TrailDale
02-05-2003, 02:51 PM
Tim Wegner and I met with Dakota County Parks staff last week (late January) and discussed many issues related to the MTB trails, including when trails might be closed during the year. The general concensus as it applies to the Western section of the park is:
1) The "normal" bike trail season is May 1st to November 30th.
2) The main access point for bike trails gets converted to XC skiing on December 1st.
3) If the ground is frozen and there's no snow, then the ski trails are open to biking, and remain so until there's snow.
4) We won't try to manage temporary closings during the Winter - too problematic.
5) We will add signage about trail damage from riding in mud (wet trails are fine - sinking up the the rim in mud, is not).
6) The ski trails will be closed in late March or early April as snow conditions deteriorate.
7) At that time, all the access points for bikes and skiers will be fenced off to keep users off the trails while the ground thaws.
8) The fences will come down May 1st, or any time earlier if the trails dry out and firm up sooner than May 1st. The County will rely on MORC to let them know.
The known problems with this approach are:
1) When the ski trails are open, but there's no snow, there's nothing to stop bikers from riding on the errodable trail sections that have been reclaimed and are supposed to be winter-only ski use.
2) The signage isn't clear enough to properly direct bikers in the winter.
3) Hikers are all over the bike and ski trails when there's no snow in the winter. In fact, the County is bugged enough by hikers ignoring all the signage and trail closures, that they've asked us to call the Park Patrols to report them (descriptions, license numbers) and they will be sent letters and/or ticketed.
Isn't that a switch! Hikers are now the problem users in the Parks and mountain bikers are the model citizens?
The long-term goal is to dis-associate the bike and ski trail systems, and change to a trail system where the bike trails are snow shoe trails, and the ski trails are summer hiking trails. By doing this, there is minimal conversion effort as seasons and uses change (we'll install permanent gates), and we can better manage the bike trails with sustainable trail use in mind.
Of course this will require building more singletrack to replace the gravel-road ski trails. Damn!
As I know more, I'll let you know.
TrailDale
1) The "normal" bike trail season is May 1st to November 30th.
2) The main access point for bike trails gets converted to XC skiing on December 1st.
3) If the ground is frozen and there's no snow, then the ski trails are open to biking, and remain so until there's snow.
4) We won't try to manage temporary closings during the Winter - too problematic.
5) We will add signage about trail damage from riding in mud (wet trails are fine - sinking up the the rim in mud, is not).
6) The ski trails will be closed in late March or early April as snow conditions deteriorate.
7) At that time, all the access points for bikes and skiers will be fenced off to keep users off the trails while the ground thaws.
8) The fences will come down May 1st, or any time earlier if the trails dry out and firm up sooner than May 1st. The County will rely on MORC to let them know.
The known problems with this approach are:
1) When the ski trails are open, but there's no snow, there's nothing to stop bikers from riding on the errodable trail sections that have been reclaimed and are supposed to be winter-only ski use.
2) The signage isn't clear enough to properly direct bikers in the winter.
3) Hikers are all over the bike and ski trails when there's no snow in the winter. In fact, the County is bugged enough by hikers ignoring all the signage and trail closures, that they've asked us to call the Park Patrols to report them (descriptions, license numbers) and they will be sent letters and/or ticketed.
Isn't that a switch! Hikers are now the problem users in the Parks and mountain bikers are the model citizens?
The long-term goal is to dis-associate the bike and ski trail systems, and change to a trail system where the bike trails are snow shoe trails, and the ski trails are summer hiking trails. By doing this, there is minimal conversion effort as seasons and uses change (we'll install permanent gates), and we can better manage the bike trails with sustainable trail use in mind.
Of course this will require building more singletrack to replace the gravel-road ski trails. Damn!
As I know more, I'll let you know.
TrailDale