Trail of Gears

Conflict over trail use intensifies in the hills

By Robert Detlefsen

In the distance, a motorcycle whines. It seems far away, but suddenly the motorcycle speeds around the corner.The narrow, precipitous path doesn’t allow much room to pass. The mountain biker jumps off his bike, barely able to stand on the loose side of the hill.

“The motorcycle came flying around the corner and caught up with me very quickly. I was slipping down the side of the mountain trying to hold my bike,” said Andrew Nelson. “As he passed he sprayed gravel toward me, accidentally—I think.”

As more and more outdoor enthusiasts travel into the recreation areas of Colorado, there is more chance of conflict between user groups. The National Forest Service and other land management organizations around Colorado Springs strive to lower the impact, reduce conflict between interest groups and increase user safety.

Setting these lofty goals is one thing; putting rules and laws into practice to achieve cooperation and minimize impact is more difficult, especially when every group has a different opinion on land management.

“Everybody wants their little niche to themselves to do all this stuff,” said David Griffin, ranger for the Pike National Forest Pikes Peak ranger district. “To manage that for multiple use is really difficult. It comes down to managing people instead of the natural resources.”

Managing people is really balancing different special interests, said Griffin. To reduce conflict between large groups, the National Forest issues special-use permits to event organizers, such as a trail run up the Pikes Peak Barr Trail.

“Special-use permits help avoid conflict by saying, ‘Okay, this club is going to have this event on this weekend.’ People who are interested in that particular activity have a chance to participate,” Griffin continued. “People who aren’t interested in that activity can go somewhere else. It doesn’t lower the impact, but it prevents conflict.”

Manure and motorcycles

Most weekends, though, special-use permits don’t regulate conflicts between users. Hikers walk along the trail and must step over clods of horse manure. Mountain bikers often startle hikers toiling up the hill. Motorcycles concern equestrians by frightening horses and motorized vehicle enthusiasts worry that trails will be closed to off-highway vehicle (OHV) use.

Conflict is often a matter of courtesy.

While tension exists between all groups, the greatest current conflict is increased motorized use, said Griffin.

“For the most part, motorized recreation is really a big challenge right now, because it can be relatively destructive in a short period of time to the natural resources,” said Griffin. “If we have a trail that isn’t challenging enough, people tend to drift off that trail and challenge themselves to bogs, riparian areas, hill climbs.”

When four-wheel drive vehicles—including ATVs, motorcycles, Jeeps and trucks—can’t find the challenge along the designated four-wheel drive roads, they go off the road and create their own challenge.

“That causes problems and safety issues for people who see it, want to challenge it, but it’s way above their ability,” said Griffin.

Some OHV users agree.

“I’d really like to see the National Forest designate trail difficulty and rider ability,” said Mike Stokes, motorcycle enthusiast and employee at Apex Sports. The Rampart Range Motorcycle Committee puts up signs designating difficulty around the Rampart Range area, and the manufacturers as well dealers try to educate buyers on trail use and etiquette, Stokes said. “There’s always a few bad eggs, though,” said Stokes.

There are no bad eggs in the line of off-road vehicles gathered for a local club-sponsored volunteer day. The drivers and occupants are armed with shovels, signs and trash bags. Their goal? To maintain and clean up their favorite trails. Predator Four Wheel Drive, a specialty shop in Colorado Springs, donates $5,000 and 1,500 work-hours each year to both maintain trails and protect natural resources. Many OHV users understand that they must respect and appreciate the local trails.

“Yes, it would be nice if there were more places to go, but we’re fortunate because there are a lot of places just west of here and in the state,” said Craig Kaufmann, an avid 4-wheeler. Four-wheelers need to protect those trails, said Kaufmann.

Less sound, more ground

While balancing special-interest groups and reducing the amount of erosion on trails is important, safety for users may be most difficult to manage.

Even in a small park like Cheyenne Cañon with only 4.75 miles of trails, safety is the number-one priority. “Safety comes first, then maintenance,” said Ron Leasure, park ranger for Cheyenne Cañon.

Despite the erosion and possible dangers of motorized use, many hikers, cyclists and even equestrian users understand that motorized vehicles have their place.

“[Motorcycle riders] are nice and polite,” said Ashley Goodwin, mountain biker and Colorado Cyclist employee. “They do trash the trails but overall they’re pretty good.”

Others aren’t as positive about motorized use.

“As a bicyclist, I’m opposed to motorcycles,” said Carey Pelto, an avid runner and bicyclist who lives in Colorado Springs District 12. “ It would be nice if they had dedicated trails for motorcycles, just like they have the dedicated dog loop in Bear Creek Park.”

For the OHV crowd, being confined to the equivalent of a motorcycle loop just doesn’t work. It would always be nice to have more trails for the motorcycle and ATV crowd, said Stokes, adding that motorcycles do bother the majority of hikers who “come up for the peace and solitude.”

However, motorcycle manufacturers are developing ways to reduce the noise. “Less sound equals more ground,” said Stokes.

Most quiet-use advocates agree. “I don’t mind motorcycles once they’re gone and you can’t hear them,” said Robin Leeman, Colorado Springs area resident and local park regular.

For the horses, motorcycles and erosion are more of a problem.

“The motorcycles are the worst,” said local horseman Rob Foster, patting his horse as he loads the trailer at the crowded High Drive trailhead in Cheyenne Cañon. “The horses really get spooked by the noise, and it’s hard to pass them. This horse here is old. He has trouble getting up the loose trails which are made worse by the motorcycles.”

While most quiet users blame motorized travel for trail problems, everyone who uses the trails causes impact, said Griffin.

On Captain Jack’s trail above Cheyenne Cañon, heavy use of the trail has cut a 2-foot deep trench that runs right down the middle of the path. The sides of the trail become progressively wider as riders and hikers try to avoid the ditch that used to be a trail. Along the edges, there’s a series of bumps caused by motorcyclists and mountain bikers slamming on their brakes before the next switchback.

Trail erosion like that on Captain Jack’s is seen on many trails west of Colorado Springs. Switchbacks have been cut along the Barr trail. Bogs have been driven and ridden through on the Jones Park trail and along the Circle the Peak trail. Hikers have progressively widened paths to avoid stream crossings and bogs. Trail erosion—at the hands of motorized and non-motorized use—is widespread across the foothills.

With everyone responsible for some type of erosion or negative affect on other users, how do officials manage park use?

“It’s every day, on the ground, patrolling a certain area or all the areas just for compliance,” Griffin said. “We go out with ticket books and provide some educational lecture about why not to do it or why what they are doing is not good for other people in the general area, like shooting in a campground. Our motto is to protect the natural resources but provide for public service.”

Public service is difficult when the public doesn’t know what they’re being served. Many land managers with different rules run the land west of Colorado Springs.

Working with adjacent land managers is difficult, says Griffin. “There’s always a mix of different policies, guidelines and regulations as to what you can do when you cross over to another land manager, be it public or private. It’s really a hard line to follow as to what we’re doing.”

‘Necessary Evil’

There are not many employees around to follow that line, either, making lands more difficult to manage. In the fall of 2004, the Pikes Peak National Forest office had only three field employees managing 240,000 acres of land.

Even though Leasure says parks are “the bottom of the bucket in regard to budget,” he has been able to get environmentally conscious groups of users to assist with trail maintenance and park clean up. Cheyenne Cañon even has a trail crew in the park the fall of 2004, Leasure says excitedly. “Every day is a productive day.”

Volunteer groups assist National Forest rangers on a larger scale.

“Because we have such a land mass, we try to work with volunteer groups to help maintain, re-route or create, construct or eliminate trails,” said Griffin. “We have such a large amount of trail miles, road miles, we can’t do it all ourselves. Plus, we have money management situations where we don’t always get the money for maintenance let alone construction. Small groups help a lot.”

The land management system, while not perfect, is working, said Griffin.

“In my opinion, we’re getting more staffed than what it has been. I still think we’re behind the power curve because of the population increase. We’re slowly getting where we need to be.”

Most land users, from motorized users to hikers, think the system provides quality trails and facilities. In a 2002 Forest Service poll, 48.4 percent of users listed the condition of trails as very good. While most users would like to have their isolated region from other users, they know that isolation is impossible.

“As for multi-use, they have their rights, but they are a necessary evil,” said Diane Leeman.

Despite problems with budget, maintenance, and special interests, users are positive about public lands around Colorado Springs. “You couldn’t live and hike in any place better than here,” stated Leeman.

Even the motorized vehicle users think trail designations are fair to all users. “I wouldn’t say there’s a bias toward hikers and horses or motorized travel,” said four-wheeler Craig Kaufmann.

Land use and management in the Colorado Springs area is improving, says Griffin. More active interest groups and improved government initiatives allow rangers to patrol maintain and educate.

It just takes cooperation.