Lewmo 2023

Id_rather_be_skiing

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
I wanted to give you all an idea of what planned so far for lewmo for this coming season all subject to change. We need volunteers to do the work.

Top priority is going to be the switchbacks after the log pile on Yellow. The trail will eventually be closed. However if you look at the attachments there are two maps. One is trailforks, this is to give you a general idea of the area. The other map with the lines is the plan. Everything in Purple is concept and Morris County is looking for feedback. They want to create loops on this large plot of land, all single track, berms, and proper drainage. The highlighted pink would be the first trail cut.

Orange reroute will buffed out, right now it is rough cut, needs to be burned in and bench cut in a few spots. Also will be extended in the other direction. The part of orange that goes down to the bridge is going to be rehabbed.

Pink Dot will go across the fire road - not 100% sure where it will link up yet.

Northern loop is supposed to be burned - blank canvas for us, but I have proposed we make this side of the park more challenging.

Now to the fun part...what do you want? What really needs attention? What do the H2H/NICA organizers want/need?

Let's strike while we have someone at MoCo Parks who is willing to improve this place. We are planning to do a minimum of 1 trail maintenance session per month with the park once it warms up and then as much as we (JORBA) would like to. Im always up for digging so if you want to get out there, let me know!
 

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goldsbar

Well-Known Member
Hooray on the yellow. No idea where it should go, but current section after the log pile is horrible. But, some group thought that was the ultimate in trail design not that long ago. Just shows the unique challenges of this park.

Your idea on berms is terrific and IMO necessary in this park. Without berms, riders will continually widen out the line as they search for terrain that isn't loaded with roots.
 

Norm

Mayor McCheese
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Northern loop is supposed to be burned - blank canvas for us, but I have proposed we make this side of the park more challenging.

I have 100 ideas for this. If you want to discuss and work on this off the radar, let me know. You have my number and would be willing to put in time off the normal sessions to make this area more fun & challenging.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Interesting happenings over at lew-mo.

They have stopped giving out trail-use event permits for this year.
I'm not sure why, but I'm hopeful it is related to these plans, which require closing/working on/re-opening trails.

or warrior dash ruined it for everyone. one or the other.
 

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
Amy’s got the right idea…follow the contour lines, and the rough proposal she’s laid out does just that. The challenge with Lew Mo goes like this:
-lots (LOTS) of shallow-rooted beech trees
-these get exposed quickly from runoff when trails are too steep (like some of the legacy fire roads that in many cases are just rubble now, as well as the straight-down-the-fall-line section of yellow we closed several years ago, to a smattering of wailing and gnashing of teeth)
-exposed roots cause less experienced riders to avoid them, which of course widens the trail surface.
-when we’ve tried switchbacks, they often don’t work because we end up having to do turns that are too sharp for the terrain.

Take the yellow at the log pile, the first section or two follow the contour lines but then rapidly evolve into turns that are pitched to steep or sharp. Seemed fun at first but was not sustainable as evidenced by the wide highway of rooty turns that evolved over time at the bottom.

Stretching things out along the contour lines makes for more sustainable trails but takes a lot more work /volunteers because you’re covering more ground. Amy has been able to enlist a strong phalanx of resources to help and the new green re-route that she did last year is a good example of what can be done with enough hands.

BTW, I know of only two short trail sections we’ve built in the park that have stood the test of time. Why? Because we were able to follow the contours. These are marked in red on the map. That new green re-route will likely hold up too because, yep, it follows the contour lines.

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I think her vision will do well. To the question of what we’d like to see: If her vision is successful in the center of the park, I’d like to see a new network built on the hill to the west of sunrise lake.
 

goldsbar

Well-Known Member
Yes, that section of the orange marked in red is really nice and one of the highlights of the park. Even the section a bit before (just after crossing the green) is very steep at one point, but has held up fairly well. Now orange on the other side of green...yikes! I think I understand the thought process of the yellow after the log pile, but it just didn't work. It's good to share lessons learned as this park is very unique compared to the rest of rocky NNJ.
 

Id_rather_be_skiing

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
Amy’s got the right idea…follow the contour lines, and the rough proposal she’s laid out does just that. The challenge with Lew Mo goes like this:
-lots (LOTS) of shallow-rooted beech trees
-these get exposed quickly from runoff when trails are too steep (like some of the legacy fire roads that in many cases are just rubble now, as well as the straight-down-the-fall-line section of yellow we closed several years ago, to a smattering of wailing and gnashing of teeth)
-exposed roots cause less experienced riders to avoid them, which of course widens the trail surface.
-when we’ve tried switchbacks, they often don’t work because we end up having to do turns that are too sharp for the terrain.

Take the yellow at the log pile, the first section or two follow the contour lines but then rapidly evolve into turns that are pitched to steep or sharp. Seemed fun at first but was not sustainable as evidenced by the wide highway of rooty turns that evolved over time at the bottom.

Stretching things out along the contour lines makes for more sustainable trails but takes a lot more work /volunteers because you’re covering more ground. Amy has been able to enlist a strong phalanx of resources to help and the new green re-route that she did last year is a good example of what can be done with enough hands.

BTW, I know of only two short trail sections we’ve built in the park that have stood the test of time. Why? Because we were able to follow the contours. These are marked in red on the map. That new green re-route will likely hold up too because, yep, it follows the contour lines.

View attachment 205623

I think her vision will do well. To the question of what we’d like to see: If her vision is successful in the center of the park, I’d like to see a new network built on the hill to the west of sunrise lake.
this explanation is so well said, I may copy and paste this to my FB post.
 

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
Yes, that section of the orange marked in red is really nice and one of the highlights of the park. Even the section a bit before (just after crossing the green) is very steep at one point, but has held up fairly well. Now orange on the other side of green...yikes! I think I understand the thought process of the yellow after the log pile, but it just didn't work. It's good to share lessons learned as this park is very unique compared to the rest of rocky NNJ.
Right on. That section was cut in when we were under different leadership and despite our calls for occasional reverse grades to slow erosion, it fell on deaf ears. It is a beautiful area of the park but the trail surface itself is awful. Good to know Amy has plans for that section too.
 

icebiker

JORBA: Morris Trails
JORBA.ORG
I took an attempt at drawing what it would look like on Trailforks.
Yes yes yes !! Funny thing is we had a trail similar to that on the upper (northern) stretch of that section. It followed the contour lines and crossed over the old fall line section several times. It was nice and twisty too. We built it in 2013 with MCPC approval. Then, once Amy’s predecessor came in about two years later, they closed it down on the basis that it wasn’t on the approved 2002 plan 🙄 and left the fall line trail in place, despite all the roots and rubble it had. Can’t make this stuff up. With Amy in charge now we are in good hands.
 

argyle

Active Member
What is the trail called “Two Hour Build” on Trailforks? When did that popup? I haven’t physically been to the park since last Fall but don’t recall that?
 

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Id_rather_be_skiing

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
What is the trail called “Two Hour Build” on Trailforks? When did that popup? I haven’t physically been to the park since last Fall but don’t recall that?
New Trail. JORBA has been working with Morris county to expand and replace some of the trails that are in disrepair. There is also a new orange trail and the green trail has been extend to end by the pavilion
 

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