San Diego is kinda losing its mtb appeal. Shame too, cause this location is pretty perfect for year round riding.

It is not relaxing having to look over your shoulder on a ride. Doubly bummed because as fall rolls around, as a north county rider I like to ride there (Spring, Sycamore, etc) to get some trail variety in the cooler weather.

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"We'll ride it until they pave it."

-Big Clyde

I spoke to a "ranger" (why are park and rec employees called "rangers" instead of grounds keepers or something more suitable) maybe the word wasn't out yet but who knows.

Anyway, not sure what authority a park and tech employee has over land they have no control over, but I'm sure they've cooked up something and I don't plan to test my own theory.

Wonder if the Marines are somehow envolved in this. Maybe everyone should have just stayed clear of their property instead of laughing them off.

Don't know, but it sure would be a easy way to control access, right at the entrance point.

Just not sure how a non sworn person can write tickets, tickets that would stand up anyway; especially over property they don't have control over.

But as I said I don't plan to test that theory…

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Dwill, dept of fish and game will write tickets just like they do in pq. Mtrp personnel have nothing to Do with this since spring canyon is not part of the park. If I recall correctly, the map of mtrp doesn't include anything on the north side of the 52.

I appreciate the efforts of the DT'ers posting here who have taken the time to make calls and contacts to get the facts about this issue as it is unfolding - knowledge is King - so thanks for that work.

The Overlords seem intent on this and I feel a little confused and frustrated. Now facing the loss of access to these trails, I am starting to get that sinking, sad, pit-of-the-stomach feeling - kind-of-like when you were in the 10th grade and you told that cute girl you liked her, and then she looked at you like you had two noses, and then she ran away laughing.... No love at all. Personally, I have no prior experience with formal advocacy, but I see this as an obvious reason to get involved in some way, and so, anything this side of torches and pitchforks, count me in. A concerted effort/action of some sort seems logical - I just don't know enough about such things except to be ready to participate when called upon. As we all have noticed, organizing MTB'ers is a bit like herding cats - but the consistent erosion of trail access affects all of us, and it will probably take action by many of us to stop/slow this loss of LIBERTY. I'm not naive, I know the challenges and I see the same type of (losing?) battle being waged by DT'ers in North County - but going away quietly did not feel good in the 10th grade and I don't want to made the same mistake here. Please advise on how to help.

OK, so I'm still confused on MTRP's involvement North of the 52. Sorry if this has been explained elsewhere. Specifically, if "crazy lady in the floppy hat" has been conducting her trail blockage activities outside of MTRP boundaries, why were MTRP official(s) seen admonishing her of said activities (as noted in a MTBR post)?

Also, in general -- what are the specific laws being broken for which tickets will now be issued? I assume any new "no trespassing" signs will include the applicable civic code (or equivalent). I've seen it stated that "it's always been illegal" to be up there; yet for the non-military property, and possibly the utility line towers, I have never seen or heard of signage anywhere.

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"Those skilled at the unorthodox are infinite as heaven and earth, inexhaustible as the great rivers."
— Tzun Tzu

I think that's precisely what they want . . . .

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A bicycle is a splendid thing.
~Ernest Hemingway

So, for several hours I've been reading threads on MTBR, SDMBA, etc., trying to get up-to-speed on the issue and trying to not feel so stupid, as I am getting to the party so late. But, I gotta tell you, it's still pretty un-clear to me which direction to focus my efforts for advocacy, but it's seems that direct attendance of any and all relevant City, County, Park, MTB Group, etc. meetings is a place to start. I see many of the same users on those threads as here and some of y'all are pretty well-informed and Sharp Tools to-boot, so I hope the info will continue to stream in and maybe a dedicated thread in Advocacy Forum to serve as a clearing house would help -there's an irony in that this thread is hot with activity but was started by CC.... no biggie - I'm just glad to see people wanting to take action. Gotta go.... making tacos for dinner, then I'm thinking extra Xanax for dessert.

You should skip making tacos and go get some Doritos tacos from yack-o bell. I've had them once, will probably never get again, but highly recommend them.

I did kind of hijack the thread, but the douchebag supreme who started it led me to what I had to say. Furthermore, I had a conversation with Matt Sanford, the head park ranger at MTRP day before yesterday. He explained to me the reason for the trail closure is that the majority of the trails north of the 52 were built illegally, and some of them go through sensitive habitat areas where there are endangered species. As the trails get used more, they get wider and more plants are destroyed. I'm sure Chris Campbell's reckless brush cutting and Strava stupidity had something to do with it. I told Matt about his selfish and destructive work and he said he had heard of him.

Apparently endangered species are necessarily top priority for the park as protecting those helps provide their funding. Matt said they are working on purchasing the land from various trusts and private owners. Having random trails built through these lands somehow works contrary to current agreements they have with the land owners and jeopardizes the likelihood of making the transactions. (Maybe they promised to keep the land pristine wilderness or something until they cut carefully researched trails) Canyon bottoms are the most sensitive areas - right where the best trails are.

He welcomed me to sign up for monthly newsletter updates and to attend meetings which are announced in those emails, so that our voice may be heard. I can almost guarantee other groups (bird watchers, Sierra club members, and naturalists) have people there so I may go to see what can be done. He did say they will be posting signs and someone will be patrolling the area. I didn't ask particulars about tickets.

Alternate trails to the ones made by mountain bikers are in the plan, but I hate to think how many years into the 25 year plan those may be built. There are no mountain bike-only trails planned, so I doubt there will be any interesting features and they will likely be the typical park trails that are 4 ft wide, flat and smooth - nearly wheelchair accessible.

I would be glad to volunteer to put time in building the new trails as would others. I don't know if they would go for that, but if so, we could get new trails out there much sooner and possibly make them more curvy and hilly than would otherwise be made. However, even with volunteer trail builders, it will have to wait until they acquire the land or at least get owner permission to build the trails.

For the time being, best to stay within the actual park boundaries, or ride elsewhere. I have other places to ride, but not as conveniently located.

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Tall Bike - the natural high.

Well, there's a nice 2013 Epic S-Works 29er on pinkbike for sale. Only $7500.

Seller = Heavy-pedal. Some of you may know him.

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"Those skilled at the unorthodox are infinite as heaven and earth, inexhaustible as the great rivers."
— Tzun Tzu

Great information mtbTB, and thanks again for gathering and passing it along -it looks like you are drilling down to the core issues.
I respect the job that Land Managers are trying to do, and I'm sure they believe they have a "responsibility/mandate" to protect flora and fauna... and unfortunately, Matt is probably correct that those trails were never sanctioned - but, I again dispute that this limited area - sandwiched between a Landfill and an uber-contaminated Military Firing Range - is somehow a island of pristine environment, teeming with endangered species. I call shenanigans, and believe that is just the rote, Enviro-Facist spiel to justify area closures. There are Environmentalist pressures to exclude MTBs from certain (currently) joint-use (NWR) trails in my area... I think they are cloning the Floppy Hat Lady... It's all very disappointing - especially, because it seems, in pursuing this "mandate", the Overlords and Environmentalists continue to demonize MTB'ers to the exclusion of other trail users.
Sucks for us, but hope things can/will change. Now.... where's my bottle of Xanax...

Is sycamore canyon still open?

Sycamore is not part of MTRP and is unaffected by this, however, most of it is on military property anyway.

The endangered species ranger Matt mentioned were San Diego Ambrosia and Willowy Monardella. What gets me is (from Wikipedia); Most extinctions have occurred naturally, prior to Homo sapiens walking on Earth: it is estimated that 99.9% of all species that have ever existed are now extinct. So what's one or two more???

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Tall Bike - the natural high.

there are a number of research articles within the imba site that disprove the destruction caused by mtn biking. in fact, their enviro footprint is less destructive than horses and on par with joggers and hikers. that is, hikers that stay on trail, which is often not the case. although i forget the reference/article, there is actually some evidence that limited recreational paths throughout the protected region actually serves to ward off illegal and far more damaging activities. this would be particularly true of a park well within the confines of a highly populated area (as opposed to the middle of north dakota). tunnels is a good example. after closure there were numerous illegal activities that destroyed areas of the region (4x4s after heavy rainfall & tearing down fencing, pot farming with associated fire hazards and toxic chemicals on the boundary to keep the animals out leech into the soil and water, parties that had open flames, reemergence of migrant workers, etc). after about 2 yrs of the horsey mafia blocking everything and anything tunnels, riders, joggers, neighbors and others got fed up and began using the area again. and except for their 'tresspassing', illegal activities of larger potential dangers went away. and as for the tresspassing, the enviro people that did look at the flora saw that the region was improving, not getting worse. the one major issue was the fairy shrimp and vernal pools that were apparently disregarded. if the riders were given a buy-in to the area, like at the la costa trails, instead of feeling like criminals, things would have been different. (sorry for the sermon that my tunnels peeps have heard too many times already). another example, albeit extreme, would be central park in nyc. trust me, that area is a gem in the center of 8 million people. had it been shut off for preserve purposes it would be a crack den with hookers.

an additional point is, how much area do the trails consume of the total area (how many miles of trails x avg width vs area of park land there)? it is likely miniscule. that would again make it hard to argue a major disturbance.

however, all those good aspects of recreation to maintain conservation against larger dangers become hard to argue when you have a spandex strava-renegade cutting up the flora and disturbing the habitat for an internet title.

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Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy. ~Milan Kundera