Note: This article was originally published in a modified form by the U.S. Forest Service.
In the 1880s, Douglas Island was the site of the largest gold mining complex in the world. A 14-mile-long aqueduct carried water from a subalpine lake at what is now known as Eaglecrest Ski Area to the Treadwell Mine, where it powered stamp mills that crushed ore to extract gold. When the mine closed in the 1920s, maintenance of the berm-and-ditch structure came to a halt.
At an easy, 1% grade, and not far from the highway that borders the Gastineau Channel, what is known today as the Treadwell Ditch Trail has long been attractive to Juneau’s recreation enthusiasts. However, windfalls, washouts and the deterioration of bridges made it nearly impassable — limited only to those willing to traverse downed logs and deep ravines.
Local trail enthusiasts set out to change that — mobilizing public entities, nonprofit organizations and volunteers in an enormous, decades-long effort. This summer, a helicopter placed 55-foot-long beams for the final bridge that connected the trail, end to end, for the first time in a century.
A vision takes shape
The vision for restoration began as early as 1993, when Treadwell was identified as a top priority for trail work by the city of Juneau, which, along with the Forest Service and Alaska State Parks, stewards much of the land the trail passes through. This same year, the organization Trail Mix Inc. was created to facilitate the effort, coordinating between these three agencies to carry out the trail work.
At first, repairs focused on the most critical of the 64 bridges requiring reconstruction. In 2008, the Forest Service commenced bridge surveys and, in 2010, Trail Mix set to work constructing a handful of bridges.
A Trail Mix board member at the time, Dave Haas, was excited about the project, but concerned about the pace at which resources were becoming available. To accelerate the process Haas and two others in 2017 initiated a new trail crew —consisting entirely of volunteers — the Volunteer Trail Maintenance Team. He said the team is comprised of a sizable number of retired people.
“Most of us are old enough, we wanted to see it done — wanted to run, bike and hike it before we couldn’t do it anymore,” he said.
Equipped with Forest Service training in chainsaws, sustainable trail construction, historic structure preservation and wilderness first aid, the crew set to work — focusing their efforts on the trail tread in between bridges. Two mornings a week, from March through November, this volunteer juggernaut worked to clear trees and set the course of a trail that will endure. In the seven years since it formed, roughly 100 people have contributed a cumulative 14,000 hours — the equivalent of $500,000 — of donated labor.
“Volunteers embody the concept of ownership and stewardship for the places they use and love,” said Forest Service Recreation Management Specialist Pete Schneider. “And the money saved by utilizing volunteer labor can be spent elsewhere to get a better product in the end and an improved sense of ownership from the public that has immense long-term value.”
A major boost came in 2019, when a Pittman-Robertson grant was awarded to cover the costs of trail reconstruction, including bridges, gravel and helicopter time, with matching funds from the Juneau Community Foundation. The initial grant spanned five years, with a supplemental two-year grant awarded in 2023. For the latter, volunteer hours contributed by the Volunteer Trail Maintenance Team qualified as an in-kind donation in lieu of a cash match.
Haas remarked that while the team is out working on the trail, groups of runners often pass by and thank them. “It’s fun doing this—the community loves it.”
Bridging the Gaps
Runners, hikers, and hunters are not the only ones to use the reconditioned berm — as a mixed-use trail, it was constructed with mountain bikers in mind, as well as cross-country skiers in the wintertime.
Mike Dilger, a civil engineering technician for the Tongass National Forest, said the original trail designs were narrower, with a focus on minimizing impact on the trail’s historic structure. After a public comment period, the forest integrated feedback from trail users, in particular, mountain bikers, to slightly widen the trail.
Bridges were key to this process, enabling a widened trail to pass over the 140-year-old aqueduct in some areas. Dilger’s team used glue-laminated slab bridges, with no steps and little vertical gain, to ensure access for diverse modes of recreation.
As Schneider observed, “You used to have to climb way down into a chasm and up with a rope. Now people can get on a bike on one end and go to the other without getting off.”
Schneider and Haas saw an additional benefit to the dozens of new bridges. They worked with the local fire and rescue department to systematically tag each bridge with a number — easily visible to recreators — to quickly indicate their location in the case of emergency. The 14-mile trail has six access spurs, convenient not only for recreating by circuit, but also for more rapid access by emergency responders.
From rejuvenation to recreation
With work to the main trail complete, Haas’ Volunteer Trail Maintenance Team is now focusing efforts on restoring these access spurs in partnership with the Forest Service. However, they know that a trail renovation is never fully complete — windfalls, roots and washouts will require regular trail maintenance, beyond grant funding timelines.
Anticipating future needs, Haas and others created the Treadwell Ditch Trail Maintenance Fund, with the goal of generating interest for repairs and principal for larger expenses such as bridge replacements. This fund now contains more than $160,000 — “all from the Juneau community.” With this support, Haas says the volunteer crew will soon be able to shift gears, “settling into annual maintenance for the long-term.”
When the aqueduct was first installed, the Treadwell Mine employed the most innovative practices of its day to stamp and process ore into gold. Today, community members and agencies are converting their own innovative ideas and resources into a valuable asset for the community — the opportunity to access the outdoors through a world-class trail.
