County of Humboldt press release: 

Panther Gap Road became the first major slide of the year in Humboldt County due to the series of storms that hit the coast.

What began as a drop out in the roadway has since turned into a hillside slide and a substantial drop in the roadway itself. Portions of the road at post mile 0.50 have dropped 10 feet and huge piles of dirt and trees now cover the roadway.

Panther Gap Road drop out on January 22, 2019

Panther Gap Road on January 28. You are looking at the roadway in the lower right hand corner. The roadway has made a substantial drop as trees and debris from the hillside came down a few days later.

On January 22, engineers responded to assess the damage and noticed that the hillside was still moving and clearing out the area would be too dangerous. Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal has declared the area a Local State of Emergency. This will allow the Humboldt County engineers to proceed with remediation and reconstruction plans faster. Current plans are to create a bypass trail for residents to either walk out or use side by side ATV’s to travel through the area.

Engineers have been out on Panther Gap Road for several days surveying and analyzing a more permanent solution to this closure. Crews will be on Panther Gap Road in the next few days opening up a trail. 

Updates on the status of the trail and road will be posted as they become available.