Mahlon Dickerson Reservation Conditions

njkayaker

Active Member
Mahlon is in awesome condition. starting to get dusty trails in spots. it's March and riding like it is May.



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extremedave

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Early today was starting to thaw out and soften up. I rated it "good" but "ride with care" might be more legit. Most of the fire roads are fine but cascade and such were getting mushy
 

mntal

Active Member
Sweet job on black magic - great to have some new runways and kudos to those that spend so much time getting them right.
 

stilluf

Well-Known Member
Today was my first time riding here. I loved the rock features, especially by Stone Gate; some of the best I've ever ridden! Did not love the fire roads and double track needed to get to the good stuff, however. This place would be a destination for me if there was more like Stone Gate and fewer fire roads.
Trail conditions were solid. Some mud, but overall good.
 

rayder

Active Member
Not sure why my reply went in like that. We will get in touch with you Jim. We have a lot of family birthday parties in April but we will figure out a way to squeeze some rides in.
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
This place would be a destination for me if there was more like Stone Gate and fewer fire roads.

Sounds like you probably missed a lot of good stuff. Let me know if you ever want to go back and get a proper tour.
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
None of it "official" or "authorized".
I have not said anything about this for all the years it has been going on, and would prefer to ignore it. But I recently heard that mis-information is being spread, that I got the OK for this. Well that is not the case, he is working on his own, without approval.

Norm, I only meant that I wasn't sure if the name Black Magic was officially chosen by its creator. I realize nothing over there is authorized, and I wouldn't tell anyone otherwise.
 

njkayaker

Active Member
Today was my first time riding here. I loved the rock features, especially by Stone Gate; some of the best I've ever ridden! Did not love the fire roads and double track needed to get to the good stuff, however. This place would be a destination for me if there was more like Stone Gate and fewer fire roads.
Trail conditions were solid. Some mud, but overall good.
i hear what you are saying about the double track and rail trail in between single track but Stone Gare isn;t the only good single track back there. there is much more including all the awesome WMA stuff.
 

Eddie Z

Member
I went in the other day again to do a solo Rolling Trail maintenance. Typically, I just chase after anything impinging on the trail, up to about the thickness of 10" in diameter. I carry small loppers, hand trimmers, and a pretty good hand saw. Some of the things I was hoping to do were already done! The chain saw crews beat me to the punch. They hit Cascade and the WMA loop pretty hard. But they didn't get to the really big downed tree, at the end of the WMA loop, closest to Saffin lot. The one you have to dismount to crawl under. Removal of that one is a project and a half.
 

SpartaBard

Well-Known Member
I went in the other day again to do a solo Rolling Trail maintenance. Typically, I just chase after anything impinging on the trail, up to about the thickness of 10" in diameter. I carry small loppers, hand trimmers, and a pretty good hand saw. Some of the things I was hoping to do were already done! The chain saw crews beat me to the punch. They hit Cascade and the WMA loop pretty hard. But they didn't get to the really big downed tree, at the end of the WMA loop, closest to Saffin lot. The one you have to dismount to crawl under. Removal of that one is a project and a half.

I am guessing that one is a bit too close to the parking lot.
 

Eddie Z

Member
I am guessing that one is a bit too close to the parking lot.
I guess that would depend on if the chainsaw operator was a rogue TMer with no permission, or a park employee who's sanctioned to do it.

I'd actually be more than happy to carry chainsaws into the park to deal with the bigger issues, but chasing down the proper cert is seemingly impossible. Last time I delved into it, there was only one chainsaw cert class, sanctioned by the AT trail conference, up in Maine somewhere. I'm all set up to do it though. Back when Sandy hit, I became part of the Chainsaw crew over at Stephens SP (w/something that resembled permission from Rangers, thru a JORBA run cleanup). I built a chainsaw specific backpack, got all the safety gear, etc.. But since bringing chainsaws into county parks is so discouraged, I don't do it. A few years back, I even tried to reach out to the people in charge of MD, but my phone calls were promptly ignored. Still, the tree I referenced above isn't something I feel comfortable attacking. I'm not an experienced tree guy, I'm just a homeowner with a chainsaw! That particular treefall is a beast and a half.
 
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njkayaker

Active Member
FYI - big tree down again across colombo return. same area as the previous tree. have to bush wack around it.
 

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