Pay to Play

Gentle Riders,

It has come to my attention that the Sheriff Department is writing tickets to rule-breaking mountain bikers in El Morro. Apparently last weekend they cited folks as they exited the bottom of "Nothing Better to Do." It is unclear, but they may have been citing riders at the base of "Better to Do Nothing" as well. There is a discussion of this matter on the SoCal Trail Riders forum (under El Morro). If you are not familiar with the names, both of these trails are near the Ridgepark entrance at Newport Coast NBTD begins about three hundred yards from the entrance and BTDN is on the opposite side of the canyon (running somewhat parallel) and begins between the third and fourth section of fenceline. Both trails wind up in Deer Canyon.

According to missives from officials at CCSP, this is part of a stepped up effort to eliminate the use of non-sanctioned trails. My advice is to avoid these trails, particularly on weekends. In addition, other nearby non-sanctioned trails might be avoided during weekend rides. These would include Marie Callenders, the third and fourth sections of Fenceline and perhaps even The Shredder. There are plenty of other trails - some officially mapped, some gray area, and some under the radar - that may still be ridden. All the drops into Emerald seem to be fair game. Namely, BVD, Erection (mapped as Old Emerald) and the newly reformed Conception. There are two other drops here, Repo Man and another trail I don't know the name of, but these are crazy steep. There are also several fun drops into Laguna Canyon, including T&A (officially mapped as Laguna Ridge and really fun, I just rode it). On the Aliso side, there are several new and rediscovered trails. There are other trails as well, some of these can be easily found, others take a bit more reconnaissance. Remember, all trail knowledge is on a need-to-know basis. Keep trail entrances clean and avoid calling attention to yourself.

Happy riding and keep your eyes open. If the ticks, poison oak, cactus, snakes and barbed wire don't get you, you may just get snagged by good ol' Johnny Law.



dwo