El Moro - Illegal Trails

[cjwally]

So, yesterday, I decided to hit up Moro to do a little mini-afterwork ride. Beautiful weather. Anyways, I noticed while coming up on No Dogs ridge towards west gate that there were multiple hikers on Nothing Better to Do aka Deer Valley. What the hell.... When people mtb on illegal trails, people flame non-stop and talk crap about us and threaten to close certain areas, but when hikers are out it almost doesn't matter...and no one seems to care.

What a double standard....

[northshore]

Originally Posted by cjwally

So, yesterday, I decided to hit up Moro to do a little mini-afterwork ride. Beautiful weather. Anyways, I noticed while coming up on No Dogs ridge towards west gate that there were multiple hikers on Nothing Better to Do aka Deer Valley. What the hell.... If mtb'ers were riding that trail all the people would have a fit.

What a double standard....

Generally the rangers at El Moro are much harder on MTB folks than hikers.

[cjwally]

Originally Posted by northshore

Generally the rangers at El Moro are much harder on MTB folks than hikers.

That is my point.... Yet for example at this meeting tonight at Santiago Oaks Ranger Station all the hikers will be hating on us for illegal trail use, etc.

Screw them.

[northshore]

Originally Posted by cjwally

That is my point.... Yet for example at this meeting tonight at Santiago Oaks Ranger Station all the hikers will be hating on us for illegal trail use, etc.

Screw them.

It probably does beyond the trail itself. Many of us avoid the $10 fee and park for free at the top right next door to all the rich freaky deaks. I'm sure they complain about the noise, traffic, etc. Money talks over there. I can't remember the last time I rode that trail.

[dubjay]

Some photo evidence at these meetings could possibly go a long way. Perhaps we need to start taking pictures of these offenders.

[thistrailisntlegal?]

You most likely saw BIKERS on Invisible bikes. I'm pretty sure all hikers are eco-warriors and thus, can do no wrong.

[airgabe]

As usual they have 2 standards and we are seen as the dark side!!!!

[Atrex]

That is my point.... Yet for example at this meeting tonight at Santiago Oaks Ranger Station all the hikers will be hating on us for illegal trail use, etc.

FYI...El Moro has been closed since Sunday due to the rain it got and the park has not officially re-opened yet. So if you do decide to mention something tonight then it'll probably be best not to mention the time you saw it.

[cjwally]

Originally Posted by Atrex

FYI...El Moro has been closed since Sunday due to the rain it got and the park has not officially re-opened yet. So if you do decide to mention something tonight then it'll probably be best not to mention the time you saw it.

I may be mistaken but... I read on the board yesterday that it was open. I saw at least 10-15 riders on the trails yesterday.

[Atrex]

Yeah I read that to but I called yesterday and this morning and the ranger told me that they were closed but would hopefully be open by tomorrow. Ever since I read about someone getting a ticket on the local trails I have decided to call the parks before I go out on them. Being a poor grad student I can't afford to pay the fines if caught on the trails when closed.

[dirtvert]

First of all, Laguna Coast was open yesterday (sorry I missed you cjwally). From the Ridge Park entrance, the trails (illegal) to your right are in El Moro (which was closed yesterday); the fireroad in front of you is Bommer Ridge and is in LCWP.

To play devil's advocate, maybe the reason why the parks are harder on mtbers than on hikers is because hikers usually don't carve out illegal trails. El Moro has had a profusion of illegal trails the last few years, so a tough reaction is to be expected. Of course, when signs went up on NBTD and BTN they were ripped out, which may lead to a more severe reaction by the park. I'm surprised they haven't started handing out tickets yet, including to the guys who were ignoring the closed signs yesterday...

Speaking of sign vandalizing, I noticed that both of the signs leading to Marie's have also been torn out. This struck me as especially rude since Laguna Coast was nice enough to open yesterday, and the ranger is generally cool to mtbers (even when they get caught poaching)- she even wants to make Lizards legal at some point. I'm sure that nobody here is taking down signs, but there's probably just one-degree of separation, so please spread the word so our image-and trail access-doesn't suffer. End of rant.

The trails were in good shape, not much mud and/or puddles, but there are some new ruts to watch out for on the fireroads. I had a nice cruise down Old Emerald to check out Emerald Falls, which was dry as ever.

[Atrex]

So Bommer Ridge is LCWP? Is there a map that shows where El Moro ends and LCWP begins? I always thought that Bommer Ridge was part of El Moro and if it's not then I could have been riding this whole time while El Moro is closed.

[lbmtbgrl]

Laguna Coast was open Saturday. Franco's has a good map ($5) or you can get a b/w one from the Dix Nature Center or the Willow ranger station.

I think El Moro & Crystal Cove are the same, but LCWP is different.

[Pho'dUp]

Here's a map of El Moro and parts of LCWP. El Moro is in the shaded green area. Scroll down to page 4.

http://www.crystalcovestatepark.com/pdf/CCSPochure 2007webversion.pdf

[dstepper]

Just got back from riding in LCWP, El Moro is still closed.

Dean