Dickerson Mine Preserve Conditions

[Cassinonorth]

New work on Marty's is absolutely class, they brought out the potential in that trail.

Around 11 am this morning when we hit it, the trail started to thaw and it was definitely soft. Something to be aware of the rest of the freeze/thaw season with the new dirt. Can't wait to come back when it's nice and firm.

 

[gmb3]

i second the Marty's work is awesome! BMX track quality berms! Was still pretty frozen at 10 when we hit it today. With the new dirt and the fact that Jeb had to leaf blow the top half of the trail to see what he was doing, this trail will be the first to soften during freeze/thaw cycles this winter. Rest of park was pretty good until 11. Right in front of the "new" 2-lane yellow bridge looks like a mud problem tho.

 

[stilluf]

Second (third?) the above!
The entire yellow extension was muddy as well. Always worse conditions on this segment than the rest of the park. But the rest of the park (excluding the new work on Marty’s) was in good shape.

 

[Id_rather_be_skiing]

Got out in the late afternoon as everything firmed back up. Lots of grip in the crunch, surprised to see not many had been through since the snow. Also some cool new stuff!

 

[Soundguy]

Got out in the late afternoon as everything firmed back up. Lots of grip in the crunch, surprised to see not many had been through since the snow. Also some cool new stuff!

Is that a drop at the end of the skinny? You can tell the mountain creek guys helped with the last work day lol. Just look at those new berms!

 

[Id_rather_be_skiing]

Is that a drop at the end of the skinny? You can tell the mountain creek guys helped with the last work day lol. Just look at those new berms!

yep maybe 2 footer, looks like some plans for some other features are in play too. . new berms are great!

 

[3MTA3]

Is that a drop at the end of the skinny? You can tell the mountain creek guys helped with the last work day lol. Just look at those new berms!

Technically it was the King Trail Alliance guys helping out!

 

[ebarker9]

Anyone over there today? Usually I'd assume mud when it's randomly 60 degrees in Dec but we haven't had much precipitation so...maybe ok?

 

[Cassinonorth]

Anyone over there today? Usually I'd assume mud when it's randomly 60 degrees in Dec but we haven't had much precipitation so...maybe ok?

The freeze after all the rain probably kept the trails pretty moist for today's thaw. I imagine Yellow is an absolute mess.

 

[ebarker9]

The freeze after all the rain probably kept the trails pretty moist for today's thaw. I imagine Yellow is an absolute mess.

Oh yeah. It's been dry other than the massive amount of rain that we got 🤣

 

[dave_i]

I rode last night.. got about 10ft into Marty's trail and turned around. It looks like a lot of new dirt was put in and it needs a season to dry out. There were a good amount of shallow ruts further down the trail. The rest of the park was pretty primo. Marty's could probably use a sign similiar to 6MR's "dont ride the mud".

 

[3MTA3]

@dave_i is correct. Marty’s is not rideable due to the recent improvements and the newer outer loop on yellow is also very wet with visible ruts and should be avoided. The rest of the park is in pretty good shape.

 

[gmb3]

Just got done and everything was good except "new" Yellow and a couple spots on Creek Trail. I unclogged a few drains so that should help. No trees down but I didn't ride Blue or Orange. Marty's was good and I see it's turning into more of a skills park than a trail on the upper half which i like. Kudos to @Jeb and @3MTA3

 

[Eddie Z]

Found this yesterday...

 

[gmb3]

View attachment 205920
View attachment 205919
Found this yesterday...

Covered all the trails i missed on Friday and everything is clear. Above tree on yellow is still there and it was too big for me to attempt with my folding saw today. "New" yellow was better than Friday but still a little soft, the worst being the mud holes before and after the new bridge. Creek trail was fine except the usual handful of mud puddles - i cleared the drains some more with a stick but there are streams/springs running onto the trail in those spots. They could benefit from some proper armoring and drainage work and I'd be happy to help with that. Orange was a bit sketchy because the benchcut has "caught" blowing leaves and traction and seeing the trail/line was challenging. This is one of the few trails where i think leaf blowing would actually be beneficial.

 

[3MTA3]

Thanks @gmb3 I have that larger one on my radar, just haven't been able to get out there. I'll let you know when we can take a shot at the creek trail, and will also eventually hit you up for a tour of Sourlands.

 

[kaitlyn]

Yeah, don't do Marty's right now. Everything else seems mostly ok. Blue is perfect.

 

[MarioGed]

I saw dirt bike tracks on Marty's and yellow on Friday evening. Usually they ride only by the lake. Hopefully that won't become a recurring occurrence that will destroy the trails.

 

[FitmanNJ]

I noticed this morning that on https://www.iweathernet.com/total-rainfall-map-24-hours-to-72-hours, Dickerson Mine seemed to have been spared the light rain that fell on the southern 2/3 of NJ last night. It turned out that they were right. I didn't venture onto Marty's due to the recent comments. The trail that heads over to Canfield Ave on the left shortly after leaving the gravel parking lot was a bit soft, but the remaining trails, while moist, were firm enough to ride. I imagine that this will remain true until the predicted rain later this week.

 

[SAM]

Yes, still good. Rode almost all of it today and trails were dry and firm. Went down Marty's being ready to turn back if it was muddy, but it was not. Prolly good one more day (tomorrow) before the rain Thurs and Fri.