Local Trail Issues

Visit the Endangered Spaces page for details of the current issues we are working on.

Recent Successes

Patient, dedicated work is eventually rewarded with results. Thanks to everyone who has helped open and maintain bike access to the areas described below.

• Braille Trail opened (June 2001) - ROMP members worked with the Soquel Demonstration State Forest to officially rework and open this shared-use trail.
• BLM rescinds policy change grouping bikes with ATV's (January 2001) - ROMP members were among the 10,000 nationwide who wrote to get this policy changed.
• Arastradero master plan demonstrates shared use (December 2000) - ROMP members contributed to a new master plan which will better preserve the parks natural resources while keeping trail access open to all.
• MROSD supports multijurisdictional trails (July 2000) - Even though MROSD closed preserves, the district modified their policy to keep multijurisdictional trails open to all user groups, and in March 2001 approved the opening of a section of the Bay Area Ridge Trail to cyclists (See details).
• Almaden Quicksilver Park opened to bikes (April 2000) – Dedicated work by many ROMP members has finally opened trails in this Santa Clara County park to mountain bikes. This was one of the original issues which led to ROMP's founding, and patient effort over many years has paid off.
• Shoreline Park bike access successfully defended (July 1998) – Although not an area for advanced riders, Shoreline Park is a great place for beginners and families, and ROMP strives to maintain a variety of experiences for all types of cyclists. ROMP contributed to a Mountain View Parks and Recreation Commission meeting to prevent closure of the park to bikes.
• Access to Santa Clara County parks (late 1980s, early 1990s) – ROMP helped open the first Santa Clara County parks to biking. We would like to record this history in better detail. If you can help, send an email to webmaster@romp.org.

Recent Failures

Not all of our efforts result in success. Sometimes the battle is fought hard and lost despite a good fight, but low involvement in these processes only makes the fight harder. Get involved in your local trails community and help prevent this list from getting longer.

• MROSD approves permanent preserve closures to cycling and reductions in bicyclist trail miles (July 2000) – Read here what transpired at the July 12th meeting. Our strong response helped make favorable amendments to the plan, however.
• Key El Corte de Madera Area 2 trails closed (February 1999) – A few trails in a section of El Corte de Madera Open Space Preserve (often called Skeggs) were not covered in the original trail plan for this preserve, and their fates were decided in a series of Midpeninsula Regional Opens Space District (MROSD) meetings. These trails (Devil's Staircase, Nosebreak, and Outhouse) were loved by advanced cyclists because of their technical nature, but were finally closed by MROSD despite ROMP' participation and advocacy in a series of meetings. This process was not a full loss; access to Voodoo/Totem was retained, and hopefully this trail will keep some of its technical nature. Access was also provided to Sierra Morena (Blue Hair) Trail, which will allow bikers to avoid cars on Skyline Boulevard, though this trail is really a broad fireroad. Fortunately, most of the other trails in the preserve, many still among the most technical on the Peninsula, remain open. This link further describes the closure.
• MROSD's Basic Policy changed (February 1999) – MROSD recently revised sections of their Basic Policy, which is their overall guidelines for doing business. The initially proposed wording defined hikers as primary users of the lands and all users as secondary. The final wording is not so severe but still favors hikers over other users. On the plus side, this issue has helped cyclists to work better with equestrians and dog owners, which should help bikers with future issues. Read the link above for more details on the changes.
• MROSD board election lost (November 1998) – Four board member positions for MROSD were recently on local ballots. Past ROMP president Berry Stevens ran and was unable to defeat the incumbent. Having bicycle friendly directors is the single, most important thing which could help trail access on their lands. Election results and a humorous commentary can be found at the link above.

This page will be updated as the trail advocacy situation changes, so please visit often and get involved!