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Big news: Feds to consider allowing bikes on PCT

47K views 203 replies 76 participants last post by  Empty_Beer 
#1 ·
For the last two to three years a small group of us has been working to get mountain bike access to non-Wilderness sections of the Pacific Crest Trail. (About 60% of the PCT lies outside Wilderness.)

We have convinced the Forest Service that its 1988 closure order requires reconsideration.

As a result, the Forest Service is going to begin a rulemaking procedure, probably in March of 2013, to consider making the non-Wilderness parts of the PCT multiuse. This will involve public notice and comment.

When something similar happened with the Continental Divide Trail about four years ago, the Forest Service received about 8000 comments. The PCT reconsideration can be expected to generate even more controversy.

If the Forest Service decides to keep bikes off the Pacific Crest Trail, we can expect that closure to stay in place for the rest of our lives and maybe those of our children. If the Forest Service decides to open it, it will be revolutionary.

Stay tuned. We'll be looking for your help in coming months.
 
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#74 ·
Regarding both bikepacking and day rides: one thing that would be very helpful would be for people to post the opportunities in their area that would open up if access were legalized. What good rides would become available that weren't before? What out-and-back rides could become loops? And, if you feel like being candid, what problems could arise from mountain bike use on those trail miles, and how could any such problems be solved?
 
#78 ·
Just another thought in case of so much opposition arises that failure appears eminent, the MTBers could offer a compromise of designating even days open to mountain bikes and odd days open to hikers/horses only. We have some trails in Salt Lake City set up like that. The benefit for us (besides gaining access to trails that might not have otherwise allowed bikes) is that on those even days when bikes are allowed, dogs MUST BE ON A LEASH. This also helps reduce trail conflicts. On hiker-only days, dogs can be off leash.
Obviously full time access would be better, but sometimes baby steps are a good start.


Sent from my Galaxy S3
 
#79 ·
My Vasque Clarion's have a wider and more aggressive tread than my mtb tires. Each boot will hit the trail in two different spots. If I use a walking stick or poles, they will contact the trail in 1 or 2 additional spots. That means I am contacting the trail in 3 or 4 different spots within a few feet. On my bike the two contacts are in the same spot. On a multi day trip my pack usually weighs more than my bike, so size and weight of a bike itself is not really an issue in regards to the trail.

IMO, the real issue is elitist attitudes. If all outdoor enthusiasts were courteous and watched out for each other, there would be no problem. However, too many people/groups have a hard-on about how great they are compared to everybody else. We are out there for the same experience, but we all just do it in different ways.
 
#80 ·
Where I ride, there are very few multi-use trails. Most parks have multi-use "two-track" for the vehicles which help with trail maintenance, and hikers, equestrians, and mountain bikers each have their own designated trails. I occasionally come across people hiking the MTB trails and I usually warn them to keep eyes and ears open for approaching bikes as riders won't be expecting to encounter them. Other than that, I actually encourage them to hike or run the bike trails as they are much more challenging than the hiking-only trails.

There was a recent mass lay-off of USFS personnel, everywhere except the most popular parks for mountain biking. The bikers contribute 90%+ of the income to the park, they designed, created, and maintain the trail system. The rangers maintain the hiking and horse trails because neither of those user groups do any maintenance at all. Other areas of the state thinking about giving trail access to bikers talk to Alafia River State Park rangers about their experience working with the SWAMP club as it has become a model of success.

SWAMP maintains 4 trail systems, by the way. They rotate trail maintenance on Saturdays and hold club rides on Sundays.
 
#84 · (Edited)
I was just thinking about my experiences with cycling The Arizona Trail. The AZ trail is around 700 miles long, I believe, and traverses Arizona from the Mexican border all the way up to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. Over the years, I've ridden most of it. It's very similar to the PCT in many ways.....it crosses all kinds of terrain, and for the most part it is singletrack. It's much shorter than the PCT, but aside from that, lots of similarities, and traffic on it, whether foot, hoof, or soft-rubber air-filled tire traffic, is very low in general. Just like the PCT in that respect.

The major way it DOES differ from the PCT is that right from the get-go, the AZ trail has always been open to ALL non-motorized users. And I gotta say, that for all of Arizona's boneheaded politics (IMO) I have never encountered a hiker on this trail, or a horse person, who acted like they didn't approve of me being there. In fact, everybody I encountered seemed to be quite friendly to me. One day, the only person I saw for an entire stretch of the trail , from Lake Mary down past Mormon Lake, was a guy who kinda looked like Osama bin Laden! He turned out to be a Sikh, not a Muslim, but he also turned out to be a real friendly guy. He was hiking north, I was riding south. He gave me all kinds of useful info on the trail, and on different segments of the trail....he's hiked the whole route at least once.

In all, my experience with other kinds of trail users on the AZ trail was completely, 100%, positive.
Only here, in CA, do I encounter this highly divisive, possessive attitude towards a public trail on public land used by members of the .....Public.

If anything, people I encountered on the AZ trail were concerned about MY safety, telling me about upcoming obstacles, the size of their mountain lions, etc.... Imagine that!

So, I think that the attitudes of those opposing cycling on the PCT are to a large extent supported by ideological-fueled agendas, which is sad, because when I talk to these people, I find that I share a love for the land, and for nature, and also have a shared value for solitude and the benefit of communing with nature via a solo ride on the trail, that matches their love of hiking the same surface.

It's a damn shame that the 'anti's' are so entrenched in their beliefs, their ideological line in the sand, that they feel entirely comfortable with what amounts to denying me the equal right to enjoy the trail, in my way. I sense that in so many ways, these hiker folk are otherwise entirely decent, reasonable people, and most of the horse-folk are, as well.

So, I'm optimistic about this issue. Call me a hopeless romantic, but I think that, like Rodney King, (God bless that poor tortured soul) we CAN all get along. It's just gonna take some work, and a bit of 'Tough Love', on our part, both towards the haters and also towards our own kind who are bent on bullying other users.

Sorry for the run-on, rantlike statement. I'll try not to let it happen again! :thumbsup:

Oh yeah, and I wanted to mention, that my bikes all have a really nice-sounding, 'mellifluous' two-tone brass bell. Coming up behind a hiker or equestrian, it never fails to deraw a smile, even from the 'haters'. Although in their case the smile is a fleeting one, quickly suppressed, and replaced with the requisite, dissaproving frown.;)

Oh yeah....one other thing. Bells are USELESS in the face of an I-pod wearer. They couldn't hear a rattler if they were about to step on it this their ear buds firmly in place!
 
#90 ·
I'll be a bad influence and donate time and my own money in sustainment of the PCT in northern NM that would allow cyclists access on the trail.

Area is perfect for cycling and very remote to access on foot. If one could bikepack in the area it would be perfect. My daughter is almost old enough where she could ride with us (without gear) to make it a perfect family trip
 
#92 ·
I'm thinking south of Cumbres Pass. East of Cuba NM there are quite a bit of trails there and I think your right I confused PCT for CDNST. Currently there is a section of trail that is prime for cycling yet the letter of the law on the trail is anything with a wheel is not allowed.

Trail sign specifically call out wheelbarrows, trailers and wheelchairs as well from entering the area. Don't know how the last one is quite legal and wish I had a camera at the time taking a photo of the sign. Wonder how the wilderness act views individuals with a disability from entering the area. Not asking we pave the woods, but if someone is disabled and inclined of entering wilderness areas I don't feel as if they should be faced with a sign indicating they are not welcome.
 
#93 ·
Crux, that's a long story. The Forest Service's Wilderness rules are nonsensical, counterproductive, and arguably in violation of the congressionally enacted Wilderness Act of 1964, which was passed by a Congress that wanted people to get outdoor exercise and signed by President Johnson, who made statements during his presidency about his appreciation for bicycles. Check out this website. It explains a lot.

Wilderness and bicycling issues, philosophy, and advocacy

Wheelchairs, BTW, are allowed in Wilderness, but that's a more recent law and maybe the FS hasn't gotten around to changing the sign.
 
#94 ·
OK, to reiterate a post I did in the Washington forum.... and a follow up here....

Google Earth shapefiles from Wilderness.net + PCT trail file from Forest Service

And when you put them all together you get a 7MB KMZ here. It's too large to load into Google Maps (probably because it includes the entire PCT) but that gives y'all the tools to start really drilling into this sucker. Most of Washington state is obviously off-limits, but there are some interesting (albeit shortish) possibilities south of I90.
 
#95 ·
Thanks, Slow . . . . you are right about the wilderness portions. We've held off on posting maps of "the possibilities" for now though for a few particular reasons. Send me a PM if you want to know more.

Also note: People who are interested in the PCT and want to be kept abreast of information can post here about joining the PCT group on here. There's a private social group that is invite only (PM CHUM for permission) where we can discuss, argue, ***** and moan all we want without fear of scrutiny from the opposition.
 
#96 ·
#98 ·
Like entrance at Acadia national park , 5 dollars each hike or bike
We've thought of this idea, however, its my understanding that such fees actually CREATE a headache for the Administration in charge because its now a program that they have to implement, facilitate, enforce and monitor . . . in a system that is already low on resources. Many times the fees collected are simply directed in an loop that perpetuates the program itself without any real benefit.

Plus then there's the whole issue of "Double taxation" . . . . take a look at the recently abandoned Adventure Pass program.
 
#99 ·
What about proposing seasonal-use guidelines? I believe most thru-hikers start at the Mexico border in April, and make their way north as summer unfolds. At least for the So-Cal region south of Kennedy meadows, bikers allowed June through Feb./March, so they are not "interfering" during the heavy hiker traffic times. Of course, the downside of this would be riding in the hot desert in summer, which ain't so fun....

sorry if this has already been mentioned, I was skimming to catch up on the post.
 
#103 ·
Nice article just published:
Advocates hope for reversal of Pacific Crest Trail bike ban

Bike advocates say the 1988 ban was done too abruptly, without public comment or opportunity to appeal. The Oregon-based group, Disciples of Dirt, who fully supports the mission of Sharing the PCT, wrote on their website that the ban was "just fear and misunderstanding, mixed with a lot of well funded ignorance."

In 2010, a group of citizen activists decided to probe further into the 1988 decision. They wrote a letter to the USFS on November 12, 2010 asking them to "put in place a process to examine the continuing usefulness of the 1988 closure order."

click here to read more

Sharing the Pacific Crest TrailHome » Sharing the Pacific Crest Trail
 
#105 · (Edited)
I know your just joking around, but a foldable gravity bike just seems kinda silly in most cases.

But I have looked into packing a bike on a light weight military Alice frame some what disassembled as a possible tool to create larger loops on the PCT. But as I researched it I discovered that you cannot even possess a bike (even disassembled and not rideable) in wilderness or the pct. So why bother, just ride it, if your gonna get a ticket either way.

I have recently after ignoring this little project for a few years got the rig ready for my first adventure to combine some non rid-able peak bagging and unconnected trail's for some interesting adventure riding/off trail hiking that I hope to try out as soon as the snow melts next year.

Here is a photo someone posted that got me interested in the ideal in the first place, this fellow did the whole Tahoe Rim, hiking the non-bike legal sections and even this could have gotten him a ticket :rolleyes:



And the thread I started a few years ago on this.
https://forums.mtbr.com/california-norcal/bike-backpack-non-poach-alternative-540024.html
 
#106 ·
Good luck

I'm not from your country, so I don't really have anything to offer but my best wishes that you not only gain access to this and other trails that fall under the odd 'no motorized vehicles - that includes mountain bikes' rule, but that you also manage to achieve some kind of harmony with the other user groups that seem so threatened by your potential presence.

The small amount of time I've spent being (albeit minimally) involved with trail advocacy, I've noticed it was beneficial to form the approach that we as MTB users were all about making the trails better and more sustainable for ALL users, whereas other user groups were all about making the trails better just for themselves. This distinction proved to make a difference in at least one 'battle' I knew of. But we're still a very young sport in Australia, and there's a long way to go.

Best of luck. I hope I find myself back there one day riding some of your amazing trails.
 
#107 ·
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