Tahoe Rim Trail plans alternative hiking routes off Kingsbury Grade

With a $100,000 grant from the state of Nevada announced this year, officials with the Tahoe Rim Trail Association have unveiled plans to use some of the money to create new routes along Kingsbury Grade.

During its annual membership meeting last week, trail officials announced plans to use the grant to help cover the costs of conducting an environmental assessment for 15 miles of alternative trail routes on along the South Shore grade.

"We had an exceptionally good year," said board vice president Barbara Perlman-Whyman. "We expanded our membership, we expanded the Mount Rose portion of the trail, we're considering access from Carson Valley - we've done wonderful things."

The meeting, held at at Tahoe Rim Trail Association headquarters in the D. W. Reynolds Community Nonprofit Center, included an overview of Rim Trail activities, workshops on tips for low-impact recreation, an awards ceremony and speaker Bob Madgic.

Executive director Marc Kimbourgh said $27,000 was donated by the Laura Vento charitable trust to fund the installation of colored informational panels at TRT trailheads.

Kimbourgh said in the year to come the association will look to partner with other public agencies interested in public acquisition of the Incline Lake property.

The hiking trail that runs through the property - not currently available for public use - is a portion of the capital-to-capital trail built in the 1800s.

"It would be a great opportunity to create a loop for hikers in the Mount Rose area," Kimbourgh said. "We'd also be very excited to be able to utilize one of the buildings on the property as a site for outdoor educational classes and other functions."