Anyone here landed at Cottonwood Landing AZ.? Dirt strip on Lake Mojave, across from Cottonwood Cove Resort. It was reported as closed by NPS in late 1980's But showed up on maps as late as 2008 as "reported", Looking for any history of Club out of Kingman AZ. that maintained it, as I was told. And was there any public input to it's closure?



I had many enjoyable trips there, with crystal clear water and excellent fishing for Bass and Trout back in late 1980's. Only strip I know of one could camp at plane 100 ft. from water, in CA. AZ area.

I fly over cottonwood - it's landable but in the national park service area - wouldn't recommend it unless emergency . There are several other strips in area .

H:

Don't know if you are familiar with Mark who is RAF rep for AZ. I think there has been some activity going on with Cottonwood (not sure, but I think have seen it mentioned somewhere).

You may want to ask him about that site.

PM me if you need his email address.

Good luck. Looks like a pretty area.

I'm the one working with Mark Spencer, AZ RAF on status of this strip. It is still listed on latest Federal Code of Regulations Title 36, Lake Mead Recreational Area as a designated landing area.

There is no more beautiful place to camp and fish withing a couple of hours of S. California:



This is what the approach looked like back in 1980's when I used it, the 150 wide old runway was overgrown and we landed on the 25 ft wide roadway.

And here is what beach looks like 100 ft. from tie down area:

This is the page from current CFR listing Cottonwood Landing #4:



The operator of the Resort across the lake, Cottonwood Cove (Forever Resorts) which the strip was originally built for, is positive about getting the strip back into shape. Historically one could overfly the resort, and they would send a boat over to pick you up. I used to pack a 11' inflatable sport boat and 15 outboard in my Maule and putt over to store at resort for groceries..
I've talked to NPS pilot for area and he contends the Supervisor is against operations on this strip.
But, I have the feeling there was no public input to it's closure or was not done properly, as it still shows up in CFR's???? We will need a lot of voices to get this back, I have volunteers with equipment to re-drag the original strip back out to 150' wide.

It you had ever camped here, you would know this is one really worth fighting for. Why can seaplanes, moor here, why can boats, 4x4's etc use this area and we, with the smallest footprint and an historical landing strip cannot?????

bump, changed email so post to stay connected to this thread.

Yes, I've been working this one with Mike for just about a year. This airstrip was closed by the Superintendent in roughly 1984. They never amended the CFR, but have made it clear that they have no intention of reopening it. They point out that three other airstrips remain, and most of the water surface is accessible to seaplanes. We've given them all the information necessary to support its reopening and will continue to work with the NPS as long as it stays positive. I do not intend to get sideways with them on this one as they are supporting us in our efforts at Tuweep, and, as they point out, have kept 3 other airstrips open in the Lake Mead Recreation area. (Mark theRAF.org)

mspenc45 wrote: and, as they point out, have kept 3 other airstrips open in the Lake Mead Recreation area. (Mark theRAF.org)

can you point us to the three strips they have kept open for us please?

Sorry, I did not catch this last question of the remaining three airstrips. According to the CFR and the Park Service they are:

(1) Temple Bar landing strip, located at approximate latitude 36°01′ N., approximate longitude 114°20′ W.
(2) Pearce Ferry landing strip, located at approximate latitude 30°04′37″ N., approximate longitude 114°02′44″ W.
(3) Echo Bay landing strip located at approximate latitude 36°19′ N., approximate longitude 114°27′ W.

I agree with Mike that Cottonwood Landing would be a gem, but there's many like it that will not be open without working the larger picture, and that involves much work all the way back to Washington D.C. where the RAF is busy and very engaged. You'll see the RAF has made, and will make several announcements in the coming weeks, USFS planning directives including aviation, this last Omnibus package including language requesting the USFS to include airstrips in their next budget request, MOU's being signed with federal land managers, etc. All this may eventually help Cottonwoood Landing. We've addressed it at the local level to the extent possible, wrote a letter to the Superintendent, talked with the park pilot's, who are extremely pro aviation, even supporting us in re-opening Tuweep in conference calls with the state, but to no avail at Cottonwood. This all takes hundreds of volunteer hours and patience, but thus far its hard to argue with the results overall. In Arizona alone, we've had 5 airstrips re-opened in the last few years, and with the nearly completed USFS MOU, Grapevine will be re-charted, Pleasant Valley, (24AZ) will change to Public use, and we've already completed the FAA forms and submitted them to chart the Double Circle. This is a big picture struggle, and we do well when we approach it that way, all working together.

Pilots take note, Cottonwood is what happens when an aviator sues a federal land manager for his own error, which happened over cottonwood landing airstrip. Even though it was dismissed, this strongly influenced where we are today on this airstrip.

Mark S. The RAF

"Pilots take note, Cottonwood is what happens when an aviator sues a federal land manager for his own error, which happened over cottonwood landing airstrip. Even though it was dismissed, this strongly influenced where we are today on this airstrip."

I suspect Cottonwood is not the only place where bad pilot skills must be some one else's fault . This way of thinking adds to the closure of many strips. What is needed is a law to get passed that totally relieves the owners of all responsibility when it comes to landing aircraft. That responsibility should be totally with the pilot and judges should make their decisions based on that. You crashed your plane that's your problem.
The problem is that judges and lawyers make a good living with the current type of thinking.

Excellent point Magnum! Liability limitation is a cause that RAF began spearheading through amending existing state recreational use statutes (RUS) across the country. In fact this was my first official task as the AZ state liaison. We added aviation to A.R.S. 33-1551 in 2011, as the 14th state to do so. As of this week we have 25 states that have now added aviation to their RUS statute. California joined last year and we just gained another state this week. This has helped immensely with both public and private land owners. My personal opinion is that this should not have been necessary as the FARs in 91.3a squarely place the safety of flight on the PIC, but the RUS helps prevent frivolous lawsuits against the land owners. Sadly, some land manager/owners still throw liability out there as the barrier, but this is quickly diminishing as we educate people about the the subject.

The RAF is doing a fantastic job and someday in the future maybe nobody will have to ask the question ,is that ???strip still open for public use. They will just know that if it's landable it's open for public use.
KenW

Ken, that hope is music to my ears!

AOPA just released this today:

http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All- ... c_sect=adv

Still dreaming of landing/camping here.

What were the details of that accident and subsequent lawsuit mentioned as the rotten egg in the Cottonwood salad?

I agree. Fear mongering has closed a lot of airports and lost everyone access to a bunch more. I can think of several in the PNW.

A great history here:


http://www.airfields-freeman.com/AZ/Air ... archlight1

To any and all still interested in this strip.. I would love to somehow be involved in this strip again being accessable for use..

Jmackie411 wrote:To any and all still interested in this strip.. I would love to somehow be involved in this strip again being accessable for use..

Arizona Pilots Association might also be a good group to volunteer to help with this.