What does it take shine up a park?

SilverMantra

SilverMantra

Member
There is a park called Frost Woods that isn't far from where I live. I've ridden it a few times and this place has some potential.

The downfalls are that there are no trail markings. The deep parts of the park are overgrown and some parts are sandy.

I was just wondering what it would take to turn a park that hasn't been given a chance into a sweet place to ride?

I'm assuming the trail maintenance is something that can be done if the conditions are good enough to warrant the work. Aside from that though, is there a way to ask permission to work on the trails? Do I call Chris Christie?
:hmmm:

Should I approach Jorba? Perhaps they already know of the park and just don't see it as a potential gem.

I'm just curious. Just wondering if it's something that can be done. :rolleyes:
 
This is sorta how 6mr started.

(I am actually working on a new trail system now too)

-Get Jorba Involved

-Show the long term commitment to carry through w/ this. ( I have been at it w/ 6mr for over 5 years.)

-Find out who is the land manager and present you case.

-Get help from people who are smarter than you and more experienced at the said goal. (This is what I did)


send me a PM and I will send you some phone #'s
 
Contacting jorba would be a good first step. You'd have to find out who is the land manager for the park (town, state, private...) then get permission to do trail maintenance. I'm not familiar with the park but are they legal biking trails, might not be multi-use. I'm sure the folks at Jorba will have some wisdom for you to get started with if you want to pursue this further.

Good luck!
 
the only frost woods park I could find is only approx. .6 mile by approx .4 miles. If this is the place you might get better luck with people want to help at a different (bigger) park. If you had a decent number(as many as there are at parks that have regular trail maintainence) of mountainbikers in such a tight area you probably wouldnt like the result.
 
I used to ride there when i was a kid, since it was my backyard. i had actually built a connector trail when i was like 14 from my yard to one of the main trails there. i didnt know back then it was probably not allowed. I used to know that place + every trail with my eyes closed. It's probably around the size of Cheesequake...

I think i am going to go check out that place for giggles one of these days...see if there are even trails left...

People here hate on that place because it's small, and not technical. i say **** the naysayers...there also used to be a neat little bmx track there as well...

that brought back some good child hood memories, thanks...:getsome:

sorry i have no input regarding who you can contact...
 
talk to THATmanMANNY. He started taking care of the Rutgers Eco Trails. From what I've seen, he's put a lot of time into this and is JUST starting to get work done.
 
If you're referring to Frost Woods in E. Brunswick (near frost elementary school) tax records show that it's owned by East Brunswick Twp.
 
Yea... that's the same Frost Woods Park.

It sits in the middle of County Rd 613 and New Brunswick Ave.

You are probably right about its size. I could see putting a nice little loop in there as a good place to work out get heart rate up.

Just south of it is Jamesburg Park. I think this weekend I'm going take a look around both parks to see if there's any potential there. I guess I'm just hopeful because of the proximity to my house. :D

Thanks for the input!
 
i'm sorry to bump this old thread but i'm hoping that you're still interested in doing this. I was just there tonight and it was a lot of fun. you're right, though, it's a little overgrown and needs a little sprucing. It appears that some people have had some fun with it, though, building little tabletops and stump jumps... i'd give you a hand with it as it's only 4.5 miles away from me (old bridge).

Did you ever get a chance to run through jamesburg park? I used to tear it up back there on my dirt bike and quad. I have a soft spot for JP because I've been riding there since I was 14. I used to know the whole trail system like the back of my hand... well, at least on the far south end leading to the underpass of the turnpike into the farrington lake area... i used to blast through the trails around port street too but that was like 15 years ago. I was actually digging around last night and found an aerial view map of east brunswick from 1930 and the area that is considered jamesburg park used to have a grid pattern of dirt roads that are still pretty visible on the google maps of today... i was so intrigued/fascinated by it last night that I couldn't sleep :drooling:. I even showed people at work today... they must have though I was insane.

If i remember, though JP is REALLY sandy (and also 1400+ acres). It's a land preserve so it has no facilities and no upkeep... it's just land that protects the aquifer underneath with such a high water table, it's not build-able (probably the reason why the dirt roads came and went in the 1930s). Sorry for the rant... I love jamesburg park land preserve :)

...unless you're talking about Thompson park in jamesburg on the corner of 522 and forsgate drive... I hear there are some decent trails out there by the dog walk...
 
Do you happen to have a garmin link to your frost woods ride? I am curious to the mileage. I need to hit that place up to reminise my childhood.
 
nah i'm just starting out so i'm lucky i was even able to get around that place... i started at the bottom at the far end of the office building parking lot at the bottom of summerhill road so it was mostly uphill. i took the sidewalk on frost ave to the far end of the park, though and blasted down some of the trail sections and the fire road a couple times, though... gotta watch out at the bottom of the fire road, though, before it hooks to the right to bring you to summerhill... there's a rut at the bottom that almost got ugly on me LoL

but yea... unfortunately no GPS... there are a lot of twisty trails, though, i know it's only 100 acres (looked it up on east brunswick park/rec website) but there's enough to keep you busy for at least a little while... if someone spruced it up a bit, i'm sure there could be a lot of good riding. it's not overly sandy like phillips park can get and it's nowhere near as disgustingly sandy as duhernal reservoir (although it has some gem areas, too).
 
I rode here today since I was visiting my parents. I was good to be in the old neighborhood. I'm not really sure what to say about riding here. Granted it was nice seeing the place that got me started in the MTB arena and seeing some trails I used to ride still around. That being said, it was kinda weird.

Someone must be riding there because there are some logs, skinnies, and some roller coaster decking. But it didn't look like this person tended the actual trails whatsoever. Everything was eroded, there was no consistency. I rode almost everything I could remember and came up with about 7 miles.

I'm not sure if I can say that if the place was worked on that it would be very good, I had a hard time putting together a legit loop. I could see it as a place to get an adolescent into riding if they live in the area.

It was interesting to see the BMX section all but gone, the front part was still there though. It was also interesting to find what we used to call the ginker section, which was this massive hole in the ground where people had camp fires and partied. I wonder how many years back that thing goes...
 
It was also weird, there used to be this massive ditch in the ground in this one section of the trail with a bridge over it that was completely gone. Must have been 5-6 feet deep and was long. It seemed that it was a grass field now. I had flashbacks of Flight of the Navigator...
 
I was there yesterday. It's a fun little place. I agree it needs some sprucing up but fwiw, it's a nice place. I'd help clean it up a little if we got a group together to work on it. If you clocked 7 miles out there, that should give enough incentive to clean it up a bit.

I took a ride through jamesburg land preserve between helmetta blvd and crescent ave... sandy and a little muddy at times but still pretty nice... overgrown as all hell but whatever... it's mountain biking, not pretending to ride through "rugged" primped terrain ;)

but yea... anyone down for cleaning up frost, let me know!

to give a little incentive, here's a trail map i found. it's not much but i wouldn't mind having a place within riding distance to be proud of :)

http://www.freewebs.com/friendsebec//EB parks/Frost woods/Frost_WoodsMap.pdf
 
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You Said Ginker

It was also interesting to find what we used to call the ginker section, which was this massive hole in the ground where people had camp fires and partied.

Wow! Ginker. That's so East Brunswick.


BTW: I'm still a Ginker, except that I don't 'smoke' anymore, don't wear painted denim jackets with patches on them, Iron Maiden bandanas on my head or wrists, have all kinds of uneven scraggly hairs sticking outta my face, hang out in the arcade in the mall playing Centipede, etc.

25 years later; I do party, listen to Iron Maiden and the denim jacket is rotting away in the basement on a hanger, and I shave.

Ginker.
 
well the arcade has been gone for a while... there's like a chinese restaurant there now or something.

Took a spin out to frost woods again today. I should put a machete in my camelbak and do a little bushwhacking when i go out there... it's so overgrown that you can't really maneuver through some of the decent trail patches. I saw another guy riding out there as well. It was my first long trip out with my new pedals/shoes... awesome!

I rode up old stage road and hung a left onto helmetta blvd, made a right at the service manhole into one of the trails that used to be part of a dirt road neighborhood-looking network back in 1930. I've been obsessing over the history of this area for weeks ever since I found an aerial map from 1930 showing clearly cut out streets and such around where port street currently resides. I must say that someone has been doing some work out there. The fallen trees have been cut out to allow trail access, the foliage is trimmed back and the trails have blazes on them!... save for a few sandy spots and some mud holes, it was actually a very pleasant ride. I hung a left onto the "yellow trail", which, on google map is labeled as Lincoln Blvd (which is what piqued my interest of this area and led me to find the 1930 map) and actually found an 8' section of intact sidewalk. It was a super cool and nostalgic ride as I haven't been in those woods in years. :). I was out for 3 hours and my legs sure are feeling it!
 
You guys got me interested in this place. When you mentioned google maps had a dirt road listed as lincoln blvd, I had to look for myself. I found it. I was always interested in stuff like that where things used to exist and you can still see occational remenats of the past.

Did you find that arial map online? I would like to see that. Ive seen pictures of my hometown from when main street was still dirt. Its crazy to see how much different the same town looks today.

As for the trails. It looks like this park is a descent size from google maps. Im gona scope out the area. If it was possible, it would be nice to have an additional trail near home.
 
BTW. I tried to search on the internet for port street in east brunswick and weird nj. Couldn't find anything. Whats the deal with it?
 
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