Black track as seen on Trail Forks
Rain and some resource constraints have hindered progress on the new trails going into the Parklands Conservation Park but we’re progressing once again with Trailworx bringing out the big guns with a 5t excavator flanked by two smaller ones to get things back on track.
The downpour we had the other week highlighted various drainage issues along the beginners loop that the last trail care session crew started fixing (thanks guys!). Since then a few of us have been scraping flat the tyre ruts and reworking the drainage but there’s still lots to do, particularly the rutted berms.
Plan is to get a bunch of the sandstone rocks cut and transported to each location needing rock armouring – drainage dips and the bridge ramps. Road base capping will be spread over the lower sections of the beginners loop to make them more resilient to ruts and generally harder wearing.
Upcoming features of the black trail, apart from the usual berms and rollers, are natural drops, a natural rock garden, a S shaped berm with a jump transition in the middle and some big rollers at the end so you can send it for the spectators.
The black trail will need close attention to detail. Trailworx will point out what’s left to be do, the trick is to not undo anything they have set up as that will either cause them to revisit or will cause premature trail degradation.
Next up will be the ‘blue’ trail, then the skills area. Then the remediation (of sections) of existing trails such as Road Rage and Anger Management. Once those are finished and the grants acquitted the new QLD MTB Strategy will hopefully be ready for us to review and align our trail strategy against – then we’ll start the cycle again by doing up detailed plans, getting quotes, applying for grants, and if successful, build more trails.
So please keep an eye on the calendar for upcoming trail care days – they’ll be coming along fast during the next 3 – 4 months.
Don’t forget that you can check out Trail Forks for updates on trail conditions and additions and our Trail Care page for the rest.
