East Branch Community Trails PSA

All of our volunteers know that building trails can be tough, with its fair share of blood, sweat, and tears, but believe it or not it’s not always the hardest part.  Some of the biggest challenges lie in working with landowners and land managers, getting trails planned and approved, and raising the funds to cover both the trail work and the operational costs of the organization.  Each project has many players involved and our working relationships with one another are absolutely key to success.

In it together for the long haul.
There has been so much enthusiasm for the new system at East Branch, but until recently the funding wasn’t available to begin the next phase of trail development in the approved Trail Master Plan.  In the meantime, we have noticed some off-the-map trails. These unsanctioned trails – also known as pirate trails, rogue trails, and bootleg trails – are trails built without permission that could jeopardize further development or access.  

Bootleg trails can be a challenge anywhere trail users are hungry for more trails.  Our executive director Glenn Glover has first-hand experience with the fallout from unsanctioned trail building.  He said, “In my own experience, a project was delayed by 3 years when the Washington State Parks rescinded approval as a direct result of bootleg trails on the property.”  Closer to home, Glenn has spoken with stakeholders in our area who already have concerns about riders extending trails onto private property without permission.

When land managers agree to work with BETA and the mountain biking community to build sanctioned trails, they expect us to do so in a way that achieves their objectives as land managers: professional, sustainable, and environmentally-sensitive trails that are accessible and safe for visitors.  When unsanctioned trails pop up, it looks like mountain bikers will do whatever we want without respecting the land managers’ requirements.  That spells trouble for the future of trails because it makes potential partners wary of working with us. 

We want to build, maintain, and access trails now and in the future.  Bootleg trails can make potential future partners, both public and private, cautious of working with us and of mountain biking in general.  To protect access for all, we ask all visitors at East Branch to use their trail building fervor only on sanctioned volunteer efforts and to stop building or riding the bootleg trails.  

Good things are coming.
Luckily for everyone who wants more trails, we have a major effort underway at East Branch at this very moment.  Dusty and Kyra have been working on a hand-built lollipop loop off of the current upper loop.  This half-mile trail will be a great addition to the network, rewarding you for your effort on the climbing trail with a relatively flat loop offering stunning viewpoints and fun travel for all users.

We’re not stopping anytime soon – we are absolutely stoked to keep building at East Branch Community Trails next summer thanks to the funding that we’ve secured with the Town of Keene, the Keene Youth Commission, and the support of our members.  We owe a huge thank you to everyone who has and will put time and effort into making East Branch Community Trails an incredible place to ride, ski, and hike.  You all have our sincere gratitude.  Thank you.