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There are plenty of campers and hikers in American Fork Canyon this holiday weekend, which is why there also are plenty of tow trucks on standby.
The campgrounds are crowded and the parking lots are full, especially the ones at the Timpooneke trailhead and Tibble Fork. Last weekend, the cars there that were parked illegally got towed. This weekend, rangers are trying to keep that from happening.
Ranger Joe McFarlane, with the Uinta National Forest Service, told a driver, "We don't have any available parking spots, so you'll have to stay with your vehicle the whole time."
McFarlane is trying to prevent another parking predicament. He keeps track of who goes up and who comes down.
"Our real objective today is to be out here and let people know where we want them to park so we don't have to write citations and don't have to tow anybody," he said.
That's what happened last weekend, when people parked their cars on both sides of the narrow road, making it impossible for emergency vehicles to get through. Today, there was no towing, just tickets for those who snuck into the campground parking without paying.
Campground host Richard Ferrell said, "The campground is for those who pay to park, but they come right in and just park anywhere."
Ferrell finally put up a new sign saying the campground is full because the old one didn't seem to be working.
"Nine-thirty last night, [someone asked] ‘Are you really full?' Can you read the sign? It says yes, we are full. ‘Yes, but maybe somebody cancelled,'" Ferrell said.
The parking lot at the Timpooneke trailhead did have some turn over today.
Hiker Jeff Larson said, "We lucked out that a couple of people left so we got a space. But there are probably 150 people that didn't get a place to park."
But some say parking is still a problem that could be fixed.
Ferrell said, "They could widen the road on one side and park 100 cars between here and the top of our campground."
Another campground host, Kathleen Holladay, said, "It would help to carpool. Because you see a lot of people come and there's one in a car and the friends are in a car themselves."
Ferrell added, "They need to restrict the number of hikers that come in."
For now, forest rangers are staying put on Timpooneke Road. They're prepared to write citations or even call a tow truck if anyone parks illegally.
Joe McFarlane said, "The only reason we do that is because it is a safety issue."
The full parking lots can be blamed on the holiday weekend and the fact that people are opting to stay closer to home because of high gas prices.
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
