Camp Manitou

[I Crash A Lot]

Hey guys! I didn't find a section for Camp Manitou/Monticello, so i thought this would be as good as any. I tried to ride Manitou Sunday and was disappointed at best. I parked at the chalet and found the remnants of a trailhead as indicated by the BLAST signs. There were also lights strung along the trees in the woods. Is this trail that far gone? I had a very hard time following it, and it didn't seem to go anywhere or very far. Maybe I was in the wrong section. Suggestions?

[Panman]

I havn't been to Camp Manitu in a while so I'm not sure what shape it is in. However, there isn't a ski chalet so maybe we're thinking of a diff trail. There never have been lights on the trees before either. Of course, then again, I havn't been there in a while. We'll be doing trailwork this Saturday so I'll check things out then.

[TrailPatrol]

Didn't Bob M. refer to that A-frame building as "The Chalet"? I remember some of the patrollers and Bob's family stayed in there a couple of nights back in the BLAST haydays.

I thought the YMCA was closing Manitou to mountain biking. Has that changed? When people have come into the park (Lake Maria SP) asking where they can ride MTBs, we've been sending them up to Quarry Park or down to Elk River. If the Y-Camp is open again, it's a lot closer than either of the others.

Ride safe,
:banana:
Hans

[Panman]

I'm not sure about the building, you may be right, that was before my time. The Camp is still open to bikers, with the parking fee. There was some discussion that the Y was going to sell part of the land for development but the city won't have it. At this point, we'll be clearing the trail for the race October 1 this weekend.

Also, the Plum Creek trail is more mountain bike oriented in St. Cloud than the quary. http://www.midmncycling.org/Pages/where_we_ride.html

[I Crash A Lot]

I followed the directions of the BLAST website and it referred to a Chalet. It wasn't a ski hill chalet, but some sort of building. The trail was not in good condition either way. Any updated directions so I can find the Boo Blast?

[Panman]

The fall Trail Benefit Race (AKA Boo Blast) will be exactly where you parked. If it happens there that is, see this post (http://www.morcmtb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=14778). It isn't signed very well right now but I'm working on that. Yeah, the trail is in bad shape but we're working on that too. We don't have a map but the trail does go for 10 miles and WAY back, I think there's over 1000 acers to this place.

[TB0NE]

Any update on the location yet? I would imagine these trails sustained some damage last night in the high winds. Someone should post up when they ride these trails in the near future and review the damage.

[Panman]

The race has been moved to Hillside. I'll be riding tomorrow to check things out.