Forest service trails

[midwesthunter]

Took a buddy on his first elk hunt last week in CO. We were in an area I had never been in, first area I picked because of the lack of trails on ONX and on FS map. This area was littered with trails and mountain bikes were all over them, we couldn't get away from them so we moved to the next area we had E scouted. Is there anywhere else one could look to find trails that aren't on either of the maps I previously mentioned?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Named trails?

 

[Nameless Range]

On the vast majority of Dept of Ag lands, there is no such thing as "off trail" for mountain biking. Therefore, where mountain bike trails are is often an organic result of mountain bikers making them up and no reliable datasets exist.

It's a real and growing problem IMO.

 

[WV Hunter]

Maybe apps like MTB Project? I have it for my area and there are tons of mountain bike trails in the National Forest here that I haven’t seen on any other map systems. Most trail builders will map their routes in the back country for other riders to find.

 

[rwc101]

I've seen some cattle trails that become unofficial trails used by mountain bikers, hiker, and equestrians. There's quite a few around these parts.

 

[nrpate05]

Unfortunately, it has kind of become a thing in CO to go out and build your own trails. Especially in the mountain biking community. The Forest Service doesn't really have the resources to close them (and a lot of the time they don't even know about them). CPW state trails committee is aware of the issue and will hopefully allocate more cash to maintenance in the future.

 

[diamond hitch]

In northwestern Montana there were trails down most ridges and drainages. They were abandoned when they were removed off of the fire budget and replaced with helispots. In most cases they still exist but require a lot of sawing and some retreading where logging units have wiped them out. They were well marked on the old FS maps and the USGS 15 minute series maps. Some still have the signs while others have been removed by the FS at trail heads.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Unfortunately, it has kind of become a thing in CO to go out and build your own trails. Especially in the mountain biking community. The Forest Service doesn't really have the resources to close them (and a lot of the time they don't even know about them). CPW state trails committee is aware of the issue and will hopefully allocate more cash to maintenance in the future.

It's a complex issue, and not necessarily one unique to CO, VT had a ton of non-sanctioned bike trails that I road in College, crowding, mixed use conflicts, lack of trail expansion all contribute to the problem.

 

[gouch]

When I first went to work for the Forest service I got a hold of some old district maps. They showed hundreds of miles of trails no longer in the system. I would go out and try to find the old trails just for fun. A few were still used enough to follow but of course not maintained. Some you could still follow blazes but couldn't make out anything on the ground. Most were just gone. MY favorite was one that started right near the wilderness boundary at the end of a road that hadn't been used for maybe 30 years. The hardest part was going across country to find the old road then following the over grown road for about three miles to get to the trailhead. The trailhead was great. The signs from the forties or maybe even from the thirties were still hanging on the trees and the trail was still visible. A lot of blowdown but blowdown just builds character. It felt good to feel like I was hunting in a part of the wilderness that almost nobody else had seen in many many years. I didn't find any elk though. They were there, I just couldn't find them.

 

[midwesthunter]

Well these particular trails, someone was managing them because they all had blow downs cut out of the path. I have no problem sharing the public lands with others, provided they are using them properly. You could tell they got a lot of use as well.

 

[Justabirdwatcher]

Took a buddy on his first elk hunt last week in CO. We were in an area I had never been in, first area I picked because of the lack of trails on ONX and on FS map. This area was littered with trails and mountain bikes were all over them, we couldn't get away from them so we moved to the next area we had E scouted. Is there anywhere else one could look to find trails that aren't on either of the maps I previously mentioned?

I decided years ago there is a horse trail on every single ridge in the state of Colorado, and the mountain bikers take advantage of that fact. It does make me wonder sometimes how they get those grass sh*t stains out of their fancy riding jerseys.

 

[TomTom8989]

In SD it was hard to get away from bikes in places near towns. I don't have a solution, and i'm not even sure it's possible with one bike trailheading then Hey! A new trail whenever they want.