Hillandale’s Rocktown Trail
Thanh -- May 2nd, 2007
I had the pleasure yesterday of joining the Tuesday Night Ladies’ Ride at Hillandale’s new Rocktown mountain bike trail. It was beginners night and I’d say about 10-15 ladies were present. A few of us were beginners, but Marcia (our ride leader for the day) was very good at giving us a heads up of what to expect ahead. The ride was fun, easy and challenging, and the shade provided by the trees were cooling on a hot day.
For those of you not familar with the new trails,…
they can be accessed from Hillandale Park and I think also from South Avenue. There are kiosks at each entrance with a map of the trails designating the difficulty level of each section. Right now there are colored flags along the trails to help identify which level trail you are on. Eventually intersectional signs and other markers will be installed.
If you are driving your car there, the Bike Clubs and City’s Parks & Rec Department ask that you not park on South Avenue (where people’s homes are), but instead park inside Hillandale Park. The trails are not yet completed, but the beginner and intermediate portions are done and are wonderfuly rideable. With all the loops, you cannot get lost in there. Eventually you end back where you started.
Rich Edwards of the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA), who is also a resident of Harrisonburg, told me in an email that the community volunteers, primarily members of the Shenandoah Mountain Bike Club, have been working hard on making the trails. Additionally, the City has supported the Club’s effort with tool purchases, lots of materials, and by doing all of the chain saw work.
Here is the current map of Rocktown Trails, which changes a bit as they continue working.
Here is a copy of the proposal made by the Bicycling Community in Fall 2006 to the City of Harrisonburg for these trails.
If anyone wishes to help out with trailwork volunteers meet together every 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month. For more information on volunteering and Weekly Bike Rides with the local bike clubs, visit http://www.shenandoahmountainbikeclub.com/. They do a variety of rides and also do trailwork around the area.
I inadvertently ended up going down one of these trails about a month ago. I had no idea where I was going, and it felt like I had somehow made my way out of the city, all Narnia-like.
I definitely plan to go back sometime soon.
Wow. I just read over that proposal you linked to. Very well put together. Good job, Ken and Rich. Thanks for your efforts.
I’m probably the only one here that feels this way but why isn’t a forest good enough as it is (not to mention the thousands of miles of trails within driving distance). Why must we spend our tax dollars improving a forest so that it becomes both golf course and mountain bike adventure (for some of us, it already was). I’m still very jaded by the golf course but I know for a fact that the trails that are there now are exactly where I have been walking my dog for 13 years. Last time I was there (pre-construction) my younger dog herded a group of deer towards me and enjoyed an hour of running, unimpeded by bicycle trails through the woods.
Let’s hope that he’ll be able to do so again, we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out!
Change of sentiment, I think I’ll simply have Rusty change his habits and herd bicyclists to me instead. I’m sure that he’ll have just as much fun! :)