THE TRAIL END OF IT ALL

Published in the May 9 2026 edition.

At last Wednesday’s Mammoth Trails meeting at the Mammoth Brewing Eatery, various leaders in Mammoth Lakes’ recreation planning space gave the following updates.

The Cost of A Crapper

How much would you pay to poop?

Well, technically, you might be paying about a million if you’re a taxpayer in Mammoth Lakes.

The town’s Park and Recreation Commision is beginning to set aside funds to replace the Shady Rest Park restroom, of which the total is about $900,000 between design and construction.

The existing restroom, according to Public Works Director Haislip Hayes, is “inadequate for our needs and is past its useful life” and will be turned into storage once the new structure is complete.

The new structure, slated to sit adjacent to the existing restroom, will be heated and functional throughout the year. It would be similar to the bathroom at the park in the Parcel.

That’s what makes the price tag so astronomical. Hayes estimates winterizing the bathroom is  $6-700,000 alone. 

“Building a pit toilet? Not that expensive,” Hayes said. “Having something that’s got heat? Expensive.”

SHARPening up

Last year, trail crews completed roughly five miles of new trail in the Sherwins, according to Mammoth Lakes Trail Manager Andrew Mulford.

This work represents the latest phase of the Sherwin Area Recreation Project (SHARP), a long-winded project to expand and organize the trail system which spans from Hayden Cabin to the end of Old Mammoth Road.

Some of the miles of trail developed are user-created routes that already existed but couldn’t be maintained because the USFS didn’t officially recognize them. By reworking and adopting them into the Town’s network, officials hope to transform the region’s spiderweb of paths into maintainable single-track for cyclists, hikers, and equestrians.

“We didn’t really want to advertise them right away,” Mulford said. “The soils out here don’t have much clay, so they take time to recover. We soft-opened the trails and let them settle in.”

After a winter of snowpack and moisture, those trails are now in much better shape.

“I was just out there walking them and they’ve embedded nicely,” he said. “I think they’re ready to use.”

A new connector near the library and Cerro Coso Community College links into the Town Loop before dropping to Sherwin Creek Road. From there, a scenic stretch winds through the forest toward Sherwin Creek Campground, while another route climbs from Sherwin Creek Road to the Sherwin Lakes Trailhead.

About eight miles of additional approved trail are slated to be built this summer.

Once all the new trails are complete, the planners will diminish existing user trails. Roughly 7.6 miles of informal, user-created routes have been identified for closure and restoration.

With major progress in the Sherwins, trail planning efforts are beginning to shift north of town, centered around Shady Rest Park and the Inyo Craters area.

Town and Forest Service partners first began exploring the area in 2019, but the effort was paused as resources were directed toward advancing the SHARP plan. Now, with that project nearing completion, Mulford said there is renewed capacity to move the northern network forward.

The landscape presents both an opportunity and a challenge. While the area contains an extensive web of roads (roughly 600 miles) there are relatively few connected singletrack trails, particularly for motorized use.

“We’re looking at how to connect what already exists into something that actually functions as a system,” Mulford said.

Early concepts focus on linking fragmented routes into a cohesive network that could serve a broader range of users, including dirt bikes and e-bikes, uses that are not permitted in the Sherwins. The idea is to provide a designated space for those activities while reducing pressure on non-motorized trail systems closer to town.

Plans also include additional non-motorized trails near Shady Rest, with longer, more gradual segments that could accommodate a wide range of users, from beginner riders to families and hikers.

“If we’re restricting certain uses in one place, we need to provide good opportunities somewhere else,” Mulford said.

The project remains in early planning stages, and will require environmental review, public input, and coordination before any construction begins.

A Picnic at the Postpile

At Devils Postpile National Monument, infrastructure upgrades and shifting visitor demand are prompting a broader rethink of how space is used, especially along the river corridor.

According to site manager Rebecca Wong, the park is also currently constructing a new, winterized restroom facility designed to better handle visitation.

At the same time, the monument’s 20-site campground, which has been closed since 2016 due to infrastructure issues and repeated winter damage, is being reevaluated.

Rather than simply reopening it in its current form, the National Park Service is exploring a potential redesign of the space in coordination with landscape architects.

“We’re looking at reconfiguring that area,” Wong said. “One option is to move away from traditional campsite layouts and rethink how the space serves visitors.”

The goal is now to shift the former campground away from overnight use and toward day-use recreation.

“That could mean fewer defined campsites and more open space for picnicking and gathering along the corridor,” Wong said.