New trail connecting Red Dot with Cedar Swamp

sundaydoug

Well-Known Member
Kudos to whoever cut this new trail. Comes off of Cedar Swap near Double Pond intersection and connects to Red Dot at the top of the climb if you're coming from the Double Pond side. Sure beats slogging up that loose fire road climb to get to the good stuff on Red Dot.
 

jeffstick

JORBA: Waywayanda
JORBA.ORG
I doubt very much this was a legal trail as no new trails are allowed at this time in the park.
 

sundaydoug

Well-Known Member
Well it's there and it's not exactly hidden. Pink ribbons on trees and the entire thing is raked. Pretty well done actually.
 

onetracker

Well-Known Member
Kudos to whoever cut this new trail. Comes off of Cedar Swap near Double Pond intersection and connects to Red Dot at the top of the climb if you're coming from the Double Pond side. Sure beats slogging up that loose fire road climb to get to the good stuff on Red Dot.
Park employees also found this trail and are quite upset. Continued access to trails at Wayway is now in question for Mtn Bikers. Additionally, Park Police are looking for the rogue trail builders.

It seems crazy to me that someone would build an illegal trail in the wide open right in the middle of the park.

Apparently, someone is going to have to go to jail or pay a hefty fine in order for this illegal trail building to stop.
 

chris12453

Well-Known Member
Well, if Park Employees are upset then they need a reality check. I ride atv's so I have an appreciation for them. However, I was back there this summer and the park boys were having a grand time ripping through raw stuff. Also I live 2 miles from the park, going to ride regardless. Sorry I am in a very bad mood right now.
 

onetracker

Well-Known Member
Well, if Park Employees are upset then they need a reality check. I ride atv's so I have an appreciation for them. However, I was back there this summer and the park boys were having a grand time ripping through raw stuff. Also I live 2 miles from the park, going to ride regardless. Sorry I am in a very bad mood right now.
Really, this is the response. I seem to doubt that the Park Superintendent or an official from Trenton was ripping around on an ATV. It is Park Mgmt and Trenton that will decide the fate of Mtn Bikers; not summer/seasonal workers.

Access is a privilege, not a right. How is that not obvious?
 

sundaydoug

Well-Known Member
It seems crazy to me that someone would build an illegal trail in the wide open right in the middle of the park.

I was just as surprised to see it as it's literally right in the middle of the park. Whoever cut it also made small painted wooden signs with arrows to direct riders where the trail gets tight. They look a lot like the painted wooden signs for Pickle, Rattlesnake, Split Rock etc.

Just going on record I'm not the one that built it, I just happened to find it and I rode it. Because of it's location and how well it's cut I assumed it was sanctioned by the park.
 
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mtbiker87

Well-Known Member
I saw it yesterday as well, but choose not to ride it. I agree that it would look "official " to trail users who are not privy to knowing that no new trail building has been ok'd by the park. It was marked with pink survey tape, and no attempt was made to camouflage the enterence off Red Dot. Thing is, who says it was bikers that cut it , if no one knows who did it ?
 

sundaydoug

Well-Known Member
I saw it yesterday as well, but choose not to ride it. I agree that it would look "official " to trail users who are not privy to knowing that no new trail building has been ok'd by the park. It was marked with pink survey tape, and no attempt was made to camouflage the enterence off Red Dot. Thing is, who says it was bikers that cut it , if no one knows who did it ?

There's some rock work that certainly looks like it was done for riding purposes. Plus the entire thing is raked clean. I'm thinking if it were a trail meant for foot travel it would look much different.
 

trekfan

Member
it's a nice trail. good flow. as far as being legal or not i cannot say, although if you think about it, it took a lot of man hours and equipment to build that trail. if the ranger office didn't sanction it, the rangers sure aren't out patrolling the park AT ALL. maybe that's why they're so upset. if they're doing their jobs even minimally this should never have happened and it's not a good look for them. as a related side note, today there were about 15-20 ppl swimming in the lake, well beyond the barrier that was constructed. not a ranger to be seen. do they get paid to just sit in the office all day?

also, i definitely dispute the whole "park access is a privilege not a right" thing. my taxes pay for that park, so i have a right to use it, regardless of what anyone in trenton says.
 

rlb

Well-Known Member
also, i definitely dispute the whole "park access is a privilege not a right" thing. my taxes pay for that park, so i have a right to use it, regardless of what anyone in trenton says.

Have you ever been to a meeting where legal MTB access to a park has been on the agenda?
 

sundaydoug

Well-Known Member
maybe that's why they're so upset

I accidentally found that trail about 6 weeks ago. Last weekend I was on a ride and passed by again. Not only was it not covered-up/taped-off but now there's a well-made sign with a trail name "Glades".

It would take all of 30 minutes for one person to block it off at either end with brush and take the signs down. No one would even know it's there. It's possible rangers are telling people they're "upset" because they have to say that, when in reality they might not care all that much.

Or maybe they've been busy with bureaucratic things in these CV19 times, ensuring social distancing at the lake area, etc.

Of course this is all purely speculation on my part...
 
I rode this trail yesterday and realized what it was about halfway through. I'd say there's a 99% chance this trail was built for mountain bikes. I see it is on Strava now, too. It also seems unlikely that the maker of the trail isn't known to this forum. Not saying we should out anyone, but if you know who this person is, can you get a perspective on why this was built?
 

trekfan

Member
this whole thing is absurd. were these same park rangers this upset during the epic battle over mojo trail last summer when someone carved a worthless 30ft bypass off of the main trail and the opposing factions took turns dumping rocks branches and very dangerous debris into the others' trail every week? where were they when i almost got speared by one of these branches that was deliberately placed there?

in the wayay conditions thread there's a pic of some deep gouges in a grass field made by an idiot (or idiots) in a car recently. completely trashed the field "for fun". is continued access to the park by cars now in question? of course not. if you're seriously upset, find the offending party and prosecute them. done. if not, do your jobs and patrol the park like you should (and are getting paid to do) and you won't have well manicured 2 mile trails complete with proper signage pop up off of popular trails under your noses. don't threaten the biking community who had nothing to do with this. i promise you it won't end well for anyone. as far as i can tell from riding in that park for the past 10-15 years, the mountain biking community are the ONLY ones actually taking care of the damn park, so they can spare me the threats and lectures. if the trail was unsanctioned, that's unfortunate. patrol the park more and actually start maintaining it for once and these things won't happen
 

Will

Member
whoever made it, they left a lot of little sappling stumps and divots that don't roll real well. to the guy bitching about illegal trails, maybe stop moralizing and do some chainsaw trail maintenance at the end of splitrock near ferbers considering you act like you are responsible for trail maintenance. there is a massive tree down that a saw won't cut. I imagine if black bear had a race you'd take care of it. Also, for your next black bear race, please post something at ferbers circle letting people know you're racing and on what trails and what time/date.
 

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