South Side of the wildlife preserve!!!

[Beaner128]

I was just wondering how many people ride on the South Side of the wildlife preserve? There are trails that go up into the bluffs but these are all on the North Side of the preserve. The south side is the side that you can use the bridge to cross the river. This portion of the trail is very sandy and almost impossible to ride, since I work across the river however this is the fastest mountain bike route there is. If there are any suggestions as to what I could do to help make this trail a little easier to ride I would gladly work on them while I'm riding on this trail.

Thanks

:zzz:

[nigel]

I was just wondering how many people ride on the South Side of the wildlife preserve? There are trails that go up into the bluffs but these are all on the North Side of the preserve. The south side is the side that you can use the bridge to cross the river. This portion of the trail is very sandy and almost impossible to ride, since I work across the river however this is the fastest mountain bike route there is. If there are any suggestions as to what I could do to help make this trail a little easier to ride I would gladly work on them while I'm riding on this trail.

Thanks

:zzz:
You mean by the old Cedar bridge, or across it by the 77 highway bridge i should say?

I take them to hook up with the 35w lot when i ride there form home. It goes along the river and around the bird refuge area, as the school trail goes around it the other side. They kinda form a big circle around it. Ive NEVER seen no bike signs on that trail in the 10 years ive been riding that.....they are all over the bird trails (seen em when i walked it once) but not on the others by the river. As far as i know you can ride there, tracks galore and i always see riders too. But like any trail, if you see a walker stop, and say hi.

We used to park and start there for years until the car break ins got to crazy and it happened to us, and then they closed the old bridge too (ruined a great road route grrrr!)

Some of the other guys might know if we are not supposed to ride on it, it is quite sandy most of the year but always fully rideable.

Douglas

[seberly]

I take this to mean the dirt "road" that starts going west just North of the Hwy 77 bridge which degrades into a sandy trail through itchy weeds (at least in the heart of summer) which crosses the long meadow lake drainage inland a bit and ends up bringing you into the bluff trail about 1/2 mile east of the 35W Bridge.

I ride this area occasionally to connect to the trail which goes East/North on the other side of the Cedar Bridge, to make a loop, and to connect to the Wildlife Refuge (to get there go east from the north side of the Hwy 77 bridge).

As far as I know this trail is multi-use. I also think it is Fish and Wildlife or DNR land vs. the bluff trail which is on City of Bloomington property.

As far as making it better we don't have any official permission to do this but if in some areas there is more than one parallel trail and you want to work on getting people to stay on one trail that happens to be better for riding (i.e., less weedy, muddy, sandy) that is probably OK and welcomed as it reduces impact on the area. The way to do this is to block off the other trails with nearby brush etc. Also, cutting the weeds would be OK when they grow up.

[nigel]

As far as making it better we don't have any official permission to do this but if in some areas there is more than one parallel trail and you want to work on getting people to stay on one trail that happens to be better for riding (i.e., less weedy, muddy, sandy) that is probably OK and welcomed as it reduces impact on the area. The way to do this is to block off the other trails with nearby brush etc. Also, cutting the weeds would be OK when they grow up.
Cooly, nice to know i have not been riding on a no bike trail :) I do use it quite a bit, if anyone wants to try and get out and clean it up (who do i contact for permission?) id be more than willing to spend some time down there with the propper tools and make it easier to ride/walk, it can get pretty nastily overgrown as it gets closer to June and on.

Douglas

[Beaner128]

Good to hear that others ride this trail as well. I work in Eagan and since the Old Cedar Bridge is closed the only other option is to cross the river at 494. This would add 6 to 7 miles onto my commute. It is quite sandy especially the spots where you are fairly close to the river, and right by the Black Dog Power Plant. I often take Black Dog Road when I'm driving home, and seldom do I see bikers, even when I ride I don't see too many others out at least on that side of the trail. Now that I know others at least ride it, I'll know to look for you out there. I especially enjoy riding it in the early morning just when the Eagles are out.

Later

'Beaner'

[Don Youngdahl]

I especially enjoy riding it in the early morning just when the Eagles are out.


Be careful with that talk about eagles. If the authorities find eagles nesting anywhere near a trail, the trail is likely to get shut down to protect the eagles. Eagles are off the endangered species list and getting increasingly common, but there's still some silly protective rules in place.

Don Youngdahl