Nassau Trail conditions

Patrick said:
the link from CT to Nassau road was closed today. we road out to the road, and looped around.
Not sure if that is going to be a weekend thing, or more seasonal...
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Dang. I think those trails are going to stay closed for an extended period of time. A video of solitude falls went viral on Tik Tok and people were leaving behind trash. The High Bridge residents weren’t happy and wanted it closed down.

www.nytimes.com

‘Hidden Gem’ Made Popular by TikTok Is Shut to Keep Out-of-Towners Away (Published 2020)

A lake in New Jersey was closed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but some complaints about recent crowding there focused on the ethnicity of visitors.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
 
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phillychris498 said:
Dang. I think those trails are going to stay closed for an extended period of time. A video of solitude falls went viral on Tik Tok and people trashed it.

www.nytimes.com

‘Hidden Gem’ Made Popular by TikTok Is Shut to Keep Out-of-Towners Away (Published 2020)

A lake in New Jersey was closed to curb the spread of the coronavirus, but some complaints about recent crowding there focused on the ethnicity of visitors.
www.nytimes.com www.nytimes.com
Click to expand...

they didn't trash it - it is a NIMBY thing.
Rather than implementing a solution, they just shut it down.

Sad - we had it happen in Branchburg, so they limited parking,
enforced the no-swimming, no-fires and had a couple people
putting on pressure to carry out garbage - and it worked.
fewer people each weekend, stayed open, very little forgotten trash.
Just people looking for something to do with their kids.
 
Patrick said:
they didn't trash it - it is a NIMBY thing.
Rather than implementing a solution, they just shut it down.

Sad - we had it happen in Branchburg, so they limited parking,
enforced the no-swimming, no-fires and had a couple people
putting on pressure to carry out garbage - and it worked.
fewer people each weekend, stayed open, very little forgotten trash.
Just people looking for something to do with their kids.
Click to expand...
I agree there were certainly solutions better than just shutting it down for (what seems like) the rest of the summer. I was way behind finding out about this story given that I live 10 minutes away... was wondering why there was the caution tape surrounding the lot across from the intersection of Nassau/Thomas road the other day.
 
phillychris498 said:
I agree there were certainly solutions better than just shutting it down for (what seems like) the rest of the summer. I was way behind finding out about this story given that I live 10 minutes away... was wondering why there was the caution tape surrounding the lot across from the intersection of Nassau/Thomas road the other day.
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closing down parking is a crowd control strategy.
 
Patrick said:
the link from CT to Nassau road was closed today. we road out to the road, and looped around.
Not sure if that is going to be a weekend thing, or more seasonal...
Click to expand...

the closure of the bridge between Union Forge Park (and Columbia Trail) is related to the closure of The Dam at Lake Solitude and Solitude house. Completely unrelated, though an inconvenience. Since I ride from the Vorhees Park area I also have to ride around Custom Alloy factory. This is for at least 30 days (probably longer) until they get signage completed for the Solitude Dam area.
 
Patrick said:
they didn't trash it - it is a NIMBY thing.
Rather than implementing a solution, they just shut it down.

Sad - we had it happen in Branchburg, so they limited parking,
enforced the no-swimming, no-fires and had a couple people
putting on pressure to carry out garbage - and it worked.
fewer people each weekend, stayed open, very little forgotten trash.
Just people looking for something to do with their kids.
Click to expand...

The Solitude Dam area was left in very bad shape and overcrowded for several weeks in a row. This was largely the result of the video and the fact that Spruce Run and Round. Alley had crowd limits. I was on the virtual council meeting. The article really doesn’t accurately characterize the efforts made by the Mayor, Council and some residents to keep the dam open. Instead the article spins a story that implies this was just a racial issue. Certainly there were local opinions voiced that fanned those flames, but that was not the cause for the decision. I won’t get into the polemics, since this forum is about Nassau conditions. Ultimately, the townsfolk communicated their dissatisfaction and the council responded. The closure is not permanent and out of towners aren’t being shut out. Signage is being developed to better regulate the area. Residents are also shut out of the space. I have to ride around the area now to get to Nassau as the bridge is closed. I recall how unpopular it was when we closed down Nassau proactively to avoid over crowding when all the state parks were closed. We would have had similar issues had we not done so. Nevertheless, we understood the dissatisfaction that the decision would cause. Right now our trails are open and in great shape. Enjoy!
 
Pretty much primo and only one trail blockage that I saw - could be taken out with a hand saw. One large tree came down but someone chainsawed it already. Lots of little annoying branches tho that are anxious to destroy your derailleur hangar
 
rick81721 said:
Pretty much primo and only one trail blockage that I saw - could be taken out with a hand saw. One large tree came down but someone chainsawed it already. Lots of little annoying branches tho that are anxious to destroy your derailleur hangar
Click to expand...
we cleaned up a bit last week, mostly branches. where is the blockage? I can bring a hand saw to tomorrow's ride.
 
If you go in from Foran and when you get to the T, make a right. The tree is not far down that trail.
 
I went there with a saw today but apparently another coach and two kids from our team took care of it yesterday. Of course nobody told me so I lugged a folding saw all over Nassau today.

There are a few widow-makers leaning on other trees on the Rich Woods / Wall Ride side. Looked like a bit more than a handsaw and a few kids. I'll mark better positions and take pictures on Thursday.
 
OK, there are a few leaning trees on Rich Woods. As I said, it is a bit more than what I want to do with a hand saw with kids around.
here is a bad picture of one
20200813_185534.jpg


The two I saw are on Rich Woods, between the second and (new) third logover when starting from the top. Strava actually put a pin were I took the pictures (I guess because I posted one of them on Strava). I put a blue line around it for good measure. it looks like someone did a lot of cleanup at the bottom of that blue oval.
nassau20200813.png


There is another one but I did not see it today and can;t remember where it was.

oh yeah, trails awesome today. looks like the rain spared most of it. I even got a bit of a 6-mile-tan on my legs
 
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