PICNIC AREA TO CLOSE

After eating sandwiches, chips and a surprise dessert of Hostess cupcakes this week at Mount Charleston's Cathedral Rock Picnic Area, 2-year-old Lucas Salo entertained himself by throwing rocks and pine cones.

But come this time next year, Lucas and his parents will have to find another spot on the mountain to eat lunch and encounter nature.

Officials with the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area are planning to close Mount Charleston's most popular picnic area in September to begin a $4.3 million rehabilitation project, which will result in a decrease in picnic sites and an increase in parking. Lucas could be in kindergarten by the time the project is completed.

"This is our busiest site, and every weekend we turn away hundreds of vehicles because we don't have the occupancy for them," said Christian Gearhart, a spokesman for the recreation area.

On Thursday, Lucas and his parents, Clint and Natalie, left their home in Henderson for a family outing on the mountain. They chose the Cathedral Rock area for the same reason so many other visitors do: It's easy to find. The picnic area and its adjacent trailhead are at the end of state Route 157, which connects U.S. Highway 95 to Kyle Canyon.

"We could accommodate more picnickers," Gearhart said. "The problem is: They all just want to picnic here because they don't know of any place else to go."

Clint Salo, a fourth-year medical student at Touro University-Nevada, said he learned about the Cathedral Rock Picnic Area on the Internet. Its proximity to the Las Vegas Valley made it more appealing than others on the mountain, he said.

"We were just talking about how it's nice and we need to come up here more often," he said.

The Salos and tourists from Texas and England were among the few people in the picnic area Thursday, a sunny and breezy day with temperatures in the 60s. But visitors flock to the area on weekends, especially in the summer, when scorching heat in the valley sends them searching for cooler temperatures.

"We're a little concerned about the Forest Service's plan to shrink the size of that facility," said Steve Werner, vice president of American Land & Leisure.

The Utah-based company manages the Cathedral Rock Picnic Area for the U.S. Forest Service, which manages the National Recreation Area. Werner said about 11,000 carloads paid the $7 fee to use the picnic area last year, and he estimated that those vehicles carried 35,000 visitors.

Officials said the picnic area frequently operates over capacity, causing visitors to park illegally on the highway and nearby private property.

While the rehabilitation plan will increase trailhead parking in the 35-acre picnic area, it will result in a loss of about 40 single picnic sites and two group sites.

"It's better utilization of the space," Gearhart said.

Werner isn't so sure. He said he doesn't monitor trailhead parking, which is currently limited to five free spaces, but he does keep track of picnickers.

"What we're essentially doing is trading picnic spaces for trailhead parking, and that may be a legitimate trade," he said. "It just has yet to be determined."

He said company representatives expect to turn away 18,000 picnickers a year after the project is completed. What he doesn't know is how many people will pay to park at the trailhead.

Werner said new picnic facilities are planned for another area of Kyle Canyon and could make up for the loss of sites at Cathedral Rock in the future.

Officials said the renovation at Cathedral Rock is needed not only to add parking, but because the area's facilities are outdated and do not meet accessibility standards. In addition, a 2005 avalanche damaged parts of the picnic area, wiping out several picnic sites and two restroom buildings.

The area originally was constructed in 1930 as a campground and was reconstructed in 1968 as a picnic area.

"The four existing restroom facilities are over 40 years old and show signs of heavy use," according to the proposal for the rehabilitation project. "The sewer system consists of septic tanks and leach fields, which are about 40 years old and nearing the end of their operational life."

The project will begin with the removal of all concrete picnic site pads and tables, as well as the demolition of all toilet buildings. The second phase will focus on restoring the health of the vegetation, and the third phase will involve construction.

"Everything just kind of needs sprucing up," Gearhart said.

Officials plan to reopen the picnic area in spring 2011 with trailhead parking for up to 100 vehicles, 24 single picnic sites, 11 double picnic sites, and eight new wheelchair-accessible toilet facilities.

Two new trailheads will provide access to the Cathedral Rock, Little Falls and South Loop trails. Officials also plan to develop a trail system within the picnic area that will consist of short loops and/or destination trails, including one wheelchair-accessible trail.

Gearhart said the existing Cathedral Rock Trailhead will remain open during the renovation.

Thomas Schneekloth, manager at the neighboring Mount Charleston Lodge, said his customers compete for parking with hikers in the summer months and with those seeking snow play in the winter. He said many hikers use the lodge's parking lot to avoid paying to park at the Cathedral Rock Picnic Area, which is closed in the winter.

Schneekloth said the lodge has up to three people in its parking lot at peak times to help save spaces for those using its restaurant and log cabins.

Representatives of the lodge have proposed adding a free parking area in a turnabout located between the business and the picnic area.

"No matter what they do up there, we're afraid it's still not going to solve the situation," Schneekloth said.

Gearhart said Forest Service officials are considering all the input they received during the public comment period, which ended Sept. 24. They plan to consult with the Nevada Department of Transportation, which has authority over the area where lodge representatives have proposed adding free parking.

"There's nothing that we're saying no to," Gearhart said.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or (702) 383-0264.