A years-long effort to restore a rugged 21.8-mile trail along the South Fork Merced River, tucked against Yosemite National Park's western edge, is entering what organizers call its final push this fall. Mariposa Trails has spent much of 2026 sending volunteers and professional crews deep into the backcountry to clear brush, downed trees and overgrowth from a route that has been difficult to pass for years.
The restoration is being carried out under the South Fork Merced River Trail Restoration Project, a multiyear effort scheduled to run from 2023 through 2027 and funded by a grant from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, according to Mariposa Trails. The project aims to restore and maintain roughly 18 miles of nonmotorized trails in the area, including the South Fork Merced River Trail itself, the Savage-Lundy Trail and trails near Hite's Cove. Mariposa Trails describes fall 2026 as the campaign's final push to complete the work, as reported by Sierra News Online.
The San Francisco Chronicle has also been tracking the project, describing the route as a 21-mile thru-hike along a remote stretch of the South Fork Merced River at Yosemite's western edge. The trail begins at an unmarked trailhead on Wawona Road inside Yosemite National Park, crosses into Sierra National Forest about a mile from its start, and ends at the Hite Cove Trail and Highway 140 near Yosemite's Arch Rock entrance, per the Chronicle's reporting.
Volunteers Hauling Extra Weight Into the Backcountry
Much of the heavy lifting has fallen to a hired American Conservation Experience crew, which Mariposa Trails brought on to handle the major trail work, the same Sierra News Online report notes. The group's broader work plan calls for 12 fully supplied eight-day outings, each involving six trail crew members camping in the backcountry at the work site, according to the organization's project overview.
Volunteers are also being recruited to pitch in. Organizers are asking participants to carry their regular daypack plus an additional 10 to 15 pounds of supplies on what the same report describes as difficult, roughly nine-mile round trips with about 2,000 feet of elevation gain on the hike out. The current online schedule lists Kistler Trail outings and a Devil's Gulch trip at the end of October, per the same account.
This isn't the first round of hands-on repair work. In spring 2021, Mariposa Trails assembled the Sierra National Forest, the Sierra Freepackers and the California Conservation Corps to restore five miles of the trail, laying groundwork for the larger effort now underway, according to the organization's project documents. The current team includes the Sierra National Forest, the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation, the Sierra Freepackers, American Conservation Experience and community volunteers, the same source states.
A Trail That Still Disappears Into the Terrain
Even with years of work behind it, the trail remains a serious undertaking. It is currently described as unsigned, crossing multiple creeks and rivers, and in places blocked by brush and downed trees or simply vanishing into the terrain, according to Hiking Project. The same trail description notes that under current conditions, hikers should plan for five days and four nights on the route, a significant jump from the shorter trips the trail once accommodated.
The South Fork of the Merced River, which the trail follows, is a designated Wild and Scenic River, and several crossings must be forded because there are no bridges spanning it, per Hiking Project's account. The restoration project also calls for installing wayfinding, directional, place-name, mileage and cultural interpretation signs along the route, as well as producing new trail-user maps, according to Mariposa Trails' project overview.
Other Sierra Trails Coming Back From Fire Damage
The South Fork Merced effort is part of a broader pattern of fire-damaged trails slowly reopening across the Sierra and beyond. The National Park Service has documented trails reopening after lightning-caused fires in Yosemite National Park, while crews elsewhere in California have worked to restore trails in Big Basin Redwoods State Park following the CZU Lightning Complex fire, according to NBC Bay Area. Closer to home, the Chronicle has reported that a scenic Yosemite trail segment overlooking Nevada Fall reopened after three years of repairs.
For now, the exact timeline for when the South Fork Merced River Trail will be fully passable from end to end has not been independently confirmed. What is clear is that the restoration remains active, with volunteers and professional crews continuing to push into the backcountry this fall to keep chipping away at one of the region's most demanding trail-repair projects.
