CRAMBA: Clinton River Park Trail (Dodge Park Trail)

[blacksword]

Nice writeup in the Macomb Daily over the last trail day

http://www.macombdaily.com/articles/200 ... 687184.txt

[fattyclark]

What are you a the pres of?lol

Not bad always good to get the MMBA name out there in a positive way.

[i69whitey]

glad to see ya braved the wetness to get some work done
a little too wet for my sniffly trail knome

[Weihs]

Whitey, I got out there later (10:30) to lend a hand and the existing trail was surprisingly dry! Admittedly, there was a flowing river at the trail's end, where there is clearly a need for a boardwalk, as Aaron and Blacksword are aware :). The area where the new trail was to be cut would have been workable, too, but for the low volunteer turnout (probably due to weather). I rode the trail later in the day to map it (coming soon!) and have to say it was is in a very good state considering the amount of rain we've had.

[Weihs]

Rode out there again last couple days. Man, is it beautiful right now. Summer can be miserable with the bugs,etc; but this time of year it's pretty awesome!

[mkow1234]

Rode Dodge Park singletrack last Saturday, about an hour before sunset.
Found that somebody had torn down many of the orange/pink marker ribbons on the trail.
As this trail is new, and with the topography and the leaf litter, the markers are still needed in some areas to help "define" the trail. Maybe it was one of the neighboring homeowners; maybe it was just some kids. Anyway, I spent time that could have been better used for riding to tie about two-dozen of the markers back up. That left me a bit of near-twilight time to "squint and ride". Still got in a few miles, so it wasn't bad. Saw two huge deer, right before dark.

On a related note, there's another, older section of singletrack (well-used by trail runners in the summer and fall) that runs along the "ridge" on the northeast boundary of the park. The homeowners there have huge backyards and for some reason, they see the Dodge Park border as their own personal yard waste disposal facility (I guess having a hundred yards of back lawn does not leave room for a compost pile or a fire pit). It's been ongoing, but has usually not been too bad of a problem. I came across a spot where one homeowner had dumped a load of trimmed tree branches directly on the trail! I dragged it on the side and even threw a couple branches up the hill side back onto the edge of their lawn as a "friendly reminder".
And the beat goes on...

[blacksword]

Rode Dodge Park singletrack last Saturday, about an hour before sunset.
Found that somebody had torn down many of the orange/pink marker ribbons on the trail.
As this trail is new, and with the topography and the leaf litter, the markers are still needed in some areas to help "define" the trail. Maybe it was one of the neighboring homeowners; maybe it was just some kids. Anyway, I spent time that could have been better used for riding to tie about two-dozen of the markers back up. That left me a bit of near-twilight time to "squint and ride". Still got in a few miles, so it wasn't bad. Saw two huge deer, right before dark.

On a related note, there's another, older section of singletrack (well-used by trail runners in the summer and fall) that runs along the "ridge" on the northeast boundary of the park. The homeowners there have huge backyards and for some reason, they see the Dodge Park border as their own personal yard waste disposal facility (I guess having a hundred yards of back lawn does not leave room for a compost pile or a fire pit). It's been ongoing, but has usually not been too bad of a problem. I came across a spot where one homeowner had dumped a load of trimmed tree branches directly on the trail! I dragged it on the side and even threw a couple branches up the hill side back onto the edge of their lawn as a "friendly reminder".
And the beat goes on...

These kind of things are a common problem on this type of urban trail. We are working to connect up to that section of singletrack next season, I think we have less than a .5 mile to go on our next trail build in the spring.

Thanks for all the work! I'm leaning towards kids, especially if they just left the tape laying about.

[i69whitey]

rode that little piece the other, other day. rolls nice. the neighbors sweeping some leaves out shouldn't be too great a problem. after all many of them also walk those trails (like the one with the happy yellow dog).

we found some of your ribbons heading toward that section, b-sword, but got lost in the shrubbery trying to make contact. i look forward to an early, DRY spring so we can get this track up and running.

in the mean time, once frozen, this trail gets longer and more accessible <wink>

[Weihs]

I wonder, has anyone done a night ride through here? Officially the park(s) is/are open until 8 PM this time of year, I think. That gives hours of darkness to utilize even for those that want to play by the rules. I picked up a nice head light recently and wanna get out and use it, but unfortunately for me 'tis the season to be busy!

[utabintarbo]

I've done quite a few night rides, though mostly on the paved path. I wouldn't fret too much about the time thing. As long as you aren't causing trouble, probably not going to be an issue.

[c0nsumer]

I wonder, has anyone done a night ride through here? Officially the park(s) is/are open until 8 PM this time of year, I think. That gives hours of darkness to utilize even for those that want to play by the rules. I picked up a nice head light recently and wanna get out and use it, but unfortunately for me 'tis the season to be busy!

Personally, I consider that path (well, the paved route at least) part of the safest route through that area and thus ride it at night. I've ridden through there plenty of times and had no issues. As utabintarbo said, just don't cause trouble and respect the area (per usual) and there shouldn't be any issues.

[i69whitey]

just be careful on the trail in the dark,
some of that ridge in the middle section drops down to the swamp.
we ride it at night pretty regular, never had any problems with enforcement.

matter of fact, maybe that old thursday ride should resurrect and head that way.
'tis the season

[mkow1234]

FYI, a large tree fell across the trail, near the beginning/end trail post (just off of the final paved loop, near where the old Kleino Road used to cut through). It needs to be addressed soon, because it looks like folks have already created a "new shortcut" that takes a good 50-100 yards off of the trail length. I'm just saying...

[blacksword]

FYI, a large tree fell across the trail, near the beginning/end trail post (just off of the final paved loop, near where the old Kleino Road used to cut through). It needs to be addressed soon, because it looks like folks have already created a "new shortcut" that takes a good 50-100 yards off of the trail length. I'm just saying...

Down by the edison power corridor???

I will try to get out there thursday and take care of it. We already had a large tree come down in that area and did a small reroute around it.

Thanks!

[blacksword]

Cleared the downed tree today. Also re-taped the route and took up the pin flags. Its really obvious where the trail is in some spots, and not so much in others. Whoever raked the trail sections up on the ridge, Thanks!