Big No No!

[dennis porter]

Greetings,
I received word this week from the caretaker at the Issac Walton League property that people have been riding and building tree ramps on their hiking trails. We have a agreement with the League that we will respect their wishes to stay off their hiking trails if they help us to oppose the paved trail. Also, at this point the current trail that we can ride on goes through their land. If they wanted they could put no tresspassing signs up and that would be it. We need everyones help to stop people from riding and building stuff on the areas they don't want riders. Please if you see anyone going towards their hiking trails remind them that they are jeopardizing mountain biking on the River Trail. We will try to get more signage up soon.

Thanks for your help,
Dennis.

[TrailPatrol]

Dennis, et al.
I will be down at the River Bottoms possibly tonight, and on Sunday for sure. (Weather looks good at this point.) I will make a point to be in the area of the IWL property as much as possible to "educate, assist and inform"

Ride safe,
:banana:
Hans

[Kingbozo]

What kind of signage is currently there? I was there a couple of weeks back. In the area that I suspect is IWL land, I noticed a sign that was so worn out it was essentialy blank.

[aliensporebomb]

That's distressing to hear since there *were* signs indicating when people
were on Isaac Walton land.

What I'm thinking is needed is some sort of sign specifically for MTB users
at the trailheads that cautions them against this behavior - we wouldn't
want to lose our access (especially since this trail is only 3 miles from
my house!).

Maybe a sign at the trailheads with the URL of the website at the bottom.

And when in that section, maybe some other kind of sign.

My guess is the folks who are doing it are people not clued into the
issues that potentially affect this trail, but then again it's hard to say.

[TrailPatrol]

I have yet to see a IWL sign coming in from Bloomington Ferry. There is one coming from the east, however it is way up in a tree, and if you are watching your line, you may not catch it. We need signage at the property lines staying "Stay on Trail" That being said, there are quite a few local BMX-ers/kids using the trail, and I wonder if they might be some of the culprits in this instance?

Ride safe,
Hans

[Don Youngdahl]

What I'm thinking is needed is some sort of sign specifically for MTB users
at the trailheads that cautions them against this behavior - we wouldn't
want to lose our access (especially since this trail is only 3 miles from
my house!).

Maybe a sign at the trailheads with the URL of the website at the bottom.


MORC signage at the trailhead is a good idea, but we need to keep it to a minimum because local U.S. Fish & Wildlife management dislikes mountain biking very much, and maintains that mountain biking is not a legal, legitimate activity on the river bottom trail. That "refusal to work with us" attitude has frequently tied our hands in our efforts to promote responsible mountain biking there.

So why don't they take enforcement action like they did when someone made an illegal trail west of Bloomington Ferry trailhead several years ago, or like they will if bikers trespass on the refuge just west of Old Cedar Ave Bridge? Good question, and only Fish & Wildlife knows the answer. I could speculate all day on the various possible reasons why they continue to allow mountain biking on Fish & Wildlife land west of Lyndale, but I'm absolutely certain of only one thing: If mountain bikers always take the high ground on everything related to user conflict, trespass, environmental degradation, etc, that will greatly help our cause.

Don Youngdahl

[grizzly adam]

Can you be any more specific as to where this land is? Do you have to take a branch off the main trail to get to their land or does the main trail go that close?

[KleinCrazy]

Can you be any more specific as to where this land is? Do you have to take a branch off the main trail to get to their land or does the main trail go that close?
Their land is between the creek that the tail goes north to get around on the west and the little dip area withthe big tree down on the east.

the area has been rerouted a couple of times in the past couple of years. Thier is a couple of log climbs on the east side and the trail now follows the creek on both sides before crossing, it has always been a low area that was prone to being muddy.

There are signs along the mountain bike trail, up in the trees from both directions. at least thier were last year.

the one coming from the west was just after the dip to cross the creek culvert, the one from the east was a little ways beyond the dip near the fallen tree.

[BADEXPRESSO]

I don't remember sign-age. Maybe someone could take a picture and we could all look for it next time.

[TomT]

The signage isn't in your face, but it is there, similar to "No Tresspassing", "No hunting", and "Private Property" signs.

The signage is faded, about the size of a No parking sign, and contains a large version of their logo.