Grand Canyon National Park approves new singletrack; proposes Wilderness closure

IMBA Trail News
Volume 11, Number 4
September-October 1998

Events at the Grand Canyon National Park this summer both elated and frustrated mountain bicyclists. On the North Rim, the National Park Service broke ground on a new singletrack trail that will be open to bicycling. At the same time, NPS staff moved forward with a plan to close dirt and doubletrack roads to bicycling through Wilderness designation.

Singletrack riding in a flagship park

The new singletrack is a segment of the Arizona Trail, a route extending from the state's north border with Utah all the way south to Mexico. More than half the route is completed. For mountain bicyclists, an open singletrack within Grand Canyon National Park means much. Only a few other national parks in the U.S. have narrow trails open to cycling, and the Grand Canyon is one of the nation's preeminent, flagship parks.

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the north edge of the park on July 24. In following weeks park management began constructing the eight-mile route south to the North Rim. IMBA leaders joined the ceremony, along with Kaibab National Forest managers and representatives of Senator John Kyl, American Trails, the Arizona Trail Foundation, Mountain Bike Association of Arizona, an international trail work crew, and a bevy of trail users.

At the ceremony, the park's Deputy Supervisor J.T. Reynolds commented that the new trail, open to bicycling, "is very compatible with our general management plan... We're proud to be a partner." He explained that half of the financing for the trail, $75,000, came from user fees paid by park visitors. The remaining funds came from a grant by Arizona State Parks' trail grants program.

Tim Blumenthal, IMBA's executive director, commented, "This is one of the best examples of IMBA's mission of cooperation.... We're trying to encourage off-pavement bicycle use in the national parks, and we think this works well with the NPS mission to get visitors out of their cars to enjoy the natural surroundings."

Michael Baker, president of the Arizona Trail Foundation, said, "We particularly appreciate mountain bikers and I'm a hiker. They really do a lot of trail work." He observed that the Arizona Trail "starts nowhere and ends nowhere" in relatively obscure lands managed by the US BLM. It also links a great diversity of landscapes, and as such, "It's a marvelous metaphor for life."

IMBA supporter Specialized Bicycle Components donated two mountain bikes for NPS and Forest Service rangers' use.

Following the ceremony, IMBA's staff and board enjoyed a ride on the new Rainbow Rim Trail in the Kaibab National Forest, guided by the path's creator, USFS recreation manager John Neeling. The board also held a meeting in the famous North Rim Lodge.

Extensive Wilderness proposed

The National Park Service has proposed to the Congress that much of Grand Canyon National Park be designated Wilderness. In April the agency released a draft management plan for these wildlands and proposed to manage the lands as if they were already designated which would prohibit bicycles. Within the recommended Wilderness is all of the canyon and a large extent of relatively flat lands on the Kaibab Plateau, which includes the North Rim. On the Plateau are a number of old jeep routes which the park plans to convert to singletracks open only to hiking and horseback riding.

IMBA is lobbying the agency and members of Congress to alter this Wilderness recommendation and draft plan. IMBA supports Wilderness designation for all of the canyon itself trails there are generally too steep and rocky for bike riding and the land deserves protection as Wilderness. However, IMBA objects to the plateau designation, and maintains that when roads are converted to trails, the routes should remain open to bicycling. IMBA questions the designation of roaded lands as Wilderness, even if those roads are being restored to singletrack. The plateau Wilderness designation would greatly reduce public access to key North Rim viewpoints.

In a formal letter to NPS, IMBA asserted:

Primitive backcountry roads of the type slated for obliteration or closure to bicyclists via Wilderness designation are ideal for mountain biking, and should be considered for non-motorized shared use... In the Wilderness Management Plan, mountain bicyclists are either banned from backcountry roads by virtue of the proposed Wilderness designation, or forced to share backcountry roads that remain with motor vehicles... Providing opportunities for mountain bikes will encourage visitors to bring their bikes and use them inside the Park boundaries. This would seem to be a critical component of the Park's alternative transportation plan.

IMBA is encouraging its members everywhere (the Grand Canyon is an United Nations Biosphere Reserve) and all cyclists in Arizona to take action to alter the Wilderness recommendation to allow cycling on the rim lands outside the canyon. G.S.