Howdy MTB buddies! Wanted to take a minute and share some exciting news about Mahlon Dickerson Reservation. This park is now an official JORBA Chapter!
One point of order first though is that this info does not apply to the WMA which includes all the trails west of the railroad bed. JORBA Chapter only applies to Morris County Property. So all your favorite trails like Black Magic, Arapaho, and Tiger Blood are still “unofficial”.
A little history…fall of 2023 the NYNJ Trail Conference adopted the trail network in MDR. I was selected as the Volunteer Supervisor and have a network of trail maintainers covering the park. We have completed some projects including new blazing, new bridge over stream by Cascade, and turnpiking on Pine Swamp trail. Since bikers use this park just as much as (or even more than) hikers, I approached JORBA about making it a chapter so we have a larger network of volunteers to help. They agreed and I am now also the JORBA lead for this park.
So now with the resources of NYNJTC, JORBA, and MCPC, some great things are in store for MDR!
1) Rerouting of many trails to get them off of boring double track and onto single track as well as addressing erosion concerns.
2) Additional bog bridging or turnpiking in persistent wet areas.
3) New Downhill MTB network on the Snowbowl!!
4) New trail that connects from Headley Overlook to Snowbowl.
I have enough projects to keep us busy for years to come. As you can imagine it will take a mountain of volunteers to get this done so this is where YOU come in. I run the volunteer RAD Trail Crew which will be performing much of this work. Shoot me an email at Karl@jorba.org to get on my mailing list. I’ll reach out on this forum and via that email group to post about volunteer opportunities.
Regarding blowdowns, myself and a few other TC sawyers are the only ones technically allowed to cut on MCPC property. Please report any blowdowns on this forum or even better to me via email and we’ll get them cut. I’m not supposed to saw in the WMA…
About me: TC volunteer since 2005, trail maintainer, certified “B” sawyer, 2x Appalachian Trail thru hiker, Colorado Trail, Long Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail, Finger Lakes Trail, etc you get the point. I’ve been a mountain biker since 2020 but was a gravel geek since 2017. Love bikepacking too. I am best buddies with @chainsawer and help him cut in Stephen’s/Muchy/etc. Point being I’m a little obsessed with trails. 😂
Cheers,
Karl “Hungus” Weiss
@Hungusoutdoors
One point of order first though is that this info does not apply to the WMA which includes all the trails west of the railroad bed. JORBA Chapter only applies to Morris County Property. So all your favorite trails like Black Magic, Arapaho, and Tiger Blood are still “unofficial”.
A little history…fall of 2023 the NYNJ Trail Conference adopted the trail network in MDR. I was selected as the Volunteer Supervisor and have a network of trail maintainers covering the park. We have completed some projects including new blazing, new bridge over stream by Cascade, and turnpiking on Pine Swamp trail. Since bikers use this park just as much as (or even more than) hikers, I approached JORBA about making it a chapter so we have a larger network of volunteers to help. They agreed and I am now also the JORBA lead for this park.
So now with the resources of NYNJTC, JORBA, and MCPC, some great things are in store for MDR!
1) Rerouting of many trails to get them off of boring double track and onto single track as well as addressing erosion concerns.
2) Additional bog bridging or turnpiking in persistent wet areas.
3) New Downhill MTB network on the Snowbowl!!
4) New trail that connects from Headley Overlook to Snowbowl.
I have enough projects to keep us busy for years to come. As you can imagine it will take a mountain of volunteers to get this done so this is where YOU come in. I run the volunteer RAD Trail Crew which will be performing much of this work. Shoot me an email at Karl@jorba.org to get on my mailing list. I’ll reach out on this forum and via that email group to post about volunteer opportunities.
Regarding blowdowns, myself and a few other TC sawyers are the only ones technically allowed to cut on MCPC property. Please report any blowdowns on this forum or even better to me via email and we’ll get them cut. I’m not supposed to saw in the WMA…
About me: TC volunteer since 2005, trail maintainer, certified “B” sawyer, 2x Appalachian Trail thru hiker, Colorado Trail, Long Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail, Finger Lakes Trail, etc you get the point. I’ve been a mountain biker since 2020 but was a gravel geek since 2017. Love bikepacking too. I am best buddies with @chainsawer and help him cut in Stephen’s/Muchy/etc. Point being I’m a little obsessed with trails. 😂
Cheers,
Karl “Hungus” Weiss
@Hungusoutdoors
