Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

Areas at the WH Reservoir Being closed to bikes

3K views 6 replies 2 participants last post by  Arebee 
#1 ·
Ran into "NO BIKES" signs in two areas on Sunday. One by the newly laid gravel path near the water treatment facility and one by the dirt doubletrack that connects the pavement to the fence line along Old Mountain Road. Our group rides out from the Rte. 44 parking lot and these two areas are very short (1/8 mile each) connectors in our regular loop. I believe we can work around the first by using the bike lane on the pavement, but the second one completely shuts off our access to any point North since the paved road is also closed to bikes at that point. This really sucks! I have emailed MDC to ask why and to see if there are viable options.
 
#2 ·
After three attempts, I finally heard back from the MDC. It seems that there will be some additional clearing going on for a project from the Kilkenny tanks.

"The work area during the project would not be conducive to bicycle riding". That leads me to believe that the ban isn't permanent, but one could only guess how long it will last.
 
#4 ·
Yeah, that sucks. One guy in our group rode at the Res a few weeks ago and told us about the fence-line. He also said there's a whole slew of new "No Bike" signs near the Rte. 4 trail area.

With the mild, rainy winter we had, we started riding Case more often because the Res was too muddy and Case dries out so quickly. It made us realize that's it's worth the longer drive to go there every weekend.

The Res is great for us because it's close by, but the riding at Case is just amazing. So many more trails and much more challenging terrain.
 
#5 ·
We rode the Res yesterday. The lower and upper fence lines are open and are actually in really good shape. It was mostly dry and we could easily maneuver around the small amount of mud that we saw except for at the powerlines before the road to Kilkenny Rock. We moved to the newly graveled road for that. That area is completely cleared and there are two huge sections 50' x 100' that are covered with railroad ties to keep the machines out of the mud.

The dirt road from the Rt. 4 parking lot to the lower fence line still has a "No Bikes" sign as does the area coming out of the woods and over the little bridge by Reservoir 5. Absurd.

I think the closures are policed during the week while the clearing is going on, but on the weekends, it's full of bikers and hikers.
 
#6 ·
Update: Rode the res Sunday 12/11 and conditions were really good. Very dry. The newly graveled road that I mentioned above has recently been hydroseeded. They threw a thin layer of mulch/top soil mix on the gravel and seeded it. Weird! The railroad ties have been removed and that section that was covered is starting to get muddy as it always has.

We were a little pissed that someone had gone a little chainsaw happy in the woods by the Rte. 44 ***** and took out some low to moderately challenging obstacles.
 
#7 ·
We rode the Res on Wednesday after work and the area from the dirt double track I mentioned above through the lower fence line to the gravel path is completely flattened from heavy machinery. It's all fenced off and there are machines and work trailers everywhere. For after work rides, we usually go in through the gate at the top of Bungalow Hill Road, but now have to go in at the gate on Old Mountain Road which puts you at the bottom of the upper fence line.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top