As noted in the Evil Birch discussion - many of the unofficial trails are disappearing on Trailforks. I don’t see the old IPA trail and pipeline track there either, for one. Who gets to decide that the unofficial trails get removed?
Thanks. I’ve followed the controversy with Halifax Water on Spider, but I didn’t realize until now that so many of the local trails had disappeared too.
Halifax Water explicitly requested being de-listed I think.
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Yes I am a Trailforks Admin for Nova Scotia. I am happy to discuss your concerns. I will say that I consult with global Trailforks Admins and they are on board with what I do.
Evil Birch was removed shortly after security started turning away people on weekends, Honestly this trail should have never been put on the map as it requires trespassing on private property and an active mine site to get to and or illegally riding down a controlled access highway. The mine has taken extra steps to limit access by destroying the traditional entrance. As a mapping system that is globally available these kinds of trails should not be there and it was removed.
Spider Lake was removed by direct request from Halifax water because some tool on an ATV decided to cut a trail in a bog. I know it has nothing to do with MTB but being globally available mapping site means that all kinds of people can access the information. Halifax Water wanted to limit the public knowledge and I agreed therefore all trails on Halifax water were removed.
Bowater also had controversy where some dudes on MTB crossed the barbed wire fence into the water treatment plant and triggered a national emergency response, at least one of them were detained and dropped Trailforks as their source of information they were following. I can say with 100% certainty that there were no marked trails on Trailforks that lead them to go there. The spot where there are singletracks at Bowater are in fact on Trailforks, just hidden from the public because they are more recently built and absolutely unsanctioned by the landowner they will remain off the map until such time as they are sanctioned.
As for 24, 25/IPA again they are newer trails built without permission, they have never been on Trailforks and as one of the people who has spent years digging there they will remain off the map until such times as they become sanctioned.
Again because the information is globally available for these areas with 100% illegally built trails the owners of these lands may not appreciate people being attracted to these areas as a place for recreation and could easily take steps to have our fun shut down. So if you like where you ride and want to continue why would you blast it all over the internet for every person on earth to see?
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Totally understand unsanctioned trails being left off of Trailforks. It is unfortunate for those looking to ride more places but hesitant due to lack of knowledge of the area/not wanting to get in trouble. With the success of mcintosh trails, would be nice to see some of that momentum going towards further sanctioned trails- maybe this is happening behind the scenes already? Who’s best to advocate for these and to communicate progress(or lack thereof) to the mtb community? BicycleNS? MTBHalifax?
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HRM has completed the study to develop an MTB Trails Strategy but they have not finished developing the actual MTB Trail Development Strategy. Without that document nothing new will be built on any lands under HRM jurisdiction.
Provincial land is a different game. Something could happen on private land at the drop of a hat if the landowners were so inclined.
Mountain Bike Halifax holds the most promise for advocacy in my mind.
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Maybe our friend, @chucsutt, can tell us the status of HRM Strategy.
The pandemic made everyone’s schedule all crazy but maybe there’s been some developments.
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I think there is some momentum for sanctioned trails happening. MRWA has shown HRM how to do it right and what the possibilities are for mountain biking in the Halifax area. Our experience with MRWA caused @CyclingGirl and myself to get involved with the Nine Mile River Trail association. I’d love to see more trained MRWA volunteers take their experience to other trails and spread the expertise for trail building, development and maintenance.
There’s a lot happening outside of HRM, due in no small part to Trailflow and Shoreline. Several towns have put money into trails - East Hants (Nine Mile), Kentville, Wolfville, Berwick, New Germany, Truro. Not to mention Gore, Anima Mundi and Brunello. Keppoch sounds amazing (have yet to get there!). Port Hawkesbury has their paved pumptrack.
Back in the day of @tossedsalad’s trail book, most of the trails in it were unsanctioned. We are in a time of an embarrassment of riches of sanctioned trails. In fact, there are so many great sanctioned trails now, it usually seems hardly worth riding the unsanctioned ones.
With Mountain Bike Halifax and Mountain Bike Atlantic going, things are looking better for trail development and advocacy than I’ve seen for a long time.
I’d encourage you to get involved. If you have an interest or passion in mountain biking, volunteer at a work day or get involved with an association.
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The topic of this thread seems to have shifted a bit but for anyone interested… what BNS seems to have on their plate as of March 2020 (that is publicly available information) is working on the Birch Cove Blue Mountain potential trail access… as a “replacement for Whopper Dropper”
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Thanks, been wondering what those wacky bns folks have been up to.
Should I be worried?
If we’ve still got a 2019 Trailforks Garmin map file will some of the tracks like Evil Birch (and Bowater?) be on them?
When were they removed?
Probably. Don’t know when. Evil birch is on OSM. You can use this service to have OSM data converted to a format that Garmin devices use. http://garmin.openstreetmap.nl/. My Garmins are loaded with OSM data and I highly recommend them. Some newer trails may not be on there like Minto for instance.
Evil Birch would likely be on your Garmin map file but Bowater will not be it has never been publicly on Trailforks.
Again I am going to emphasize that Evil Birch should never have been on a public map due to the nature of accessing the trail and the mine has actively taken steps to discourage use, they don’t want you there, so be discrete.
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Treat unsanctioned trails like you’re trying to sneak into your neighbours pool for a swim when they aren’t home.
Now that that’s been settled, pool owner’s feel free to dm me addresses and schedules.
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