What's the status on the Nisene Marks closure? That's the #1 riding spot for me when I go out there on vacation. I live in Kentucky, but I have family in Santa Cruz.
Nisene Marks?
LarryG
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Hot on the Trail of Illegal Bikers
Impending ban in Aptos state park raises fears of more illegal trail use
By GENEVIEVE BOOKWALTER
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER
APTOS - Many mountain bikers would pay to do what State Parks ranger Mike Selbo does for a living - cruise trails in the upper reaches of The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park.
In search of other riders, Selbo's is the only bike legally allowed on the hiking paths. He can issue warnings or citations to those on two wheels instead of two feet.
It's obvious why the restricted paths are popular with some in the fat-tire crowd. The ground is soft and forgiving. Rocks, roots and logs are perfect for bunny hops and balance. Many trails run along old railroad grade - narrow enough to force single-file riding, but wide enough that, if you topple, you can avoid the poison oak.
Walkers and runners love the trail, too, as it winds through redwoods covered with bright green fuzz. But a Sacramento Superior Court ruling last month - banning cyclists from the only legal road in the park's upper 9,000 acres - has some worried hiker-biker collisions might increase on the paths, where cyclists are harder to catch.
"I do think if the road isn't open to them you will find a lot more getting up there into the park and doing the off-trail rides," said Dennis Hartley, who has run in Nisene Marks about six days a week since 1981.
Bicycles are illegal on trails above the landmark steel bridge, or upper 9,000 acres of The Forest of Nisene Marks. When the property was sold to create a state park, it came with deeds allowing only hiking, nature study, camping and associated activities. Horses were specifically banned.
Bikes were not mentioned, but State Parks officials decided in the spirit of the deed, they would restrict two-wheelers from the trails. Cyclists would be allowed on the road, which was built to handle vehicular traffic.
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As the park accumulated more property through other sources, officials did not apply deed restrictions to the new land. Bikers, hikers and equestrians share single-track trails in the lower 1,000 acres of the park.
All about the deed
Riding bicycles in Nisene Marks grew in popularity in the late '70s and early '80s, according to Sandy Lydon, historian emeritus at Cabrillo College, who served on the Forest of Nisene Marks Citizens Advisory Committee for about 25 years.
Cyclists occasionally traveled through the park before - even dirt bikers were heard through the 1960s - but evolving mountain bike technology made the bumpy road comfortable for many more pedalers.
"I used to type out the agendas for the meetings," Lydon said. "The old business section always had two things on it, in fact I didn't have to change it - pigs and bicycles."
Bikes were an issue not only because of collisions with hikers and equestrians, but also because the Marks family deed restricted horses on the land they sold for the park. In an interview with Herman Marks, one of the three siblings who deeded the land, Lydon recalled Marks saying erosion was the biggest concern when limiting equines.
"We felt in order to keep in the spirit, the reason horses were not allowed in that part of the park, bicycles shouldn't be allowed either," Lydon said.
Park officials decided to restrict bikes on trails above the steel bridge. As the fire road was designed for vehicles, and bikes qualified as vehicles, they would be allowed through that corridor.
Bike advocates, like attorney David Baskin of Santa Cruz, argue cyclists cause little more trail erosion than hikers, and cite studies to support their argument.
Still, "We thought we saw some pretty serious erosion where they were allowed, so that confirmed for us that they probably shouldn't be allowed off the fire road," Lydon said.
Below the steel bridge - on land not received from the Marks family - bikers could share single-track trails with hikers and equestrians.
The controversy emerged decades later not because plaintiffs felt bikes should be taken off the fire road. Issues arose around a new general plan, adopted in August 2003, that let State Parks study if bikes might be allowed on trails through the Marks' former property.
"To be very honest with you, in the general planning discussion, I mentioned West Ridge as a possibility since there is already the illegal use of that trail," said Santa Cruz District Superintendent Dave Vincent with California State Parks.
A letter from The Nature Conservancy dated Jan. 28, 2002, said the group would work with State Parks to make sure new paths didn't damage the restricted lands.
Others labeled mountain biking an "associated activity" with hiking, camping and nature studies.
Proposed bike trails would go through environmental analysis before opening, Vincent said. There's a chance none would be approved at all.
But serenity-loving hikers rallied against the proposal, arguing it violated the original deed.
"If we didn't challenge it now, there would be a general plan that would violate the deed restrictions," said Bill Parkin, attorney for Citizens for the Preservation of The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, a plaintiff in the suit.
Still, whatever rules a judge may make has little effect on how to enforce them.
'We just don't have the manpower'
More than a week often goes by between park ranger Selbo's trail patrols, he said. A staffing shortage left him the only peace officer for six state parks, including Manresa, Manresa Uplands, Castro Adobe, Sunset and Palm Beach. He also writes parking tickets, gives nature talks and breaks up campground disputes.
"If I have 90 percent of my use on the beaches and in the campgrounds, we're not going to be putting a lot of people on remote trails in a 10,000-acre park," Vincent said.
The lack of patrol is obvious on a walk along the upper trails on a busy Monday holiday. Tire tracks cover a make-shift mud ramp, and red slashes are scraped off the trailhead signs prohibiting bikes.
Impromptu paths - which Selbo said could be made by both hikers and bikers - lead off the main trail. Given State Parks' tight budget, chances of fixing those are slim, said supervising ranger Nedra Martinez.
"We just don't have the manpower or the money to do it. What we try to do is close them as we find them," and cover the entrances and exits with brush.
But "people know where the trails are, especially the people who are building them and using them," Martinez said. "Those people keep coming back."
Most bikers seem to stay on the fire road, with cyclists of all ages pedaling up and down the grade. But a stroll into the nearby woods found two Aptos natives on their bikes.
Selbo didn't cite Bruce Vessey, 44, or Alan Jacques, 42, as a State Parks file check showed it was their first warning.
But Vessey said later he'd been riding trails - both legal and illegal - in Nisene Marks for years.
"I mountain bike all the time there. I've used that park forever," Vessey said, telling stories about earning his Cub Scout badge among the redwoods.
But he thought that trail was legal for bikes, he said.
The recent controversy over bicycles - and his recent warning - emphasized for Vessey the importance of volunteering in the park and getting involved in local politics, he said. He's not affiliated with any mountain biking group.
"I want to help with trail and maintenance cleanup," Vessey said. "Keep trails clear and clean so they can't say we don't do our share."
Contact Genevieve Bookwalter at gbookwalter@santacruzsentinel.com.
If you wantto ride....
Cyclists can ride most trails and the fire road in the lower 1,000 acres of The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. Past the steel bridge on Aptos Creek fire road, bikes must stay on the road and are not allowed on trails.
Although Sacramento Superior Court Judge Judy Holzer Hersher ruled bikes should not be allowed on any part of the upper 9,000 acres - including the fire road - that ban has not taken effect.
Hot on the Trail of Illegal Bikers
Impending ban in Aptos state park raises fears of more illegal trail use
By GENEVIEVE BOOKWALTER
SENTINEL STAFF WRITER
APTOS - Many mountain bikers would pay to do what State Parks ranger Mike Selbo does for a living - cruise trails in the upper reaches of The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park.
In search of other riders, Selbo's is the only bike legally allowed on the hiking paths. He can issue warnings or citations to those on two wheels instead of two feet.
It's obvious why the restricted paths are popular with some in the fat-tire crowd. The ground is soft and forgiving. Rocks, roots and logs are perfect for bunny hops and balance. Many trails run along old railroad grade - narrow enough to force single-file riding, but wide enough that, if you topple, you can avoid the poison oak.
Walkers and runners love the trail, too, as it winds through redwoods covered with bright green fuzz. But a Sacramento Superior Court ruling last month - banning cyclists from the only legal road in the park's upper 9,000 acres - has some worried hiker-biker collisions might increase on the paths, where cyclists are harder to catch.
"I do think if the road isn't open to them you will find a lot more getting up there into the park and doing the off-trail rides," said Dennis Hartley, who has run in Nisene Marks about six days a week since 1981.
Bicycles are illegal on trails above the landmark steel bridge, or upper 9,000 acres of The Forest of Nisene Marks. When the property was sold to create a state park, it came with deeds allowing only hiking, nature study, camping and associated activities. Horses were specifically banned.
Bikes were not mentioned, but State Parks officials decided in the spirit of the deed, they would restrict two-wheelers from the trails. Cyclists would be allowed on the road, which was built to handle vehicular traffic.
Advertisement
Zip Realty
As the park accumulated more property through other sources, officials did not apply deed restrictions to the new land. Bikers, hikers and equestrians share single-track trails in the lower 1,000 acres of the park.
All about the deed
Riding bicycles in Nisene Marks grew in popularity in the late '70s and early '80s, according to Sandy Lydon, historian emeritus at Cabrillo College, who served on the Forest of Nisene Marks Citizens Advisory Committee for about 25 years.
Cyclists occasionally traveled through the park before - even dirt bikers were heard through the 1960s - but evolving mountain bike technology made the bumpy road comfortable for many more pedalers.
"I used to type out the agendas for the meetings," Lydon said. "The old business section always had two things on it, in fact I didn't have to change it - pigs and bicycles."
Bikes were an issue not only because of collisions with hikers and equestrians, but also because the Marks family deed restricted horses on the land they sold for the park. In an interview with Herman Marks, one of the three siblings who deeded the land, Lydon recalled Marks saying erosion was the biggest concern when limiting equines.
"We felt in order to keep in the spirit, the reason horses were not allowed in that part of the park, bicycles shouldn't be allowed either," Lydon said.
Park officials decided to restrict bikes on trails above the steel bridge. As the fire road was designed for vehicles, and bikes qualified as vehicles, they would be allowed through that corridor.
Bike advocates, like attorney David Baskin of Santa Cruz, argue cyclists cause little more trail erosion than hikers, and cite studies to support their argument.
Still, "We thought we saw some pretty serious erosion where they were allowed, so that confirmed for us that they probably shouldn't be allowed off the fire road," Lydon said.
Below the steel bridge - on land not received from the Marks family - bikers could share single-track trails with hikers and equestrians.
The controversy emerged decades later not because plaintiffs felt bikes should be taken off the fire road. Issues arose around a new general plan, adopted in August 2003, that let State Parks study if bikes might be allowed on trails through the Marks' former property.
"To be very honest with you, in the general planning discussion, I mentioned West Ridge as a possibility since there is already the illegal use of that trail," said Santa Cruz District Superintendent Dave Vincent with California State Parks.
A letter from The Nature Conservancy dated Jan. 28, 2002, said the group would work with State Parks to make sure new paths didn't damage the restricted lands.
Others labeled mountain biking an "associated activity" with hiking, camping and nature studies.
Proposed bike trails would go through environmental analysis before opening, Vincent said. There's a chance none would be approved at all.
But serenity-loving hikers rallied against the proposal, arguing it violated the original deed.
"If we didn't challenge it now, there would be a general plan that would violate the deed restrictions," said Bill Parkin, attorney for Citizens for the Preservation of The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park, a plaintiff in the suit.
Still, whatever rules a judge may make has little effect on how to enforce them.
'We just don't have the manpower'
More than a week often goes by between park ranger Selbo's trail patrols, he said. A staffing shortage left him the only peace officer for six state parks, including Manresa, Manresa Uplands, Castro Adobe, Sunset and Palm Beach. He also writes parking tickets, gives nature talks and breaks up campground disputes.
"If I have 90 percent of my use on the beaches and in the campgrounds, we're not going to be putting a lot of people on remote trails in a 10,000-acre park," Vincent said.
The lack of patrol is obvious on a walk along the upper trails on a busy Monday holiday. Tire tracks cover a make-shift mud ramp, and red slashes are scraped off the trailhead signs prohibiting bikes.
Impromptu paths - which Selbo said could be made by both hikers and bikers - lead off the main trail. Given State Parks' tight budget, chances of fixing those are slim, said supervising ranger Nedra Martinez.
"We just don't have the manpower or the money to do it. What we try to do is close them as we find them," and cover the entrances and exits with brush.
But "people know where the trails are, especially the people who are building them and using them," Martinez said. "Those people keep coming back."
Most bikers seem to stay on the fire road, with cyclists of all ages pedaling up and down the grade. But a stroll into the nearby woods found two Aptos natives on their bikes.
Selbo didn't cite Bruce Vessey, 44, or Alan Jacques, 42, as a State Parks file check showed it was their first warning.
But Vessey said later he'd been riding trails - both legal and illegal - in Nisene Marks for years.
"I mountain bike all the time there. I've used that park forever," Vessey said, telling stories about earning his Cub Scout badge among the redwoods.
But he thought that trail was legal for bikes, he said.
The recent controversy over bicycles - and his recent warning - emphasized for Vessey the importance of volunteering in the park and getting involved in local politics, he said. He's not affiliated with any mountain biking group.
"I want to help with trail and maintenance cleanup," Vessey said. "Keep trails clear and clean so they can't say we don't do our share."
Contact Genevieve Bookwalter at gbookwalter@santacruzsentinel.com.
If you wantto ride....
Cyclists can ride most trails and the fire road in the lower 1,000 acres of The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park. Past the steel bridge on Aptos Creek fire road, bikes must stay on the road and are not allowed on trails.
Although Sacramento Superior Court Judge Judy Holzer Hersher ruled bikes should not be allowed on any part of the upper 9,000 acres - including the fire road - that ban has not taken effect.
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