Montana de Oro State Park--ruining the hiking trails because of mountain biking

This was our second trip to Montana de Oro.  We enjoyed our stay here last year, and did again this year.

We like it because of the spectacular hiking trails, and because the campground is well maintained, with water, recycling, rules limiting generator use, sites that too small for the RVZillas, and lots of families.

On our other blog entries we will talk more about the wonderful hiking, and hikes, but for now we have an issue about what has happened since our last visit.

The issue is that the trails to Oats peak and many other places are being degraded for hikers, and it appears this is being done for cyclists. 

One can see in this photo a trail running straight from left to right.  That is the old trail.  Then, there is a LOT of damage to the foliage by making unnecessary switchbacks--none of these were needed in order for the trail to be a hiking trail.  All these changes will do is to make the hiking longer for hikers who want to get farther into the park.  

All of this is unnecessary damage to the environment.  There seemed to be miles of this type of destruction:

 

We did one of our hikes to Hazard Peak, coming down on the East Boundary Trail to the Islay Creek Road.  The trail was clearly designed for cyclists.  It is a very nice trail in fact.  However, as a hiker, you are not having the same experience on a trail that is made for cyclists as you are on a real hiking trail. 

For one thing, you can’t relax.  When hiking with my wife, I always make sure I am walking behind her if we are hiking down and ahead of her if we are walking up.  Cyclists sometimes appear out of nowhere, and are not always in control of their bikes. 

Although there were rules about using bells, this rule was only followed about 50% of the time.  And all it takes is for one cyclist to nail a hiker—so the answer isn’t just to say that “well, there are rules cyclists are supposed to use bells and watch out for hikers,” or the patronizing “we need to educate cyclists better,” or some such nonsense.  It is what it is--if they need helmets, knee guards, elbow guards, etc., then everybody on the trail probably needs the same equipment.  People with that kind of gear cannot really safely share a trail with people who do not have that type of gear.

 

And besides, we don’t go out into the wilderness to listen to bells and to worry about being rammed by an out-of-control cyclist. 

You simply cannot relax and enjoy the experience of hiking when you are on a trail with cyclists that are sometimes going very fast—and we saw some who were really flying!

Here is a link to a mountain biking organization that describes what is happening.   Note in this link a photo that shows a banked curve on the trail.

Now, ask yourselves:  Why a banked curve if not to be able to go fast?  You want to take your kids on a route where there are banked curves?  And there are a lot of them already created at this park.  Banked curves are for race tracks, not for a multi-use trail. 

And while the signs indicate that hikers have the right of way, it is unclear what this means because actually cyclists have the right of way.  They don’t get off of their bikes and move to the side of the trail—we do.  We are the ones stepping off the trail into the Poison Oak. 

 

We are not anti-cycling.  In fact, we do a lot of biking, although it is road biking.  2200 miles in 2012.

And it seems fair to have some trails in the park where mountain biking can take place.  Parks should be for everybody. 

But the Hazard Peak, East Boundary, Baranca, Islay Creek, Manzanita, and other trails in the northern part of the park provide many miles of trails where cyclists can do their thing, and if one is a hiker you know that you are on a trail of this nature.  And that cyclists, despite the signs, have the priority in terms of usage and you are on their “turf.”  Be careful, be aware, and constantly be a bit anxious about whether a cyclist might suddenly appear.  OK.  When we were on these trails we would look far into the distance to see if there were cyclists, and would gauge where we would be when they met up with us.  That’s what we signed up for when we went on those trails. 

But now the Oats Peak trail and too many other trails on the southern part of the park are being turned into trails where cyclists essentially have the priority, and that has gone too far.  Too much land was destroyed for all of the switchbacks (the photo above only shows a fraction of the damage), and this part of the park will be experiencing the sounds of bells and, for hikers, a feeling of being constantly on guard.

No longer will there be parts of the park where hikers have the priority like mountain bikers do for other parts.  

If the response is that there still are hiking-only trails like the Coon Creek and Bluff Trails (and the remaining parts of the Valencia Peak Trail), the counter response is that only the Valencia Peak trail is a true hiking trail.  The others have no elevation gain and are more of the nature of strolling trails (also an important part of any park system).  

Hiking is having the relaxing experience of using your muscles to walk several miles and up several hundred feet to experience the serenity of nature.  

And there is a real risk that this opportunity is being degraded at Montana de Oro in favor of people who are mountain bikers.