North Dakota's Blockbuster trail to get a sequel

By Lauren Donovan
Bismarck Tribune
September 10, 2006

MEDORA ‹ A trail that exposed the heart of the Badlands to hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders will open it another 45 miles.

It's possible that bikes will only be allowed on the first 11 miles of the new trail.

More than 5,000 people used the Maah Daah Hey Trail last year. Nearly 3,000 had used it this year through June alone to explore 96 miles of challenging and beautiful national grasslands terrain between Medora and the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park.

The U.S. Forest Service plans to extend the trail south starting next year.

Like the sequel to a blockbuster, they're calling it "Maah Daah Hey II."

It will wind from Sully Creek Campground outside Medora down to the Burning Coal Vein Campground into the ponderosa pine country west of Amidon in Slope County.

The Forest Service released its draft environmental assessment last week. The public has until Oct. 2 to comment on the most significant recreation opportunity planned for the Little Missouri National Grasslands this decade.

A final assessment should be complete in January. Trail construction is scheduled to start in springtime, winding up in 2009.

Construction would start at the Burning Coal Vein Campground south end and be done in roughly thirds, proceeding north toward Medora.

It includes building a new campground, the Coal Creek Campground, 11 miles south of Medora, where mountain bike use would terminate and foot and horseback use could continue south.

The Forest Service is looking at three possibilities for the trail route.

The agency proposes action on an alternative H that would exclude mountain biking on all but the first 11 miles out of Medora.

Ron Jablonski is the Forest Service supervisor of the grasslands' Medora district.

He said the agency wants to keep mountain bikes off the trail at the point where it enters into the Kendley Plateau, an area that's designated "suitable for wilderness."

The designation is part of the grasslands' management plan and means that the area may someday become a wilderness area where mechanized bicycles are not allowed. Congress has to create wilderness on federal land and the Forest Service has no request in the works.

The term "suitable for wilderness" was invented for the Little Missouri National Grasslands in North Dakota in the new management plan and is the only Forest Service land so designated in the country.

The Forest Service wanted to give "kid glove'" treatment to the areas in the event they ever were named wilderness, Jablonski said.

Part of that "kid glove" treatment means not allowing activities that would preclude a future wilderness designation ‹ in this case, mountain biking.

The three suitable for wilderness areas in the Medora grasslands district are the Kendley Plateau with 13,000 acres; Bullion Butte with 9,000 acres; and Twin Buttes with 8,000 acres.

The Kendley Plateau suitable for wilderness area is roughly nine or 10 miles long on the trail and encompasses the scenic Kendley and Cliffs plateaus visible along East River Road south of Medora.

Jablonski said it would be unsafe for mountain bikers to use public roads to get around the suitable for wilderness area and pick up the trail again, which is why the agency doesn't propose to reopen the trail to mountain bikes south of the suitable for wilderness area.

Patti Perry, who's involved with economic development for Slope County, said she's not happy with the Forest Service's proposed action on a trail that excludes mountain bikes from most of it.

She said the county was looking forward to welcoming mountain bikers into the Burning Coal Vein country, where they might use local lodging and restaurants in the Amidon area.

"It's idiotic to treat it like it's wilderness, when it's not," Perry said. "To me, they're taking out half the attraction when they take the bikes out. When I think ŚMaah Daah Hey' I think of a bike trail."

The idea to extend the trail to the Burning Coal Vein area originated in Slope County several years ago and Perry said the economic development board is exploring a trail branch from the campground out to Amidon.

Loren Morlock, who owns Dakota Cyclery outfitting and guide service in Medora, said the Forest Service should allow mountain biking through the suitable area until it is officially wilderness.

He said the trails are built with multi-use funds.

Jennifer Morlock, also of Dakota Cyclery, said leaving out a major group of trail users would be economically devastating to the Slope County economy.

There is no breakdown to show how many trail users are on foot, horseback or bike.

The Burning Coal Vein Campground in Slope County has one loop of primitive campsites.

Jablonski said the campground is due for a "facelift" and the Forest Service plans to add a second loop specifically for horseback users.

Jablonski said there is concern that if bikes are allowed through the suitable area it won't ever get the wilderness designation.

Jeff Adams, who led the assessment team, said once a use is established, getting it removed could be difficult.

Jablonski said the proposed action alternative H is the best one for its recreational mix of terrain and vistas from high plateaus. People on mountain bikes would still have many miles of available trail, he said.

"We have three good alternatives. This (H) is the one we want the public to look at. Wilderness is a new concept for North Dakota and it's handled just a little bit different," Jablonski said.

He said the agency is not locked into any alternative yet, but people who comment aren't casting a vote. He said the agency is looking for substantive issues to address in its final assessment.

A second alternative B was originally scoped with the public and goes through the suitable for wilderness area. Mountain biking would be allowed the entire length of the trail under alternative B.

Adams said after alternative B was the one originally proposed to the public, some people wanted bikes allowed in the suitable area and others did not.

The third trail alternative E was proposed by conservation groups and IMBA, a national mountain biking association, and bypasses the suitable for wilderness area and bighorn sheep habitat areas by making a good-sized swoop to the east.

Sierra Club organizer Wayde Schafer, of Bismarck , said he still thinks alternative E is the best of the three, because it stays out of the suitable for wilderness area and protects the bighorn sheep habitat.

"I think it's very important that bikes are not allowed in the suitable for wilderness area. It could disqualify it from ever becoming wilderness, or at the very least, they'd have to kick someone out," Schafer said.

Maah Daah Hey II will traverse many miles of bighorn sheep habitat, and all alternatives bypass key lambing locations. Bighorns were a primary consideration in developing all the alternatives, according to the environmental assessment.

The original Maah Daah Hey Trail has been an economic benefit since it opened six years ago. It has received national mention in newspapers and magazines, primarily for the mountain biking challenge. Helmeted and Spandex-ed tourists are a common sight in Medora and surrounding area these days.

There are no revenue numbers for the trail, but visitors to the grasslands in North Dakota spend an average of $1,700 for equipment, recreation trips, memberships and licenses, according to a 2003 visitor use report cited in the assessment.

Wade Westin handles marketing for the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation.

The foundation advertises Medora attractions, like the musical, and promotes the Maah Daah Hey Trail in literature and provides links to it on its Web site, he said.

Westin also is a mountain biker and said the Maah Daah Hey is one of the top 10 single-track trails in the country.

He said the Forest Service's plan to extend the trail is a plus, even if not all of it is open to mountain bikers.

"Any adding on that they can do can only enhance (it)," Westin said. "It's a great trail."

Jablonski said the Forest Service views the Maah Daah Hey trail as a spine through the grasslands and Badlands country.

If its proposed trail is adopted, mountain bikers may be served by other loops or adjunct trails developed in the future.

He said for now, the Forest Service is proposing alternative H, and won't be locked into any alternative until after the comment period and the final assessment is signed.

"We'd love to hear the discussion," Jablonski said.

For information on how to comment on the trail extension, call 225-5151.