Blog
Craigmore Trails Need Help!
HELP NEEDED! Craigmore Ride Park is in need of heavy trail work to be ready for the scramble.
Craigmore ORM Park is one of our original land agreements and is a favourite ride destination for many of our members. We have benefitted from an excellent working relationship with the Van Zutphen family who own the property. And while work continues to be done in and around their pit, NSORRA has always felt welcome to use and maintain the trails system on the mountain.
Park is Overgrown
On August 17, Josh overnighted at Craigmore and woke up to a very overgrown park. Anything that has had direct sunlight exposure and less tree coverage overhead is in desperate need of either whipper snipping, bush hogging, clearing saw or light lopper work. Specific areas that require attention: the entire parking area, outhouse, start line, lower section of the track, and entrance to the south side trail system.
For those less familiar, the south side is anything to the right of the service road as you are heading up the mountain. The south side trails as you progress up the mountain towards the house require extensive whipper snipping. Directly above the house, the trail is in good repair until the small clearcut before the bridge. That clearcut section, because of its exposure to sun, needs to be whipper snipped as well.
From the bridge through the rock garden and into the climb towards the loop that finishes back at the hairpin on the service road, there are sections that require whipper snipping, most importantly working backwards from the service road exit about 300 metres.
North Side of the Park
We’ll break the North side down into different areas. The pit has dramatically changed and may not be usable. There has been extensive excavation. Emphasis should be placed on reclaiming trail on the top loop.
The top loop is everything above the S-turns in the large clearcut area at the top of the mountain. This section is badly overgrown and a clearing saw would be the right tool in this section. (A clearing saw is a gas-powered long-poled saw, used like a whipper snipper, with a circular saw-blade head.)
All of the centre portion of the trail system on the north side of the mountain that accesses the mid-mountain clearcut is badly overgrown and unrecognizable. (Everything accessible on the left side of the service road when you enter at the large excavated bench cut left by heavy equipment a few years ago.) These trails need to be reclaimed with clearing saws and whipper snippers, even old-fashioned scythes or sicles.
Exiting the trail and back onto the service road on the lower portion of the north side, only light whipper snipping is required.
Lastly, the track portion of the trail network is well-drained but requires a lot of whipper snipping and some light lopping, essentially the whole track needs whipper snipping.
Bringing in Extra Help
Josh has contacted a local bush hog operator who is going to inspect the parking and lower track section as well as the area around the outhouse and south of the outhouse near the beginning of the kids’ loop to give us an estimate to come and clear that area. Josh hopes that the contractor can provide the cutting service we need on Sunday when we are hosting our work day at the Park.
What can you do to help?
We need your help!
Three work sessions have been planned beginning Sunday, August 20 at 10 am and continuing all day. The next two all-day sessions will be Thursday and Friday August 24 and 25 before the scramble.
The park is always OPEN so you are welcome to come any time to assist us in preparing the trails!
