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Nate’s Cutoff is now open! Nate’s Cutoff is a trail connecting Gail’s Trail to Boggs Peak
Trail on the southeast side of the forest. Many thanks to Ivo Nuti of Boy Scout Troop
405 in Pleasant Hill. Ivo and his family have a cabin in the area and come up often to
spend time hiking and mountain biking at Boggs. So, when it came time for Ivo to come
up with an Eagle Project on his path to the rank of Eagle Scout, he wanted to give
something back to BMDSF. So, he teamed up with FOBM to bring back Nate’s Cutoff
trail. Ivo worked with FOBM on several trail workdays learning trail building technique,
planning and flagging the trail and on Saturday September 14 brought some of the kids
in the troop up to do the final work on the trail. Once again, thank you Ivo and troop 405
for helping to “bring back Boggs”!

Nine years ago on September 12, 2015, the Valley Fire roared through the community of Cobb and Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest. Over ninety percent of Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest was burned. Thanks to the heroic effort of Cal Fire and many residents, much of the community was saved but the fire and subsequent salvage logging operation destroyed over twenty miles of trails at BMDSF that were a sanctuary for many.

In 2018, when Friends of Boggs Mountain and the public were allowed back into the forest, we made it our new mission to restore the trails destroyed in the fire. The new project required the purchase of tools and heavy equipment as well as the hiring of a professional trail builder and designer to not only recreate the original trail system but make it better and more sustainable. Collaborating with Cal Fire, we have completed over twelve miles of new trails mirroring the old trail network with a goal of adding at least ten more. In 2024 we have restored the Hoberg’s Loop trail as well as Nate’s Cutoff and work has started on Grizzly trail.

There is much more work to be done. Despite much of the work being done by volunteers’
money for tools and professional help continues to be a challenge. If you would like to become involved in trail workdays please watch our website, www.boggsmountain.org, or Facebook page for updates on future workdays. If you would like to become a member or donate much needed funds for this important work, you can find a link to our membership page here. FOBM has no paid staff so 100% of membership dues and donations go toward bringing back Boggs. Please consider joining us in restoring this magical place.

Please join us at the annual Cobb Mountain Blackberry Cobbler Festival this coming Saturday August 24 at the Belmont Pines Golf Club in Cobb, formerly Mountain Meadow, from 11:00 am until 5:00 pm. The highlight is a blackberry cobbler competition as well as local arts and crafts, great food and beverages, a kids play area and more. Friends of Boggs Mountain will have a booth selling T-shirts, limited edition 75th anniversary Boggs Mountain Maps and raffle tickets for a $100 REI gift card and multiple gift cards for Hardester’s Market. All proceeds go to restoring the trails in Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest.

We will be located at booth number 86 so please come by to say hi!

More information can be found here.

It has recently been reported that unauthorized trail construction is taking place in the forest. Most recently a new trail alignment was discovered off of Thinner trail near the fork with Gail’s Trail. Please understand that all trail construction must be approved by Cal Fire. FOBM goes through a painstaking process of professional design and development prior to a shovel hitting the ground taking into consideration grade, soils, water runoff and erosion. Most importantly we want to build trails that are fun to hike or ride. Trails randomly constructed actually delay our goal of restoring the trails since we must deconstruct unapproved trails requiring volunteer hours and cost. 

We all want to expedite trail construction with the goal of fully restoring all the trails destroyed in the Valley Fire. If you want to help us please join one of our volunteer trail days. Trail days are posted in advance on our website and Facebook page. Better yet, become a member and receive an email invitation for all trail work and other activities. A membership application can be found here.

July 20, 2024

Work has begun on Nate’s Cutoff trail

Eagle Scout candidate Ivo Nuti has chosen the rebuilding of Nate’s Cutoff trail as his Eagle Project. The Eagle Scout project is a major service project required to achieve the Eagle Scout rank and must benefit the community or a religious organization. Ivo has worked with FOBM on several trail work days in preparation for the start and on Saturday July 20 the work began. Nate’s Cutoff is a trail connecting Gail’s trail to Boggs Peak trail enabling users to avoid having to hike on road 540 between the two trails. This will be one more trail restored at Boggs Mountain Demonstration State Forest. Many thanks to Ivo and FOBM for this important work!