Met with MCPC today. I am swamped at work so I may not be able to respond to your subsequent comments or input very quickly over the next few weeks, but I will do my best.
First, the bad news: Most of the trails in the maps that Jason provided above are likely to remain closed. The bottom line is that the Natural Resource arm is currently trying to restore the park to the trail layout/plan that was agreed to in 2002 and built over the succeeding years. Some of the trails in question are certainly rogue (the two leading to the lake). One of them (yellow on Jason's map) is meant to be foot only (it was designated as such on the 2002 plan, but signage was not made for it, so users assumed it was multi-use), and the Gilligan's trails are in MCPC territory but were never on any map (despite my pointing out that they've been there for decades).
That said,
a) I have requested to re-open the switchbacks on orange (squiggly line on Jason's map, not far from the lake). Don't have a confirm yet but am working on it
b) They had already granted an exception to the 2002 plan for our newly constructed 2016 trail/re-route on yellow, so that will remain intact.
c) There was motion in play to close the Northern Loop, across from Sunrise Lake (and you have to admit, it's a crappy trail..full of loose rubble and siltation) but I indicated that they shouldn't close it until a master plan is developed (more on that later)
The better news:
The person I met with is a new employee, hired 8 months ago, as Director of Park Planning and Development. She is trained and experienced in Bicycle and Pedestrian trails planning, including off-road. She has worked with MTB groups in Florida (such as SORBA), and fully supports multi-use trails. She is working on a Vision/Master Plan for the park system as whole, and welcomes our input. I've already shared with her multiple perspectives, including the desire to add more mileage to the park in total. She rightfully observed that MTB'ers are the largest user group at the park, and adding more mileage seemed appropriate (though of course not a given until the Master Plan is developed). I did point out that, as it stands, only 3 parks in MCPC are designated for MTB (Mahlon, Lew Mo, and Tourne) and that is not sustainable for such a large user base unless either more mileage is added at the 3 parks or more parks are developed for MTB.
Additionally, we agreed that there is a sore need for better communication from the MCPC to its user base. and to this end we have agreed on some immediate next steps until such time as the Vision is developed:
1) Proper signage at the trails heads explaining the closures and rationale
2) Submission of request to reopen Orange twisties (I'm working on this)
3) quarterly meetings between her and the volunteer crew to discuss the evolution of the park and ideas
4) submission of proposals for new/replacement trails in the park to be considered as the Vision is developed.
5) willingness to have the public reach out to her directly to provide input (I'll get something out to you all on this soon...just swamped right now)
In short, I think we are in good hands. However, things will take time to materialize. I urge us all to be patient and constructive in our inputs. If you aren't already a volunteer at Lew Mo but want to have a say, I recommend you join us. There is strength in numbers. Let me or
@jumpa know your email address and we'll add you to the monthly notices.
For our volunteers, plan for rest of year is to polish the new trail if it needs any TLC, then get to work on fixing the muddy/eroded sections of yellow down by the wooden bridge near the campgrounds before the winter freeze/thaw sets in (did I just say "winter"?) More to come on this when we firm up the trail dates.