The Thunder Mountain forest has evolved a lot over the years. The 80-acre property was originally part of a massive peach orchard in the early 1900’s. After pines overtook the orchard, it was clear-cut by loggers sometime in the 1970’s. It was about to be clear-cut again in 2014, but we purchased the land and stopped the cutting.
We started construction of our first trail in 2015, and by 2024 had a four-mile network of trails for guests to enjoy. During a drought in summer 2024 we discovered that our trees were experiencing stress caused by overcrowding. A forester recommended thinning of the trees to help the healthy ones to thrive. The thinning would reduce overcrowding, while leaving many trees to continue growing with less competition for sunlight and rain.
– How does a forest thinning affect our guests –
From the cabin and river, you won’t even be notice that 50% of the pine trees have been removed. But most of the trails are now littered with splintered debris. We’ve worked hard to clean up the trails near the cabin and along the river. It will take all of 2025 to get the rest of the trails looking good again. So please bear with us as we reconstruct the deeper forest network of trails.
Thunder Mountain Cabin and Camping 