Sparks Lake Not Yet Ready for Visitors
Sparks Lake is one of our favorite Central Oregon places to take visitors to showcase why we love where we live. Located off the Cascade Lakes Highway, the views of Broken Top and South Sister from the Ray Atkeson Memorial Trail are spectacular and the lake is usually filled with non-motorized boats and paddle boards during the summer months.
We drove up to Sparks Lake today hoping to catch some mountain views between the clouds and late snow showers. However, the views did not come out and the weather remained cool and overcast.
One other item we have to note is the poor condition of the road, restroom and trail. Central Oregonians are out enjoying the outdoors. The fact that the forest service cannot provide decent care of the roads to our well loved sites cannot be excused by Covid-19; the road to Sparks Lake has been in horrible condition for years. The Ray Atkeson trail has a short 1/3 mile paved trail designed to be accessible for those in wheel chairs. But the road to the traihead is so full of pot holes it is sure to cause shaking and stress to those who need wheel chairs. And the tree fall from winter have not been cleared off the trail - and we are now entering peak season for visitors.
The lake is open, but the restrooms are awful. It is obvious that no one has cleaned or stocked them since last fall. If visitors have the opportunity to recreate in the Cascade High Lakes, why in the world does the forest service not provide restrooms for them? Obviously visitors will have to use the restroom - and will regardless of whether or not there are facilities to use. Better for the forest service to provide service than to rely on people to clean up after themselves in the woods.
We purchased our National Forest Pass last fall. This pass, which costs an annual fee, was justified when implemented in that it would provide funds to make sure our recreational areas in the forest are maintained. In essence, it is a contract between the public who purchase the pass and the forest service to maintain the recreational sites. In lieu of what has transpired so far in 2020, the public should receive a refund.
