Timberline Trail Project
Please come to this meeting to support this trail project!
There are people who are opposed to this idea because they are concerned that a trail near their neighborhood may attract unsavory types. Come out and demonstrate that trail users are good folks!
An Information/ Public Comment Meeting on the proposed Timberline Trail Project will be held on Wednesday, January 14th , from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Summit Fire Station 33 on North Hwy 89 (just past Second Chance Animal Shelter). The U.S. Forest Service, in partnership with Coconino County’s Parks & Recreation Department and Flagstaff Biking Organization, are proposing the construction of a new non-motorized trail from the Timberline area south to the City of Flagstaff boundary. The proposed trail is intended for hikers, bicyclists and equestrians from east-side neighborhoods to access popular Forest trails, Flagstaff Urban Trail System (FUTS), and the new Flagstaff Loop Trail. The trail alignment consolidates existing unauthorized trails, Forest roads, and new construction into a single right-of-way that respects Forest resources and provides free, high-quality recreation.
For more information contact Brian Poturalski at Peaks Ranger Station at (928) 526-0866 or email bpoturalski@fs.fed.us .
I am surprised to see that FBO is supporting this project. Do we really need a class 4 recreational trail that connects the neighborhoods in the east to FUTS and the Loop Trail? The existing Deer Hill trail (an official forest service trail) can already be used for this purpose. Of course this trail has been seriously damaged the last couple of years due to motorcycle use.
How will the forest service be able to keep ATVs and motorcycles off the trail? The Deer Hill trail is too primitive and narrow for ATV use but the proposed Timberline trail that was described last night at the meeting can easily be used by ATVs and motorcycles.
If I am not mistaken, the commuter trail is practically completed all the way to the Mall. Would it not be a better use of the money to expand the commuter trail to Doney park to provide a safer route for bicyclists from these neighborhoods to get to town?
I am not in favor of the Timberline Trail project because I do not believe the forest service will be able to enforce the non-motorized aspect of the trail use. They simply do not have the man power for it.
Saeid-
I’d like to potentially address some of your concerns.
Deer Hill trail has, unfortunately, never been properly legally closed to motorized travel (this is disputable). This gray area has left a gap in USFS Law Enforcement’s ability to cite people for riding dirt bikes on this trail. This problem will be remedied by next Fall, when the Coconino National Forest implements the National Travel Management Rule.
This trail also sees a large amount of equestrian use, especially on the southern side. This use also has a significant impact to trail tread condition.
The Deer Hill trail is also poorly aligned in many places, causing exacerbation of erosion that is caused by higher impact uses. You might note the condition of the adjacent lower Little Elden and Sand Seep trails which see no illegal motorized use, but are still in a state of disrepair and erosion. The International Mountain Bicycling Association web site has much information posted on proper trail alignment and use impacts that will better explain why the Deer Hill trail is in the condition it is in currently.
http://www.imba.com/resources/science/index.html
http://www.imba.com/resources/trail_building/index.html
FBO has been pushing to do some maintenance and even realignments to the Deer Hill trail, and we hope to host a trail work day this year on this trail. Realignments are administratively difficult, because they typically require their own NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) analysis, which is expensive and time consuming for the USFS, however, we will still push for them.
The Timberline Trail concept is the result of several years of community input and planning by Coconino County. There are numerous user-created trails in the area that would be consolidated into the proposed trail and its feeder trails and connectors. A class 4 trail would address a different sort of demand than the class 3 Deer Hill trail. Timberline Trail would potentially allow for loop options using Deer Hill trail, especially if the corridors of some of the user created trails in the neighborhood were consolidated into well designed system routes.
This trail would not be completed until after the implementation of the National Travel Management rule. If there were an inordinate number of OHVs illegally using this trail, this Rule, and in fact existing regulations
because the trail is within a motorized closure area already unlike Deer Hill, could be enforced by USFS Law Enforcement and potentially Coconino County Sheriffs. I would also point out that to not build non-motorized trails because they may be illegally used by motorized users is an argument that will only get us no trails at all.
The concept of continuing the commuter trail to Timberline and Doney Park is a great one, but a significantly more expensive one. This would require the purchase of a huge number of easements across private property, working with
ADOT and other factors that make this approach basically un-doable at this time. A commuter path like this provides a different experience from that which would be provided by the Timberline Trail since the Timberline Trail would be in the Forest and a commuter trail would be adjacent to Highway 89. This fact might make it less desirable for activities like dog walking, horseback riding and use by young children. Not that a commuter trail does not serve a vital purpose, but it may appeal to fewer people. Flagstaff Biking would support such a trail, and may even suggest such a project at some time.
FBO’s mission is “Promoting bicycling as a safe and attractive means of transportation and recreation in Northern Arizona.” We feel that this trail would go a long way toward the accomplishment of that mission. We value your feed back and hope that you will take the above information into
consideration.
Thanks!