Saturday, April 13, 2013

River Highlands State Park


Date: April 13, 2013
Report Type: TA Report
Trail Name: River Highlands State Park
Town: Cromwell
Trail Conditions: Pretty good
Observations/Information: Brother and I rode River Highlands Saturday afternoon. We knew it would be dry and it was. Trails were in decent shape but some sticks and twigs are down due to recent wind. There's a new large tree across yellow, near the top of the first benching. Too big to ride over but no big deal to portage. Also still a tree across green near the RR tracks. Sidewinder is clear and riding well. There was a large group of doggers in the park (see photo).

There's been some recent gnome activity on the northern end of the park. A new trail and a jump line alongside the carriage road on the last hill leading down to the fence. The trail has been flagged and is obviously being ridden but they didn't bother to rake it or trim back the trees- call it a flag and ride. It's not fall line and is far from the worse gnome trail I've seen.

River Highlands is a tough place to maintain because every time the wind blows a new collection of stuff falls out of the tres, including possibly the trees themselves. And the place has the look of battlefield with as many trees fallen as still standing. Many still standing are bowed over as if supplicants to some god of the trees. The severe weather events of the past few years, starting with Snowtober 2011, have badly stressed them and they continue to fall.

Trail Ambassador Name: Glenn Vernes
Trail Ambassador E-mail: glennvernesatgeemaildotcom
How did you use the trail? MT Biking
Trails Ridden: Green, yellow, red, white, blue, unmarked
Time of day: Afternoon
Time/Duration (hours): 1.5 hours
Approximate Distance (Miles): 7 miles
Images/Photos: BlowWads41313 003.JPG
2nd image: BlowWads41313 004.JPG
3rd Image:
4th Image:

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