Three land owners in East Burke, Vermont have cut off access to mountain bikers, limiting use and connectivity in the popular Kingdom Trails network, according to the Caledonian Record.
The Caledonian Record writes that they have confirmed this with Kingdom Trails Executive Director Abby Long.
Although these three landowners are a small handful of the 97 that control the land that the Kingdom Trails are on, the closure seems to affect a large portion, and some of the network’s best trails, located off of Darling Hill Rd.
“We fully respect their decision, as it is their private property and they have the sole right to determine the use of their land,” wrote the Kingdom Trails Association in a statement. The three land managers have only cut off access for mountain bikes, leaving access for other user groups like hikers intact.
The Kingdom Trails have always offere a great example for how mountain bikers can successfully work with private land owners to attain access to great trails, eased by Vermont’s statute that protects private landowners from liability.
The three land owners addressed their concerns and why they chose to cut off mountain bike access in a letter to the Kingdom Trails Association, but the trails organization told the Caledonian Record that they’re not comfortable sharing what the land owners said.
There are of course plenty of thoughts floating around in the comments section of a few posts on the Kingdom Trails Association’s Facebook page, as well as an image of the trails that have supposedly been affected.
A few Facebook users mentioned that mountain bikers have been disrespectful to these land owners, but with the Kingdom Trails Association choosing to remain silent about the letters, this can’t be confirmed at the moment.
The Kingdom Trails have been heavily publicized as a destination over the past few years, drawing more and more attention and crowds to the trail network.
“Kingdom Trails understands the concerns for the pressure and stress the continued strong growth in trail use and area visits has put on landowners’ properties as well as the roads and small villages where trail access exists,” says the Kingdom Trails Association. “While the success of the trails has brought meaningful economic benefit to the area, challenges and tension points exist around traffic, congestion, and pedestrian safety of residents and visitors alike.”
The USDA awarded the trails organization a grant to study the feasibility of implementing a welcome center for visitors, where to put more parking, and how to ease and balance traffic and congestion.
The study is due to be complete near the end of 2020. In the meantime, Kingdom Trails Association is continuing congestion mitigation and new projects in the Darling Hill area of the network, where the closed off trails are located. Kingdom Trails have already purchased two parcels of land right off of Darling Hill Rd., securing access in critical points, they say.
We’re reaching out to officials at Kingdom Trails Association and others for more insight as this story is developing.
18 Comments
Dec 26, 2019
East Burke is a small community and while KT has created economic growth, it has also created pressure on local infrastructure. The community is managing through these growing pains, but riders need to do their part. When riding in town, look before riding across the street, pay attention to cars, logging trucks etc - these people are making a living in the community. Riders are visitors. Riders have the responsibility to interact with each other, other trail users and the community with respect or we will continue to lose access.
Dec 23, 2019
Dec 25, 2019
Dec 26, 2019
Dec 28, 2019
We're constantly losing access to trails on our public where supposedly some sort of review process must take place; obviously access to lands where no such process must be followed is even more precarious.
Dec 27, 2019
Dec 26, 2019
Thankfully in Canada we rarely experience these issues as most rideable land is public.
I do sympathize with the landowners though. It’s their land to do with as they please but their little community will suffer for their decision.
I can’t imagine what must have transpired to create this sad situation. Even obnoxious riders are few and far between and very transitory and i wonder what they could have done.
Dec 26, 2019
Dec 27, 2019
Dec 26, 2019
Jan 2, 2020
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=12297311
Hopefully these incidents make us all consider if we're being good stewards and representatives of mountain biking the next time we're out on the trail.
Dec 26, 2019
Dec 26, 2019
Actually form my experience hikers and bikers are pretty respectful but you can see a hiker on the edge of a narrow trail to let a bike go by it does look uncomfortable and a bummer for the hiker especially if the bikers is coming down the trail at speed
Motos tear up everything . Leave huge gouges in the land and go off trail often . I have seen hoses go out in soft wet ground and leave big holes on the trail . you may find hikers that leave trash on the trail . Now for the most part people are pretty got but if 10 percent are not that will leave allot of damage and if its private land that is apt to happen more than park lands that are managed
Dec 26, 2019
Dec 26, 2019
I am knew to this forum.
Folks, do we really need to swear??
Slow down. Say hello. Wish everyone a great day. Clean up. Ride really hard.
Everyone needs to talk to everyone. If you see bad behavior you need to say something.
Dec 26, 2019
Dec 23, 2019
I don't think any of the land owners or locals up there could have envisioned how popular it would become. Each year I came, I noticed more and more riders. Yes it brought more traffic, but with that, it brought a huge boost to the economy. Every time I came, I was happily spending money there. If you've never been to East Burke VT, there's not much up there. Unlike Brevard NC or Bentonville AR that has big cities near by. East Burke is in the middle of nowhere. This change is going to impact the community. Sadly, the homes on Darling Hill appear to be well off. These land owners had massive houses that I would estimate to be in the millions. Perhaps they don't care about how this effects the rest of the community as they appear to be more financially stable.
Dec 26, 2019
Take care,
-GT