in Blue Mound (Moderator: Walt Hougas)

Rode at BM today.  Stopped at the office on the way in to ask if all the trails were open.  Inquired about the Pokerville Trail, and the people there had never heard of it.  They looked on one of their print maps, and the Pokerville Trail does not show up.  They suggested we stick to the other trails.  Makes me wonder how committed the park staff are to seeing this Pokerville loop completed?

In any event we rode the Pokerville out and back.  It was fairly overgrown - does not look like too many folks have been on it this spring.  Wish we would have had tools with us, we might have been able to clear things a bit...

Rode at BM today.  Stopped at the office on the way in to ask if all the trails were open.  Inquired about the Pokerville Trail, and the people there had never heard of it.  They looked on one of their print maps, and the Pokerville Trail does not show up.  They suggested we stick to the other trails.  Makes me wonder how committed the park staff are to seeing this Pokerville loop completed?

In any event we rode the Pokerville out and back.  It was fairly overgrown - does not look like too many folks have been on it this spring.  Wish we would have had tools with us, we might have been able to clear things a bit...

My $0.02 is the park has always been understaffed. They have their hands full dealing with campers, hikers, trail runners, hunters, and users of the pool. Judging from the cars in the parking lot, mountain biking is the least significant part of their operation. It's too bad that nobody has bothered to print out and use one of the many maps I've emailed over the years. Glad you found the trail on your own. Did the posted maps help? There is one at the trail head and another at the first road crossing that show Pokerville.

The weeds are bad again this year due to the early warm weather. We also had some storms late in the spring that brought down trees after I had completed cutting all the trees that fell down earlier. Unfortunately I came down with the flu this spring and am even farther behind in weed maintenance than usual. If you want to cut weeds and have tools, that would be great.

Walt

Walt can't do it all himself folks.  Can we organize some trimming and cutting groups/rides?

We had no trouble navigating the trail.  We had downloaded the map from the CORP site before going out, so we knew where we were headed.  And the trail was well marked where it deviated from the pleasant valley loop after the road crossing.  I was just surprised that the park staff knew nothing about the trail and could not tell us if it was open, wet/dry, etc.

Despite being a little overgrown, we liked the trail a lot.  The existing stretch seems to be on drier and more well drained terrain, so I wonder if perhaps the Pokerville might one day be a trail that can be opened up even when the other loops are still closed due to excess water/mud on the trail...

If the Pokerville loop does get finished this will be a very nice addition.  What is the prognosis for completing it?

 I was just surprised that the park staff knew nothing about the trail and could not tell us if it was open, wet/dry, etc.

Despite being a little overgrown, we liked the trail a lot.  The existing stretch seems to be on drier and more well drained terrain, so I wonder if perhaps the Pokerville might one day be a trail that can be opened up even when the other loops are still closed due to excess water/mud on the trail...

If the Pokerville loop does get finished this will be a very nice addition.  What is the prognosis for completing it?

-Open Status: At this point the trails are open or closed. At some point I'd like to explore the possibility of having Over Lode open when the rest of the system is closed, but for now it's strictly on/off for the entire system. Again, the park staff are stretched thin and tracking the status of the bike trails is never going to be on their priority list. You can help by posting trail conditions either on the tab on the front page, or here on this forum.

-New trail contruction in Pokerville and other areas: It's under review by the DNR staff. The variance to the Master Development Plan that allows the MTB trails to exist has been outgrown and is in the process of revision. This is not yet complete and consequently we were not able to proceed with new construction on Pokerville in spring 2012.

-Informally I have been told by the new Park Manager that the existing trail that exceeded the original variance will be grandfathered in, and we will be allowed to make Pokerville a complete loop. We will have to wait for the paperwork process to be completed before new construction can begin again. My guess is that we will also have to have a specialist from the DNR review our proposed trail for conflict with protected plant species. It may take some time to complete.

-Weeds: I've already responded above in this thead, but one additional factor that affects Pokerville is it's relatively new, and riders are less likely to use it because many don't know it's there. Not only does riding the trail help knock weeds down, but the tread surface gets better with use. Thanks for getting out there and riding it in.

My $0.02? Its very difficult for me to wait to build trail, for a number of different reasons. Please keep in mind that things appear to be headed the right direction with the Park Manager and the DNR. I have put even more time than usual this spring with maintenance of the trails. It's the right thing to do. It also gains us credibility with the Park Manager as responsible stewards of the trails.

Walt

Hey. We went out and cleaned the worst of the weed growth on pokerville last night. We ran out of time when we hit the millitary ridge connector. At this point it looks good between pleasure valley and the connector.

Hey. We went out and cleaned the worst of the weed growth on pokerville last night. We ran out of time when we hit the millitary ridge connector. At this point it looks good between pleasure valley and the connector.

Thanks much! Your work is greatly appreciated.

Walt

Thanks dccody!!!

Hey. We went out and cleaned the worst of the weed growth on pokerville last night. We ran out of time when we hit the millitary ridge connector. At this point it looks good between pleasure valley and the connector.

Welcome dccody and thank you!