Ride and Trash Pick Up Saturday, Trail Festival Recap
Greetings and Salutations!
In this newsletter, we encourage you to join us on a ride and trash pickup this coming Saturday, learn about what is going on in the CNF and hear about last weekend’s OCMTBA trail festival.
Saturday Ride and Clean Up
Come join The Warriors and our friends from the Orange County Mountain Biking Facebook Group this Saturday, August 22 for a ride and trash pickup in the Santa Ana mountains. We’ll ride Maple Springs to Four Corners, spend about 20 minutes cleaning up the area, and then those who want the full adventure can continue to Modjeska Peak before descending Buckthorn and Motorway.
This is a fantastic opportunity to enjoy the mountains while giving back to them and building community. And for those who haven’t been out there yet, this is your chance to summit Modjeska Peak and experience the thrill of descending off the second-highest mountain in the Santa Anas.
There are a few ways to join:
Full ride (5h): 20 miles / 4500’ – Four Corners, Modjeska Peak, Buckthorn and Motorway
Medium ride (4h): 18 miles / 3500’ – Four Corners, Modjeska Peak, Buckthorn and return
Short ride (3h): 14.5 miles / 2700’ – Four Corners and return
Shuttle option: 4 miles / 1000’ – for those who want to help, summit Modjeska and descend Buckthorn, but don’t want to pedal all the way up Maple Springs Road
Pedalers: Meet at 6:15AM at the dirt lot at the bottom of Motorway. Rolling at 6:30AM.
Shuttlers: Meet at 7:15AM. Driving up at 7:30AM.
Please RSVP via the Facebook event or by replying to this e-mail.
Maple Springs Road Responsible Use Concerns
The cleanup comes at a good time. Last week I posted a short video on Instagram with a simple message: please be careful on Maple Springs Road. That came after a fatal single-vehicle crash involving a teenager on July 19 and, more recently, another single-vehicle accident that resulted in a fire near Four Corners. Maple Springs also continues to see recurring litter, illegal dumping, and inconsiderate driving.
I don’t pretend to know the solution to all the issues on Maple Springs Road, and I don’t think it is productive to blame an entire user group for the actions of a few people. What we can do is raise awareness about responsible use and remind people that this road—and the mountains it serves—are important to us. We can pick up trash and encourage others to do the same. If we see something dangerous or illegal, we can report it. Shared mountains, shared responsibility.
After our cleanup, later Saturday evening, there is an off-roading event scheduled. I mention that simply so everyone is aware that Maple Springs, Four Corners, and the peaks will likely see an increase in traffic that night.
OCMTBA Trail Festival
I’m grateful to OCMTBA for inviting me to speak at their inaugural Trail Festival this past weekend. It was a great weekend of riding, camping, food, advocacy, and talking trails with people who care about our local public lands.
One of the important roles OCMTBA plays is advocating for the issues that affect our access to trails. One of those issues right now is the Public Lands Workforce Stability Act, legislation intended to protect staffing at the Forest Service and other public-land agencies. This is especially important to us because our Trabuco Ranger District staff are already stretched thin, and we need their partnership to move trail projects forward and to rebuild after the Airport Fire. I encourage you to follow OCMTBA and learn more about the issues they are advocating for.
In my talk, I tried to put into perspective just how special the Santa Ana Mountains are. If you combine Orange County’s major trail-focused regional parks, they cover roughly the same amount of land as the non-wilderness portion of our Trabuco Ranger District and contain a similar amount of riding. But our parks are islands surrounded by city, whereas the Santa Anas are one huge, connected backcountry trail system.
Our BOLT candidate route, The Santa Ana Mountains Traverse, really drives that point home: this route, which travels one-way through the range, is over 85 miles with 18,000’ vertical. Unfortunately, the Airport Fire burned through the heart of this route, and nearly two years later much of our non-wilderness trail network remains closed. Rebuilding it will take years of collaborative work with the Forest Service, volunteers, conservation corps, partner organizations, and everyone who cares about these trails. This is why now is a great time to get involved: come to our rides, join our trail work events, donate, or reach out if you can help on the organizational side.
BOLT / CNF Trail Map
For the event, I illustrated the BOLT route and the restoration work ahead with a map of our Cleveland National Forest trail system. The map is free to download here.
I’m considering printing more of these 24” x 36” posters and making them available for sale. They’ll cost about $60 each. If you are interested in purchasing one, let me know. I’ll only move forward if there’s enough interest.
