Army Reserve Base Trails?

[Stupordave]

Anyone ever approached the army reserve base about building some trails in the back hills on their property? It looks like the perfect spot for some short dh runs and some stunt laden techy trails. It's located just north of St Paul off of highway 10. I almost stopped today to ask the gate gaurd for some info. I'm not sure what the base is used but it didn't look like it was a high security area. You never know unless you ask.

[Buck]

Yeah it'd be techy to the extreme with boobie traps, snipers, cannon fire, land mines and pit falls, wooohoooo, ;) I don't know some one should check it out, I know that place out in, what, Arizona got shut down after 9/11 b/c they were using the base again, or a new fence was being put up or something like that, IMBA had a article on it a while back...maybe a possibility maybe not...

L8R
Buck

[Brick]

Anyone ever approached the army reserve base about building some trails in the back hills on their property? It looks like the perfect spot for some short dh runs and some stunt laden techy trails. It's located just north of St Paul off of highway 10. I almost stopped today to ask the gate gaurd for some info. I'm not sure what the base is used but it didn't look like it was a high security area. You never know unless you ask.

It sounds like you're talking about the old Arsenal property off of Hwy 96. The property has been considered, and discussions have been held, but it sounds like things have gotten pretty well buried in red tape. The Army still owns most of it, the National Guard owns (and uses) a big chunk of it, the city of Arden Hills wants to develop it......oh yeah, the EPA has it flagged as a superfund cleanup site as well.

I think Don Youngdahl has the most current info, perhaps Tim could pitch in as well if he knows anyting new.

FWIW, like a lot of folks, I'd love to see trails back there. I think that between the witches brew of ownership, and the fact that it's currently being used as a military training area, pretty much rule it out as a viable place to build trails (at least for the short term).

Probably the best way to approach this one, would be to work with the City of Arden Hills, who stands to (someday) take over all/most of the land, and work with their parks folks to include space for trails. Arden Hills just released their "big plan" for the area....didn't see any dates hooked to it though.

[Don Youngdahl]

Anyone ever approached the army reserve base about building some trails in the back hills on their property?

The site is generally known as TCAAP, Twin City Arms & Ammunition Plant. The Army Reserve has control of 1245 acres on the east side of the site, and about an equal area to the west is going through the lengthy process of being "surplussed" by the U.S. Army.

I had several discussions with the Army Reserve, and several site visits to scope out the terrain and map preliminary trail proposals, from August through November 2001. I even took the Captain in charge for a ride at Leb to show him some MORC trails. I thought he rode quite well considering his limited experience, but he commented afterward "now I know the difference between just riding a mountain bike and being a mountain biker".

Surprisingly, I was allowed authorized but unescorted access to TCAAP for several weeks after 9/11, before security rules caught up with the times and an escort was required. It also was apparent that the army reserve didn't have the resources to provide an escort, so that ended my site visits.

We did have enough visits to map out and produce a very preliminary proposal for about 12 miles of singletrack. This proposed trail map was submitted about January 2002, to go into the army's master planning process for the facility, and there has basically been no response since then. The Biathlon folks also submitted a proposal for X-C ski trails & shooting facilities about this time.

The terrain was pretty sandy, and the grade changes throughout most of the area were pretty gradual, except for a few big hills & ridges. One high and very narrow ridge that dropped off into a sand pit on one side would provide a spectacular view unlike any mountain bike venue in the metro area.

My army contact said there were only two weekends between April and November in 2001 that reserve meetings were not scheduled there, so he projected that the facility would basically be open to card-controlled access only during weekdays except once or twice a summer.

No bicycle trails are envisioned for the western area except for a likely paved trail along the Rice Creek corridor, a possible trail to connect the Rice Creek trail to the possible mountain bike trails, and a possible north-south commuter trail.

The city, developers, open space advocates, and other stakeholders have had intermittent public meetings for the last few years to stake their claims and hash out numerous details regarding hazardous waste cleanup, land use priorities, proposed housing densities, etc. Anyone who would like notice of these meetings can contact Scott.Clark@ci.arden-hills.mn.us to get on the meeting notice list.

So there you have it, more than you likely wanted to know about TCAAP. There's much more to say about the area being surplussed, but it's not about mountain biking, and this post is long enough already.

Almost 10 years ago when talk first started about the arsenal being sold off, I talked to Ahvo Taipale, the X-C ski guru, about ski trails there. He sort of dismissed the idea with the comment, "not in our lifetime". Perhaps he was right.

Don Youngdahl

[Stupordave]

Thanks for the info... Glad to hear an effort has been made already. The hills just look like a prime spot for some good local trails. I'd be interested in helping lobby the city if you want to make another attempt in the near future.


-Dave

[DeepC]

For a little more background, the City of Arden Hills has not passed a "Vision Statement" for their portion of the land and they are getting the smallest portion of the property being turned back. The City will more than likely have to have fairly dense development to cover the cost of the clean up required on their 560+/- acres. The City has little or no pull with the Army or the Guard to get things moving, the best bet for bike trails would be to contact the Ramsey County Parks Department for the portion of TCAAP they will be getting (mostly along Rice Creek.)