The Wilderness Land Trust has acquired the last remaining 160-acre private acres that could have blocked access to the Thornburg Canyon Trail near Markleeville.

It covers more than eight miles point-to-point from Blue Lakes Road at 9,000 feet to the quaint mountain town of Markleeville at 5,500 feet.

Pleasant Valley from the Markleeville side. Photo/LTN file

The purchase of this property builds on another Wilderness Land Trust purchase in 2009 and protects one of the last private inholdings in the 99,000 acre Mokelumne Wilderness. It helps protect the headwaters of the Carson River, a lifeline for resident wildlife and people.

“The land is one of only two properties within the Humboldt-Toiyabe Forest area of the Mokelumne Wilderness to remain in private ownership,”Aimee Rutledge, the land trust’s California program manager, said in a statement. “Private uses inconsistent with wilderness would have despoiled an unbroken expanse of wilderness and could have blocked public access to the Thornburg Canyon trail.”

The area includes many miles of popular trails including a segment of the Pacific Crest Trail, and offers hiking, horseback riding, backpacking, fishing, birding, snowshoeing and cross country skiing.