushing all the support dirt away. What is the National Forest Service waiting for, perhaps funds to file an environmental report (more red tape), a money to start and finish this project. They can sit on their butts but that does not help folks that need to you the road.
The days of cowboy conservation are over. Years ago, according to the story I was told, a park employee took a bulldozer and created a trail in the Rockefeller Grove without paperwork. It’s still one of the most popular trails today. Easy to walk and beautiful.
Regulations have grown so burdensome and advocates so vocal and volatile that it would be impossible to do today. Maybe such regulations make a better trail but the result is rarely a better trail and much more likely older trails are decommissioned, never to be replaced.
Most likely was an old, old animal trail.
Yabut, the days of cowboy conservation might be over, but there must be some way around the red tape. The people need that road open and should be done regardless.
Really? I don’t see culvert openings — out of photo frame, must be way down there. Can’t tell from photo how deep is that hole?
I do assume that the hole is down fairly deep, and I did not see any openings either but there has to be an inlet and outlet to work.
Of course! Seems like a lot of earth to move to get a newer, likely bigger diameter, culvert way down there.
Culvert had probably lasted 50 years.
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Was probably doomed because the USFS doesn’t inspect or service them.
Bummer.
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Think Pelletreau Road is still closed. USFS can’t fix that one either.
The closure affects Forest Road 3N10 (Pelletreau Ridge Road) from the intersection with Trinity County Road 311 for approximately 1.75 miles to 500 feet beyond the intersection with Forest Road 3N30 (Wintoon Flat Road) and all of Forest Road 3N30 within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
That is a big dig to replace that pipe and it does need to be replaced. The hole extends all the way down to the creek bed as shown in the picture of the collapsed culvert and pile of fill in the creek. It’s likely that the failure started when a large piece of floating debris caught on or struck a seam of that multi plate culvert during high flows and tore a hole in the culvert. Once compromised like that, subsequent pieces of debris can expand the hole while a Venturi effect (a vacuum or negative pressure inside the culvert) created by water and air rushing through the pipe will also pull fill material through the tear creating the sinkhole in the road.
As far as replacing the culvert goes that crossing looks to have a lot of fill in it, all of which must be excavated and end hauled to somewhere with enough space hold it and then reloaded and refilled into the crossing again.
If we assume the road width, and by extension the sinkhole width, on that turn is about 25 ft., which is somewhat supported by the shadows of the people in the picture then a very rough estimate of the width and length of that fill is 175 ft. wide by 200 ft. long. If we assume the upstream and downstream fill slopes are at 1.5:1 (horizontal:vertical) ratios that puts the height of the fill, or the vertical distance between the creek bed and the road surface, at around 60 ft.
These assumptions would land us in the neighborhood of 25,000 cubic yards, give or take 2,500 c.y. That makes for somewhere around 3,300 dump truck loads to get the dirt out of the crossing then another 3,300 loads to fill it back in. The dump truck has to able to get to the bottom of the crossing and back out while loaded, so a grade that will allow a dump truck to get in and out of the hole is needed as well, which will probably increase the total amount of dirt needing to be moved.
All these numbers are based off assumptions but I think they are accurate enough to show that this is not a simple nor a quick fix.
Whew! Thank you for that, Ridgy.
What ? Who would dig it out the full width ?
Somebody with really, really, deep pockets I guess.
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No reason to dig the entire culvert out. Just replace the caved in section.
Looks like a seam had failed and/or the over fill had failed under the road.
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>”Culvert does need to be replaced.”
Eh? Why ?
Most of the culvert is still good, not rusty, no corrosion, looks to be good structure.
Do you work for USFS ??
idk why they put a culvert in the first place a flatcar would have been perfect cheap and effective we have them on our roads
Only in the state of commiefornia can shit be so ridiculously out of touch that a road could be closed for 2 years….. gotta focus on tampons in boys bathrooms, mutilating toddlers, and getting bike lanes…..
For goodness sake git er dun! Stop the foot dragging and fix the problem.