Recently it has been brought to our attention that trails around Beacon are being mysteriously ‘dumbed down’. This is not OK! What that means is that someone is smoothing out intended obstacles, rocks, roots, or trees. Please do not do this, and stop anyone working on a trail that should not be, especially if they are removing rocks or other natural trail features.
The full details by our trail advocate and member at large Tim Schlosser;
Hello everyone,
While what I’m going to say, is in regard to Beacon, it applies to all trail systems. Recently someone, unknown to us, has been making changes to some trails at beacon hill. I will go into detail about what some of these are and explain how and why they can be damaging to a trail.
Areas affected; First, at the top of Beacon, on the towers side, a stump was removed from the trail, widening it and allowing riders to go around some rocks. Second, on Good Behavior, the rock garden has had smaller rocks and dirt placed in between all the gaps and spaces in the rock. Third, a fallen tree that lay across the trail on Beacon 5,000 was cut out with a chain saw. The changes that have been made, while not major changes to the trail, are still enough to disrupt and damage the flow or control the speed of the trail.
Unintended consequences; When a trail is made, there are things used to control the trail, this can be done a number of ways, mostly by placing objects around or in the trail to control speed, or by routing the trail around, over, under or through an area. For example, the stump that was removed from the trail, that was used as a barricade to prevent riders from going around the rocks it was next to. By forcing the trail over those rocks, the trail speed was controlled and damage further down the trail is prevented. The damage in this case are the braking bumps that are sure to be created in the corner shortly after the rocks because the rocks are easily ridden around allowing a rider to carry more speed into a corner where more speed is not what is needed for this particular situation.
Thoughts and insight; Trails are not something that are built and completed quickly, there is a lot of planning, thought and preparation that happens before a tool ever touches the dirt. So, next time you’re on the trail and think to yourself or when talking with your friends, buddies, brother, sister, dog or whoever about why a trail is the way it is, take a second and look at what is surrounding, before or after, the section or feature and you may see why a certain part of the trail is the way it is.
Thanks
~Tim & the Evergreen Crew
