Camp Robinson Mountain Biking: Raised From The Near-Dead

Each year, I embark on a quest to embrace my inner mountain biker, with some years bearing more fruit than others. This year, I started out with a declared plan to enjoy my mountain bike more frequently, and that plan has only been encouraged by trail flooding and few days of cold, windy weather. The result is that I have been riding at Camp Robinson pretty frequently.
Riding at Camp always turns me into a cheerleader for both the trail system that exists there and for the many volunteers that have created, maintained, and improved the many miles of well-groomed single-track. A few years ago, a timber harvest in Camp's TA2 almost shut down riding for an extended period of time, and optimism for a revival was at a low.

Here is a comment from a December 2010 post regarding Camp Robinson that puts that state of things at that time in perspective:

... there are a few (literally) riders who maintain or even use the trails at camp. If these riders quit, the trails will disappear and eventually there will be no need to maintain a sign-in log at the visitor center. Who knows what the future holds for cycling on camp?

C.A.R.P. Christmas ride, December 2010. Logging had destroyed much of the trail system and rendered some still-ridable areas nearly inaccessible. Only a few stubborn riders hung onto the notion of riding at camp during this time.

The original "Christmas Tree" was only a stump when this photo was taken. It had been decorated over the years with old wheels, broken chains, and discarded tubes. It wasn't really art, but served as a meeting place and landmark at the junction of Yucca, Christmas Tree, and the center road.

Those were dark times for mountain biking at Camp. I was at the height of my enthusiasm for the place, and was determined to deal with the logging and the ensuing burn-offs and mud. For those of you who have never had to traverse a fresh clear-cut, consider that marketable timber is hauled out, leaving behind a maze of shattered wood and twisted branches. In addition, the dozers, trucks and skidders churn the soil so that wet conditions can add bottomless mud to the mix. After that, as at Camp Robinson in 2010-2011, you can then burn it all off to leave a smoldering expanse of wrecked unrecognizable terrain. I remember one cold night after losing the trace of whatever trail I was trying to follow, likely 10-Bridges, I decided to try to beat darkness by taking a more-or-less straight line back to my truck. My mistake resulted in an adventure of knee-deep mud, thrashing maddened maneuvering of bike over downed timber, and a decision that it simply was not f---ing worth it. There were still a lot of quality trail miles to ride even at this point, but access and atmosphere sucked.

April 2011. Riding at Camp Robinson was at a low point. Even Willie was looking disgusted, his feet and belly blackened by the char. 

We're back, and better than ever.

I did go back to Camp Robinson, as did others. It took a couple of years for the earth to heal and for stubborn trail fairies to make repairs and rebuild or reroute trails.

Basil Hicks and Bryan Shipman, along with others, were at the heart of the trail building and restoration at Camp Robinson. JBarCycling Jan 2012

Basil Hicks, shown above, has since retired and seems to have taken on the CARP trails as a new career. Folks like Bryan Shipman have been very helpful in communicating with the facility administration as some leadership changes have taken place at the Guard. I can't address that facet of things in detail, but it seems that Camp Robinson has been very welcoming of the opportunity for interaction with the local community afforded by the mountain bike trails. I have also met a number of folks taking advantage of the trails who are at the facility for training. While TA2 is still a training area first, the improvements to parking and other trailhead features certainly benefit the mountain biking crowd.

Three good reasons that the trails are in such great shape:

On a recent rainy Sunday, I decided to take the dogs out for a hike at Camp. As I headed in, I encountered a 3-piece band whose music accompanied much of our 5-6 mile walk.

 Sharon Saunders on backpack blower accompanied by her terrier.

Basil Hicks on string trimmer

and Bruce Alt on chainsaw.

It can sometimes be a challenge to identify the trails at Camp when the leaf cover is thick, so the leaf-blowing  is really appreciated.

These folks are often seen hard at work so that we can have some of the best riding around, but they are far from being alone in their efforts. Last Sunday, as were emerged from a cold ride, we ran into Eric Grimmett. "E" was grabbing his helmet and shoes to "go ride my new trail". I had seen Eric, girlfriend Kashari, and his dad logged in ahead of me a few times, but had not run into them out riding. He let me know that they had spent the last couple of months building "the sweetest trail out here". "I'm building it like I build a bike." Eric has a longstanding reputation and as proud and capable bike mechanic, so that means that his yet unnamed trail will indeed be sweet. I haven't seen it, but will likely explore it soon. He might tell you where it is, but I'll let E do the unveiling. 

Update: He unveiled in a Facebook post

April, 2010. These rocks were hauled into this spot on 10-Bridges by wheelbarrow.

I also ran into Lane Septon recently. I first met Lane several years ago as he hauled wheelbarrows of rocks into 10 Bridges Trail, and he was back at work this week clearing leaves from under some of the many bridges to allow the water to flow. 

Improvements

Even longer than it looks- I walked off the length of this new bridge on 10-Bridges Trail. It is about 85 feet long.

In the past, my winter excursions usually saw me leaving Camp Robinson wet, muddy, and cold, with the bike a total mess. There was almost always good riding but many of the key entry trails had some seriously muddy patches and unimproved water crossings. Good policy says not to ride muddy trails, but back then getting muddy was pretty much a fact of life on the CARP trails. Today, even after a big rain event, you would have to seek out off-path soft spots to experience the hub deep crossings of the past. Trails have been rerouted to better use the terrain, bridges have been built or improved, and most of even the smallest water crossings have been hardened. 

The extensive trail system means that even on the heaviest user days, you are unlikely to see many other riders. I checked in on a recent weekend and there were likely 25-30 riders signed in ahead of me. I rode for a couple of hours on some of the most popular trail sections without encountering another rider until I was headed back to the parking lot. If you want company, you'll need to use your charm at the trailhead, as you are unlikely to cross paths with others once you get out on the trail.

A few short years ago, it appeared that mountain biking at Camp Robinson was not quite dead, but seriously ill. Now, the scene is alive, well, and gaining strength.

Get your sportsman pass, air up your knobbies and head to Camp. If you have never ridden there, or if it has just been a while, you'll be amazed by what you find. 

Weathering The Spell* plus updated Sportsman Pass option

*or, The art of avoiding depression when the weather sucks.

The recent spell of winter weather has kept most folks off of the bike. For the most part, I have been among them. I'll ride in the cold, but I avoid riding in the rain and I sure as hell avoid riding in the cold rain. Add a demanding workload, even with the slightly longer days, I have not been able to manage anything in the way of after work rides. Even headlights, warm gear, and the promise of post-ride satisfaction won't get me out after dark in a cold drizzle.

Last Saturday's forecast gave me hope of getting in some quality time in the saddle, but I needed to ride early and the predicted early morning temperature was in the teens, rising into the low 30's over the course of the day. That is manageable on the road bike, but it is quite comfortable on the mountain bike, so it was off to Camp Robinson! I haven't spent nearly enough time on the dirt this winter, so  I was overdue, anyway.
Our Willie dog doesn't even raise his head when I get on the road bike. He's learned there's nothing in that for him, but as soon as I pick up my hydration pack, he goes on high alert. That usually means a mountain bike ride and he loves to run the trails at Camp. With the exception of squirrel forays, he runs ahead of me, usually at a pretty steady pace, though I think I have caught him checking me up on the downhills before bolting to drop me on the following climbs. In other words, he behaves much like everybody else that I ride with.

Willie is an impatient ride partner. In spite of the fact that he's been lax in his training, he ran 9 miles and was ready for more.

The trail surfaces were hard packed and clean. Most of the creek surfaces were firm, as well.

 

 Even with temperatures in the mid-20s, the combination of low speeds, shelter from the wind, and the interval-like efforts of mountain biking, it was a very comfortable ride. The hard part is convincing yourself that it will be OK once you get out the door.

 

 It's hard to find trail conditions better than this, anywhere.

 

The trail conditions at Camp were superb, thanks to the many hours of work done by volunteers like Basil Hicks and the fine folks of the Central Arkansas Trail Alliance. Water crossings have been hardened (and I don't mean frozen, in this case) , bridges have been built and trail have been rerouted to more sustainable paths. I will confess that I have not been paying my work-in-kind dues this year. I have done a bit of leaf blowing and brush whacking in the past, but my small efforts pale in comparison to the job that has been done over the last couple of seasons. I stuck the higher ground, so the trails were dry for the most part, and frozen elsewhere. The sun was starting to thaw the surfaces as we finished up, resulting in a little mud.

When I moved Willie from the driver's seat to the backseat of the truck, I discovered that his belly was caked in frozen mud, earning him the new rap name of Icy Mudflap.

 

 

Riding at Camp Robinson
I don't know the current trail mileage at Camp, but I'm guessing 35-40 miles. Difficulty ranges from easy to "someday I'll get up that without getting off of the bike." Camp Robinson is an active military facility and you must obtain a Sportsman Pass to ride (or hunt, fish, etc). Things have become a little easier on that front, in that passes are available at the main gate visitor center from 10-6 Monday through Saturday. They cost 25.00 and exact cash is required. Save yourself some frustration and make sure that you have correct change, along with your drivers license, auto registration, and proof of insurance. After you have a pass, it is a simple matter of signing into the log book upon arrival and signing out when you leave. You will need to show your ID and pass at the gate.

My friend Joe Jacobs at arkansasoutside.com reports that Camp now offers a $5.00 3-day pass, thanks to the efforts of the Central Arkansas Trail Alliance. This is great news!

Another Fall Milestone: Back To Camp Robinson

When I describe the level of my mountain biking experience, I borrow a line that I once heard from a less-than-confident kayaking friend who started boating about the same time that I did. At a put-in, he commented on my level of experience by saying, "You have 5 years of experience and I have 1 year of experience 5 times."
That pretty well sums up my mountain biking experience, though I'm now up to one year of experience 6 or 7 times.

Willie loves to see the mountain bike come out, as it often means a run in the woods of Camp Robinson for him.

I enjoy the change of pace that the mountain bike offers up to this road rider, but I'm a firm believer that riding in the woods of Arkansas is best reserved for the cooler months when the presence of chiggers, ticks, and poison ivy has somewhat abated. My mountain biking season started this year with a couple of rides at Burns Park and the Pfeifer Loop, both of which I enjoy, especially since the Burns Park trails were renovated a year or two ago. Those trails now flow nicely. What Burns Park lacks in my opinion is variety, and that is where the pull of Camp Robinson comes in. Where Burns Park offers Red, Yellow, White, and Green trails, Camp has more many more miles, more technical variety, more trail sections, and certainly more creative names. Here are some of the trails that Camp deals up:

Advanced Trig
Airport Loop
Ball of Nails
Buddha
Can of Corn
Center Road
Christmas Tree
Dead Elvis
Dogwood Trail
El Stupido
Elevator
Flatlands
Helter Skelter
Merlin
Outside Loop
Porta Potty
Shipwreck
Ten Bridges
Turn, Turn, Turn
Yucca Trail
Zig Zag

Level of difficulty ranges from beginner-friendly and accessible trails like Yucca, Airport, and Porta Potty to "damned if I've ever done it without putting a foot down" Advanced Trig and Helter Skelter, with a whole lot of in between stuff. Among my favorites are Buddha, Ball of Nails and Merlin, each of which challenges my 7 x 1 year skill level but that can usually be completed with few foot dabs or falls.

Buddha is a favorite. Willie is a front-running trail dog. His self-assigned job is to see that squirrels are off the trail and up the trees where they belong. The trails at Camp are in great shape.

Give thanks
For what had been given to you,
However little.
Be pure, never falter.
Buddha
Dhammapada.

Riding at Camp Robinson does require just a little planning, as riders are required to obtain a Sportsman Pass at the Visitor Center near the front gate. Passes cost $25.00, are good for a year, and may be had between the hours of  10:00AM and 6:00PM, Tuesday-Friday. It is a good idea to call ahead to verify that the clerk is on duty, as the job seems to entail fairly frequent absences, and the security folks on duty cannot issue the passes. Call 501-212-5100  and ask for the Visitor Center. You will need cash or a check, along with a driver's license, and auto registration and proof-of-insurance. The process takes 5-10 minutes. After obtaining a pass, you simply sign in and out at the Visitor Center and show your pass and ID at the gate.

Credit goes to C.A.R.P.

The trails at Camp Robinson came into being in the earliest days of mountain biking, back long before 9-11. Camp Robinson was historically pretty wide open and had long been popular with hunters, local dirt bike riders, wanderers of the woods, and partiers. As mountain biking caught on, riders gravitated to the trails they knew at Camp and they were soon making improvements and building new loops. 9-11 caused an increase in security and unfettered access became a thing of the past. Folks like Basil Hicks and Jim Holsted lobbied for access to Training Area 2 where the trail system was located. As a result Central Arkansas Recreational Pedalers, or C.A.R.P., was born to serve as a vehicle to regain access to the Camp Robinson trails. The bureaucracy that brought about that agreement has gone through some evolution, but the folks of CARP deserve ongoing credit for the quality mountain biking experience that is available to us.

With support from Camp Robinson, new directional signs are going up throughout the trail system. 

 

A logging project cleared some areas a couple of years ago destroyed some stretches of single track and seriously disrupted trail use, but time does indeed heal out in the woods and things are back to the "new normal". Adding to the hand of nature have been the hands of Basil Hicks, Jr. and III, Darin Webb, Mike and Jason McGhee, Bryan and Melissa Shipman, Rodney Small, Justin Ray, and others who regularly pack in saws, loppers, leaf blowers and weed eaters to maintain one of the best local trail systems that you likely never rode!

It's not a race, but...

Ride by the numbers: Game On!

 

Riding is always competitive to many folks. I had noticed some numbered hi-vis signs along the trail, then I checked out this challenge at the trailhead bulletin board. The best time posted as of  November 8 was 1:10:14 by Richard Macychek, followed closely by Daniel Halpain at 1:10:30.  Go get some if you want it, and good luck beating Richard.

 

Riders Needed

The thing that the trails of Camp Robinson needs the most is more riders! I'm glad to hear that ridership is up and steady, but there are a lot of trail miles out there and the best way to keep the single track in top shape is to ride it!

Oh, yeah,a couple of other things...

Just when it seems that my topic well has run dry, other things come to mind that bear mentioning.

As I finished my ride Wednesday night, I decided to cruise on down to the Clinton Park Bridge to see if it was as desolate as the rest of the trail system. As I approached the gate through the flood wall near the NLR RV Park, imagine my surprise when I saw that the pavement was........gone.

It was closer to dark than this photo makes it appear, but still light enough for me to see that my ride stopped here!

It looks like they are improving this approach, but for the next few days, I suggest looking before you go barrelling out the gate. It pays to approach this point with caution, anyway, as I've had a couple of close encounters here as I entered from the street, only to meet people heading out on the left side (MY right) of the opening and hidden from my view by the wall. A "KEEP RIGHT" sign might be in order.

New Options For Camp Robinson Sportsman Passes

This passed along by Bryan Shipman on 11/29:

"Starting tomorrow sportsman's passes will be sold at the visitors center Tuesday - Friday from 10am - 6pm. Mrs. Tiffany Alexander is now on-board with us and were glad to have her. Please post this information to your websites and pass along to all? :)"

visitor center 501.212.4090

As many of you know, I'm just a seasonal mountain biker (this is that season!), but a proponent of use of the CARP trails at Camp. The last year or so has been trying for Camp riders, in that there has been clear cutting, wildfires, controlled burns and bulldozer work, all of which impacted some of the trails. In addition, the procedure for entry has been a moving target. The new hours for obtaining a Sportsman Pass have been extended and now make it possible for clock-punchers to get by after work (I still suggest calling before trekking out there to buy a pass), and most of the trails are in good shape, in spite of another recent foray by a bulldozer to tie a couple of clear-cuts/landing zones together. Once you have the pass, entry is easier than ever. All you have to do is sign in at the visitor's center and show your ID as you enter the gate. No more hauling in documents or dealing with the security guard.

Airport, Outer Loop, Port-o-potty, Buddha, Ball of Nails, Merlin, ZigZag and other top quality trails are intact and in good shape, needing only some leaf blowing and some riders. I've spoken to a couple of mountain bikers this week who have rediscovered Camp Robinson. It's easy to get your groove on at the newly improved Burns Park trails and forget how very good and diverse the Camp trail system really is. I've never come close to riding it all in a day. In fact, there are still a few stretches that I've never ridden.

This is a not entirely a selfless admonition to riders to use the trails. The trails are better with use and I would despair a loss of access if the powers-that-be were to ever decide that the area would be better used by the Guard for some other purpose.

Back on (single)Track

'Tis the season! No, not THAT season. Even though I was greeted with strains of Winter Wonderland when went into Best Buy this afternoon to replace my purloined phone headset, it's not Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Christmas yet for me. For me, it's time to get back out on the dirt and learn how to ride my mountain bike again. My mountain biking skill development pattern reminds me very much of a conversation that I had with a boating friend many years ago as we sat in an eddy near the put-in of the Ocoee River in Tennessee. I was very seriously into my boating at the time and the Ocoee was my favorite playground, while he was expressing misgivings about his own ability. I assured him that he'd be OK, "Man, you've been boating as long as I have. You'll do fine." He said, "Yeah, but you've had five years of experience and I've had one year of experience five times." I pondered that statement and decided that it made perfect sense and was an accurate assessment. Well, now I'm that guy and my mountain bike is his kayak. I rarely ride my mountain bike in the summer and each fall I seem to start over, perhaps a little better than the fall before, but not a giant step better.

The Niner and I are still learning to get along. It is exactly the sharp handling, nimble ride I was looking for and I'm looking forward to spending some quality time on it so I can do it justice.

Camp Robinson: Getting In Is Easier Than Ever

So, I headed out to Camp Robinson Sunday to get a little dirty, explore the state of the trail system, and begin my annual learning curve. The word on current procedure at Camp Robinson is that a $10.00 sportsman's pass is required for mountain bikers. They may be obtained at the main gate Visitor Center between 9:00AM and 4:00PM Tuesday-Thursday. You will need your drivers license, car registration and proof-of-insurance and the process takes about 5-10 minutes. The upside is that these days with a sportsman's pass, you simply sign in and out. No more waiting in line or having to deal with the guard, so once you have a pass, entry is streamlined quite a bit.
Note: If it's hard for you to get by during the hours available to buy a pass, call before you make the trip! There is just one young lady who handles those duties and I have heard of folks taking time off work only to find that her hours have changed, or she is off, etc.. The main number is (501) 212-5100. Ask for the Visitor Center.

Things are surprisingly good!
Camp Robinson offers a lot of trail miles featuring a wide range of difficulty and character, from fast flowing and mostly flat to technical and steep, so there is something for every rider and mood. Many riders virtually gave up on Camp last year due to confusion over the sportsman's pass procedure, extended trail closures for logging operations and the mess that results from clear cutting, and then a period of frequent controlled burns. I stuck it out longer than most before finishing out my season riding at Burns Park and elsewhere.
I got on the bike unsure of trail conditions but expected a bit of an overgrown mess. What I found was that the trails I rode were in remarkably good shape, the piles of debris from the logging were mostly gone, and the understory was fresh and colorful in the areas that were burned off last spring.

The last time I rode this stretch of Outer Loop in the spring, it had been freshly logged and then burned, leaving a smoldering mess. Now, the trail is clear, the brush is subdued and the the trail surface is excellent.

My ride covered Yucca, what's left of 10 Bridges, Outer Loop, Airport Loop, and the newly built Turn, Turn, Turn. I'm not sure who did the trail work, though the list of usual suspects would include the two generation team of Basil and Basil Hicks or Bryan Shipman. My gratitude goes out to anyone who has done trail work around the central Arkansas. This stuff doesn't just happen! All of the trail surfaces were dry at the time and in great shape. Some stretches were already getting the usual covering of fallen leaves.

Starting near where the old Christmas Tree once stood, I headed west and ran into signage for a new trail,  Turn Turn Turn. I'm guessing that the trail was a couple of miles and, true to its name, it turns, turns, and turns, though it flows pretty well and isn't as raw as I would have thought.

Camp Robinson is a fantastic place to ride, though it has fallen from popular favor for some of the reasons mentioned above and because recent trail work has improved the Burns Park system. That's understandable, but Camp can't be beat for single-track variety, and for opportunities to improve your skills. It's just what many riders need, and what the area needs most to stay good is more riders. I can hear Buddha calling.