Welcome to the Berkshire Chapter of the New England Mountain Bike Association
Great news for Berkshire NEMBA! The famous NEMBA/IMBA trail building school will be held this May (22&23) in the Pittsfield State Forest! More details will be coming soon. Check out the note below! Woo Hoo! :-)
From: Barnes, Rebecca (DCR)
Sent: Thursday, February 25, 2010 3:14 PM
To: brad herder; Philip Keyes
Cc: Todd, Mark (DCR); Mellace, Robert (DCR)
Subject: NEMBA trail workshop
Philip and Brad -
Received DCR confirmation and support for NEMBA trail workshop at Pittsfield SF on May 22 and 23rd.
The lodge has been reserved for NEMBA for this weekend. Camping can be accommodated - either in Bishop's field if not reserved for the weekend or in the lovely camping overflow area (picnic area among the tall white pines). Mark Todd will work with you on camping and lodge logistics. I will work with you on training logistics.
We can work out the details of training sessions and locations later. However, my first thought is to complete the family trail loop - build bridge, reroute away from VP if necessary, close connection to private property and reconnect loop on state land. Then this loop system can be marked and signed. Wouldn't it be fun to host a family / kids ride on this loop upon completion - perhaps even build it into the workshop on Sunday. Just a thought.
Rebecca Barnes
Department of Conservation and Recreation
West Region Trail Coordinator
Parker Brook Cleanup
History
The Berkshire Chapter of NEMBA is enthusiastic group of local mountain bikers who want to make better trails for mountain biking. The Berkshires in Western Massachusetts are blessed with tens of thousands of acres of land which is open to recreational use. Most of this land is in State Forests, but we also have some great places to ride on Berkshire Natural Resources Lands, watershed lands, town parks and private property.
Over the years, motorized vehicle use in our State Forests as well as poor trail design has caused many of the trails to deteriorate to a point where they aren't pleasant or enjoyable to mountain bike, hike or run. Recently, motorized vehicle use has been severely restricted or banned all together in other areas of Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York causing a significant increase in ATV use in the Western Massachusetts State Forests causing further erosion to the trails and detracting from the quiet solitude many of us enjoy out in the woods.
Berkshire NEMBA to the rescue!
In 2008, Berkshire NEMBA began working with the Mass Department of Conservation and Recreation to create sustainable mountain bike trails. Our efforts to date have been primarily focused on creating new trails in the Pittsfield State Forest. In 2008, we reconstructed the Turner Trail. 2009 initially focused on clearning ice-damaged trails, then we begain working on legalizing several beginner-level/family oriented loops. Feel free to check out our accomplishments for more details.
Despite all our hard work and best efforts to get some new trails on State Forest land, we've managed to create less than 2 miles of trail in 2 years. Other groups we're aware of create that much trail in a week.
We do have some other alternatives. Berkshire Natural Resources Council has several parcels of land throughout Berkshire County on which they would like trails developed. One in Lee, Mass is definitely interesting. Constitution Hill in Lanesboro is another but it's small and disconnected from anything else. It would be great is someone were to step up and take a leadership role to make something happen on these parcels.
Our North County contingent has been working on clearing the Thunderbolt Ski Trail for the 75th Anniversary Downhill Ski Race and our South County team has done a ton of drainage work and rock armoring in Beartown State Forest.
Join Us!
Please consider joining the New England Mountain Bike Association and check out our upcoming events for a complete list of upcoming trail work days and trail rides!