Mountain Bike Reviews Forum banner

Wakefield is looking rough

712 views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  repoman 
#1 ·
The recent wash of rain has had a bad affect on Wakefield. The creek loop is washed out, plants are overgrown and all in all it's just looking rough.

Does anyone know of any upcoming trail maintenance days there? I'd like to get involved since I ride there and value its convenience.
 
#4 ·
I have to differ - I've ridden Wakefield 3 times this week including this morning. I've ridden the creek, bowl, berms, and race course. Just about everything seemed in prime shape to me. Only exception would be the new Phase 4 section in the woods - it still has quite a few muddy spots. Wakefield is only a couple miles from my house, so it's my local ride. I probably ride there 60 times a year.

Repo
 
#5 ·
repoman said:
I have to differ - I've ridden Wakefield 3 times this week including this morning. I've ridden the creek, bowl, berms, and race course. Just about everything seemed in prime shape to me. Only exception would be the new Phase 4 section in the woods - it still has quite a few muddy spots. Wakefield is only a couple miles from my house, so it's my local ride. I probably ride there 60 times a year.

Repo
I really noticed it in the creek loop. It just looked ugly, like the creek flowed up onto the trail and washed everything away. And whatever trail it is that leads to / exits from the creek loop is overgrown and has developed massive ruts from people riding too soon after the rain.

I would say that the rest looked okay. It had been a while since I had last been out there so maybe it seemed more dramatic to me. Sorry for the misleading post.

Also, what are the different phases? I see that mentioned but I'm not familiar with the corresponding regions of the trails.
 
#6 ·
The Phases refer to different trail building projects undertaken in recent years by MORE under the guidance of IMBA trail gurus to preserve access and enhance the sustainability of the trails at Wakefield. But you have to be a MORE member to get an actual map of the phases, so I won't cross protocol here. So in general terms - Phase one is the trail segment in the woods on the hillside between the powerlines and the creek. Phase two is the loop out on the powerlines that features a short switchback climb and the nice big rollers. Phase 3 is also on the powerlines and features the bermed downhill turns and switchback climb back up. Finally, Phase 4 is back in the woods between the powerlines and the creek trail but is a flat section that used to be pretty scrubby and wet until they armored much of the trail and put in some man made rock gardens and wood ramps. The other section I mentioned is the Bowl - which is a short tail segment in the woods behind the baseball fields on the right side of the park road as you enter the park from Braddock. Overall, I'd say there are 8-9 miles of trails at Wakefield total.

Most of the creek trail is subject to flooding whenever we get a decent rain. The worst section is on the southern end of the trail towards Braddock Road. There is a segment that connects the creek trail with the Cross county trail that is out in the open and bordered by tall grass that obscures the tread and there are 3 or 4 decent rutted sections here. That was washed out early in the summer and was cordoned off with yellow tape for a few weeks. Given the propensity to flood, the landscape of this southern section tends to be shaped and changed by Mother Nature overcoming the best efforts of the local trail crews. As a result, it is certainly not as buff as most of Wakefield.

Repo
 
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