Overuse threatens off-road trail
By Matt Weiser - mweiser@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Sunday, January 13, 2008
For a century, the Rubicon Trail has offered unlimited access to the most challenging off-road driving on Earth. But the boulder-strewn detour to Lake Tahoe is falling victim to its own fame.
Overcrowding and highly modified vehicles are threatening the fragile Sierra surroundings. Instead of a remote driving challenge, the 60-mile on- and off-road trail from Georgetown to Tahoma in recent years is more like a nonstop wagon train of four-wheelers teetering over house-sized boulders.
Where families once tiptoed through in Jeeps for a weekend of camping, they now share the trail with gearheads driving custom rock-crawlers assembled with costly modern suspension technology........
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/630687.html