The trails near Golden, Colorado, are very popular. Casual hikers, hardcore hikers, runners, cyclists, horses, dogs, lizards, rodents, bugs—you name it. There is traffic on the trails. Occasionally, trail use conflicts flare up, as they do in many areas where trails see high use. Jefferson County, Colorado, is actually experimenting with bike-only trails to try to ease some of that conflict, thanks to work by the bike advocacy group, the Colorowdies.
But Jefferson County authorities tried a different tactic last month when they put up signs along the Enchanted Forest Trail, a popular bit of singletrack, that read: “Cyclists, are you prepared to stop? This is not a downhill course. Expect to see hikers, dogs, or wildlife.”
Looking like warning signs, some local mountain bikers took umbrage, feeling singled out as the causes of trail conflict. So one cyclist decided to fight back, in that time-honored way of leaving a passive-aggressive note. In the form of signs that looked exactly like the ones admonishing cyclists. These signs called out bad behavior among hikers, runners, and dog walkers. ‘
“Dog walkers, are you prepared to carry that bag of poo all the way back to your car?”
“Runners and hikers, are you paying any attention to the world around you? This is not a concert venue. Take your headphones out and pay attention to everyone else on the trail.”
Etc.
Photos of them created quite a stir when Chris Le Schieffer, a local who mountain bikes, hikes, and runs the Enchanted Forest trail often, posted them to her Facebook page.
“That original sign about cyclists needing to stop appeared a few months ago after the county decided that the primary trail user conflict was mountain bikers,” Le Schieffer told AJ. For some reason, this changed the dynamics of the trail. It made hikers and runners feel as though they NEEDED to be scared of mountain bikers. It made them feel as though mountain bikers were inherently doing something wrong, which is not the case. Generally, it feels very antagonistic to the mountain bike community (which does a majority of the trail work on all trails in Jeffco, and this one in particular).
“The next 3 signs were created by a passive-aggressive sign vigilante (Read: my hero. Who still remains unknown, though I have my guesses…) and honestly, they are so close to the original sign that it took me a few hours of thinking about them and looking back on the photos to realize they were mockups of the original. At first I thought, wow, Jeffco really went nuts with signs, but I can appreciate them because they actually call out other trail problems that no one talks about, yet still exist. Then I thought, those are way too sarcastic for a government agency, and then I noticed the fake phone number (303) 123 – 4567 and the signature on the bottom, “Jefferson Airplane Fan Club,” and it clicked – genius.”
The signs have since been removed, but perhaps the conversation they’ve caused will be of help.
Le Schieffer points out that that section of trail is only open to mountain bikers on even days anyway, but maybe this will advance an initiative to make the trail directional to help aid congestion. “We should be concerned about simply having common courtesy and trail etiquette while we’re all out there for the same reason,” Le Schieffer says. “To enjoy the outdoors.”
Photos: Le Schieffer
You need something to read? We have something to read!
Adventure Journal’s print stories are only available in print. They are deeper, longer, and more nuanced than what you find online. Find out why 99% of subscribers renew every single year.
Order a subscription and current issue you today and most U.S. address will have their copy in three days. West Coast addresses it’s 1-2 days.
What happened to the old saying ” please share the trail”?
The problem in Golden is there are too many trail users. They have the same probably on trails near all large metropolitan areas. What probably ought to happen is to designate use on trails for odd/even days to separate non compatible uses.
I chose to live in a rural area so our trails are lightly used.
Hikers, are your dogs on a leash? Because one of your dogs attacked my friend while trail running. The entire time his neck was being chewed you kept saying “he never does this”. Well guess what. He does. And don’t buy one of those crappy retractable leashes made out of cheap plastic and twine. You have a large dog he needs a strong leash and one under 8′ in this town.
Brilliant!
I was hiking the Enchanted Trail a few weeks ago and saw the mountain biking signs but not the response signs. They honestly did make me a little more fearful of mountain bikers. I try to be very respectful when hiking with my dog – watching for bikes/other hikers and pulling her out of the way as much as the trail allows. I know not everyone likes dogs on trails, I know not everyone likes bikes on trails. I know some people want to listen to their music on their phones on full blast while hiking (my personal pet peeve). But we all made the effort to get out on the trail and enjoy nature a little bit, to remove ourselves from the seemingly constant conflict of life in 2019. I know, I’m a hippie, but maybe we can all just be a little bit nicer to each other out there? Fracturing the outdoor community is damaging to our collective goal (we all have a collective goal, right?) of preserving and enjoying outdoor spaces for generations to come. Let’s address problems on the trail without gatekeeping the outdoors and making people feel unwelcome.
This is like a car driver getting butt hurt about a road sign advising them to be cautious of cyclists. But we’re in the era of self-centered outrage, and this sign maker person seems to have a problem with polite instruction. These signs aren’t going to win the bike community any favors, if anything it’s rogue actions like these that lead to more restrictions or at least make new trails more difficult to obtain.
Or perhaps they’re just a lighthearted way to make some reasonable points? Perhaps a little LOL is warranted?
Just bring courteous, acknowledging the other user and communicating seems to be the best option. It’s likely impossible to develop a regs that work for every possible situation on trails considering the variables.
I’m personally ok with signs that target/remind different types of users in some cases because they’re different. Reminds me of flying somewhat… Different flying machines (hot air balloon, glider, heli, fixed wing) all have different rules for how to interact around each other based on their speed and maneuverability. Seems reasonable.
Simple resolution. Soft pedal until away from the crowds, then have it. It’s the same everywhere. The closer you are the parking lot, town, etc., the more hiking and running traffic. Just take it easy for the first (and last) several miles. Makes for a good warm-up, cool-down!
Having been almost run over many times by mountain bikers, and then having them yell at me for being on the trail. I believe hikers have every right to be concerned about mountain bikers. Hiking trails should not be used by mountain bikers. All they care about is getting an adrenaline high as they zoom down the trail. Aside from the trail directly in front of them, I doubt if many of them even see the beauty around them.
Freaking Awesome!!!
Totally brah!!!
Mountain bike groups do most the of the trail work? JeffCo Open Space has full-time staff that build and maintain the trail system, with all users in mind. They have been doing this for 30+ years. Without JeffCo, this trail system wouldn’t exist. JeffCo also put up these signs in an attempt to raise awareness. It’s not easy with over 7 million annual trail users. I consider myself a mountain biker, and hope to see more alternating days for bikes and bike optimized features. This won’t be accomplished by antagonizing JeffCo, the parent of the trail system.