Jim Hasenauer on Bikes-only Trails

Part 1/3 of the Final Installment of the Series

In the final installment of MTBeer’s series with Mountain Bike Hall of Famer Jim Hasenauer, we get right down to it, with regard to trail access and the notion of mountain bike-only trails. The question I posed to Jim was:

Mountain bikers, more or less, arrived late to the trail access party, when thinking of hikers/backpackers and equestrians. We acquiesced a bit, even when designing new trails with our hands, making them multi-use. Nevertheless, there are places around the country that have MTB-only trails. Is it time to push for more such trails? If so, how/where? If not, generally speaking, why not?

Jim’s response:

MTB-Only Trails are an Important Part of Any Trail System

Early on, faced with too many trails closed to bikes, land access advocates argued for multiple use trails. These provided the most opportunities for the most users, were most cost efficient, minimized impacts to the landscape and most importantly, helped build a community of trail users who valued their common resource. I still feel that most trails should be multiple use, but even then, we realized that some trails should have restrictions. There needed to be interpretive nature trails where children could sit down, close their eyes and experience the sounds of the backcountry; there might be braille trails or trails designed to accommodate differently abled users; our encounters with vehement anti-bike folks led us to cede certain trails to hikers and equestrians only; and we argued for bike only downhill trails where experienced riders could push themselves without the fear of hurting or scaring other users. Different locales approached these problems differently.

Tsali in North Carolina divided their trail system into east and west sections and make mountain bikes a “recommended” use on alternating odd-even days. That’s superior to the rules on certain odd-even sections of the Tahoe Rim trail where you’re banned if you show up on the wrong day. Many trails got designated uphill or downhill only to minimize dangerous encounters. The Boy Scout’s Camp Tamarancho created a paid membership program for access to its mountain bike optimized trails luring Marin riders away from the many nearby closed trails. Many ski mountains opened up to mountain bike use and built trail systems offering green to double black diamond experiences. Many communities have built bike parks to give riders a chance to build their skills in a closed off area.

Photo Credit: Jim Hasenauer

Now, as our numbers have increased tremendously, land managers are thinking seriously about mountain bike only trails. The takeaway is that we now need to think on a trail system level. The system should be shared use, but not every trail will be. This has been IMBA’s emphasis with their ”trails close to home” philosophy. So yes, sometimes mountain bike only trails are the way to go, but I think they should be the exception. There are three principles we need to remember when allocating trails in a trail system. These are equity, diversity and connectivity.

Equity means an allocation that fairly represents our numbers. If mountain bikers are 50% of the trail users in a system, they should have access to at least 50% of the available trails, trail miles, etc. Some of these might be bike only, but equity then requires a fair number of no bike trails. That’s a trade-off that local trail communities will have to decide.

In this context, diversity means we should have access to a variety of types of trails, not just limited to one (sanitized?) standard. Mountain bicycling like other forms of outdoor recreation is a progressive sport. Riders vary in their abilities and interests. There need to be facilities that are easy and welcoming to beginners, and there need to be facilities that are longer, more technical, more challenging. It is these more technical trails where bike only use makes the most sense.

Connectivity means that bikers should have access to all the resources of a park that other users have access to. It also means that it’s essential to link trails to one another so that bicyclists like other users can stitch together longer rides.

In a trail system, mountain bike only trails can provide riders with the kind of experiences and challenges they desire. They can be safer, but they should be kept to a minimum if the cost is being excluded from other trails.

*******

Thanks, Jim, for such wisdom. Somewhere around 20 years ago, I rode Tsali. At the trailhead, bikers and equestrians were hanging out. I talked with them and at that moment in time with those trail users, they all agreed that the system set up there was one they all could agree with and they were content with it.

Cheers to that!