Welcome to SUTA!
SUTA’s mission is to create and maintain a community trail system along the Siskiyou upland ridges linking the existing trail systems of Ashland and Jacksonville. When completed, the trail will follow the ridge west of I-5 between Ashland and Jacksonville in Southern Oregon, and includes the historic Sterling Mine Ditch Trail. These systems will provide a permanent recreational resource for our local community and visitors to our region.
Southern Oregon’s Siskiyou Upland Trails Association!
The Jack-Ash trail system will ultimately connect long-established trails and roads from the Ashland Woodland trails at Wagner Butte across the scenic ridge lines to Anderson Butte and the Jacksonville Woodlands trail system. The Jack-Ash route takes advantage of our area’s jaw-dropping vistas and beautiful forests found on the ridges above Ashland, Talent, Phoenix, Medford, and Jacksonville. The Jack-Ash trail route passes through diverse landscapes and ecosystems. The trail includes the historic Sterling Mine Ditch Trail (SMDT) as part of a loop around Anderson Butte. This community-created trail will provide close-to-home recreational opportunities for all non-motorized activities, including hikers, equestrians, mountain bikers, and runners. The trail can be enjoyed for a short outing or for a long-distance experience.
SUTA partners with the US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as the land manager for most of the public lands the Jack-Ash Trail passes through. SUTA also partners with the US Forest Service, and private land owners, and the Oregon Department of Parks and Recreation to develop and maintain the trails.
As we formalize this trail system over the next several years, we will be working with the local community of recreational users, and our other partners. SUTA’s goal is to meet the recreational needs of our local community while ensuring our trail is carefully sited and built to be sustainable and to protect the resources we all want to enjoy well into the future.