Michaux St. Forest (Pa.)-conditions

[bikerRob]

03/02/04>>>Temp. 60*>>My planned foray into the Michaux St. forest turned out not to be as good an idea as I had planned.
It seems the 50*+ temps. that we've had lately wasn't enough to melt things north of the Mason-Dixon line. The "Me" has a ton of forest roads but unfortunately, most were still covered with snow. I'll not mention single-track...I had planned on a ten mile (forest Roads) hilly ride but when I saw the conditions, decided it was better just to ride the area of Long Pine Reservior (about a 5 mile out and back horse shoe ) Believe me...that turned out to be a good decision. Lots of slushie-snow with only a couple muddy bare spots :( Roll was berri-berri bad...next time I do this I'll call the bike shop in Gettysberg for a local update. Hey..sometimes you get the bear and sometimes the bear gets you.>>>The picture is of one of the forest roads...you believe I didn't fall once;) .

[bikerRob]

03/14/04>>>> I should of posted this earlier but didn't get around to it...sorry. This is a letter I just sent to Pa. DCNR concerning the ride I took a couple weeks ago while in the Michaux St. Forest. I thought others in the Mt. biking community might be interested. The following text contains the letter>>>>03/14/04
To whom it may concern:

During the last week of February this year, I decided to take a drive up to Michaux St. Forest to do some mountain biking. A couple times a year I like to ride the area around Long Pine Run Reservoir just north of Caledonia St. Park.
Its more than a two hour drive from where I live in Columbia, Md. but the beauty and serenity of the area make it worth the drive.
However, on the day I went I was disappointed to find that most of the areas forest roads were still not clear of snow. Because of this I decided to shorten my planned ride and ride around the reservoir instead which is a much shorter out and back. I left the parking area of the reservoir and headed NW. I then made a right turn onto Birch Run Rd. ( a forest road ). As I made my way along Birch Run Rd. I began to hear what appeared to be automatic weapons fire. It was unsettling but I continued down the road. I finally came to the place where the weapons fire was coming from. It seems some one has opened a new weapons range along Birch Run Rd. I simply couldn't believe my eyes. I continued along the snowy road and hung a right to ride down to where the damn area is along the reservoir. As I sat resting near the damn, I continued to hear the rapid succession of weapons fire. This will of course destroy the serenity of this quiet, peaceful area. In the summer, people fish and kayak on the lake ( reservoir ). I have no doubt that this horrendous activity will chase away all the other user groups...i.e. anglers, kayakers, hikers, campers, bird-watchers ...etc.
I thought that the DCNR was concerned about noise. At least that was a comment made on your web site when it came to Off Road Vehicles! Believe me, I could hear those guns all the way across the other side of the reservoir. How could this have been allowed!? What happened to the weapons range that was on Pine Grove Rd..( Rt. 233 ) ?? Isn't one weapons range enough? I really would like a response to my comments so I can inform others who have previously enjoyed the area of Michaux.

Sincerely, Rob Wilson, Columbia, Md
member of M.O.R.E. ( Mid-Atlantic Off Road Enthusiast )

Unquote>>> If I get a response from Pa. DCNR, I will post it.

[bikerRob]

03/22/04>>>> ( response to complaint...posted with permission ) as follows...( quote ) Dear Mr. Wilson:
We regret that your visit to the Michaux State Forest was ruined by the automatic weapons fire. We do indeed have a designated target shooting area along the Birch Run Road. The intended use of this area is for casual target shooting, and for the sighting in of sporting weapons prior to the fall hunting season. The use of any automatic weapons at this site is strictly prohibited. What you encountered was an illegal activity. We have made considerable effort to curtail this practice with some limited success. However, as you might imagine, our forest rangers cannot be everywhere all the time.
This target shooting area was established 2 years ago in response to our closing the area along Pa. Rt. 233. That area was only .2 miles from the campground at Caledonia State Park, and was generating a huge number of complaints from campers. We carefully considered several areas as alternative sites before deciding on the area along Birch Run Road. We did discuss and consider the possible impacts of noise generated at the site. We felt there would only be cocentrated impacts for a short time just prior to the hunting season. We believed that if used as intended, the shooting during the rest of the year would cause minimal problems. This seems to have been the case, since this is the first complaint we have recieved since the area was opened.
We will continue to make every effort to curtail the illegal use of this site. As with most things it is only a small percentage of the people who cause the majority of the problems. If you should encounter automatic weapons fire again you may contact our office (352-2211) or Caledonia State Park (352-2161) and our rangers will be dispatched to the site.
Thank you for bringing this matter to uor attention. We sincerely hope that your next visit to the Michaux will be more pleasant.
Sincerely,
Michael Kusko Jr., District Forester ( unquote ) Thanks Mike for writing back... Rob

[bikerRob]

05/30/04>>> I got a chance to ride the area around Long Pine Run Reservoir on Saturday. It turned out to be a beautiful day for a ride. Everything I saw was dry except for one or two mud spots. I got a chance to explore some
more trails. Gosh, how I wish I had a more detailed map of the area. I've notice now that there have been some improvements to many of the trails including some new trail markings/postings. I spoted a couple more trail-heads to explore for the next time I go. If you've never ridden Michaux before it's a little like Frederick Watershed (in that it has a lot of Forest Rds.) and a lot like Gambrill in places with all the rocks. Some of the more moderate trails have a lot of golf ball/baseball sized rocks. Even when day time temps. are in the eighties, when the sun goes down it get's real cool. I always bring a wind shell and it always pays off. If you have a bike with Dlb."Boing!" this is a great area to ride. I use a Hard-tail with a USE* susp. seat post and I'm fine.

[treeskier]

Anyone/Everyone,

Where is a good Michaux map?

[bikerRob]

Anyone/Everyone,

Where is a good Michaux map?

06/02/04>>> If you find one let me know. I do have a map of the area that I blew up from a Pa. Topo map. It ain't much but it does show the forest Roads around Long Pine Run reservoir. If you want I can send it to you but I'll need an e-mail address. I'll also send what ever notes I have on the area along too. Act fast! I'm going on vacation for two weeks and will be out towards Douthat St. Park in Va. I'll probably leave this weekend. Oh, a good place to check for a map would be Gettysburg Bicycle on York Rd. in Gettysbury (Pa.) as well as the State Park near the area
(Caledonia St. Park). The St. Park has trails too but as far as I know, most are off limit to bikes but it would be worth a re-check. GB bikes would be the best bet, I just haven't had time to check it out myself yet.

[camp]

Try the PATC Map 2-3. It's the Appalachian Trail map for the section that runs through Michaux. It also shows many of the other singletrack trails, and, the best thing is that it shows all of the roads and fireroads.

There is really no good map of Michaux. Many trails show on the map but aren't on the ground, and many trails are on the ground but not on the map. The best way to get around is to use the roads as a framework and connect to them using whatever trail you find (whether on the map or not). At least each time you come to a road, you should be able to get a positive location. This same method works well for getting to know the Watershed too.

[treeskier]

thanks,

will try out maps and Michaux soon.

regards,

[Heath Roney]

I have been posting our race maps on the michaux race page at www.gettysburgbicycle.com . If you have any questions about the maps you can email me at info@gettysburgbicycle.com or call me at 717-334-7791

[bikerRob]

I have been posting our race maps on the michaux race page at www.gettysburgbicycle.com . If you have any questions about the maps you can email me at info@gettysburgbicycle.com or call me at 717-334-7791

2/05/05 >> By the way...you have any imformation what conditions are like right now up around Long Pine Run Reservoir? Are the forest roads clear of snow...i.e.(Milesburn Rd., Birch Run Rd. etc...)

I made the mistake last year of driving all the way from Columbia after a warm spell about the same time of year and was surprised that the forest roads still had snow (slush) on them. I swore not to make that mistake again. You have any feed back(?)...I'm really Jones'in for a nice ride near some mountains.