good news people. the highlands trail within allamuchy is multi-use. this is because the mountain biking community has a strong relationship with Allamuchy and the superintendent has designated the trail as multi-use.
the bad news is that a lot of it is fall line and some of it will not sustain multi-use. also, the nynjtc maintains this trail so we don't have a direct hand in its design and maintenance. elsewhere I believe the highlands trail is foot traffic only.
one of the biggest problems that we have however in NJ is the tendency of trail users to build rogue trails in our parks. some parks totally understand that its a "few bad apples" problem while other park supers don't see it as such a limited problem. when I start seeing comments like "the public will fix it" I start getting nervous because it makes me think of our own trail users going back in the woods without permission and doing things that bite us collectively in the ass. we have rogue trails in a lot of nearby parks and everything they are discovered, our park leaders have to spend a lot of their time and energy fighting for the cause, which usually means explaining that mountain bikers in general respect public land and that we don't condone this activity. please don't start realigning trails or features to suit your own needs. bob and karen worked closely with the park super to get these trails approved. this was unprecedented a few years ago. now we have a sanctioned legal "advanced trail" in NJ. wow. times are good.
hey... look, if you can't ride a feature, no worries youre in good company. a lot of people can't. but... many people can ride it *both ways* and *without dabbing it* in its *current configuration*.
so, please ride the trail as it was intended, and work up to the challenge.
its ok to dab, its ok to get off and walk. its not ok to get off and make changes to the trail design or features. thanks in advance for your understanding.
cheers,
jeff mergler
p.s. if you want to get involved in this trail, or in future projects... all you have to do is get involved at Allamuchy or your our local park. the harder you work and more involved you get, the more opportunity you have to place *your mark* before the fact on trail projects. that's a lot more fun then coming in after the fact and changing the trail against the design of the original builders.