Parts of Continental Divide Trail may be banned to bikers
By Brian Metzler
Rocky Mountain News
July 27, 2007
Several popular mountain bike routes in Colorado and other Western states could become off- limits under a new management initiative for the Continental Divide Trail.
Under a proposed directive, the U.S. Forest Service could ban bikes on sections of the trail in nonwilderness areas where they currently are allowed. The Forest Service, which announced the potential changes June 12, extended the deadline Thursday for public input until Oct. 12.
The proposal could affect some of the most popular mountain biking routes on the Continental Divide Trail in Colorado, including sections of Monarch Crest Trail from Monarch Pass to Marshall Pass, Peaks Trail and Georgia Pass in Summit County and many portions of the Colorado Trail between Copper Mountain and Twin Lakes.
"Closing it to bikes could affect us economically," said Heide Andersen, open space and trails planner for Breckenridge. "People come there to ride those destination trails."
Congress commissioned the route as a National Scenic Trail in 1978, providing a 50-mile corridor on either side of the Continental Divide to locate the path.
About 70 percent of the 3,100-mile trail has been completed through Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado and New Mexico, but a lack of funding has limited the development of new portions and maintenance of existing sections.
"This is a really big deal," said Drew Vankat, policy analyst for the Boulder-based International Mountain Bicycling Association. "We're talking about some trails that offer some pretty unique opportunities for backcountry mountain biking that you're not going to get in other areas."
The aim of the proposed directive is to clarify the nature and purposes of the trail and align it with Forest Service land-management planning processes, said Greg Warren, Continental Divide Trail administrator for the U.S. Forest Service.
The trail was established to provide scenic and nonmotorized recreational experiences while conserving natural, historic and cultural resources along the Continental Divide. Warren said he biked part of the trail near Monarch Pass last weekend and encountered 90 mountain bikers, about 10 motorcyclists and four hikers in a three-hour period.
"That's why we need to wrestle with this," he said. "It was an epic ride and it was fun, but there's no way you'd want to have a pack string up there because of the intense mountain biking use. That wouldn't be safe. So we're trying to figure out how to set guidance for local management decisions to deal with those issues."
No changes are expected to be made until at least Jan. 1.
"We're not necessarily promoting mountain biking on the CDT, but we're not opposed to it, either," said Paula Ward, co-executive director of the Continental Divide Trail Alliance. "There is a lot of debate between wanting mountain biking and not wanting it. But we still need to meet with a lot of these groups to see what their concerns are."
Public input can be mailed to CDNST, P.O. Box 25127, Lakewood, CO 80225-0127 or e-mailed to cdnst@fs.fed.us.
