While low-lying areas definitely took a hit in the June 20 flood, offroad motorcyclists are relieved their single-track riding trails at McLean Creek survived largely unaffected.
Cochrane’s Jamie Kromrey, a director with the Rocky Mountain Dirt Riders Association, says he’s surveyed the popular offroad mecca at McLean Creek Public Land Use Zone and is buoyed by how well trails held up.
“As far as the trails go, they fared pretty well,” he said of single-track trails with names like Elbow Lookout, Swany’s and Johnny Two Skidoos. “For the most part, there’s really no impact at all to them.”
Obviously, once the water hit the valley bottom, it did some damage. Trail infrastructure, like wooden bridges over water courses and engineered wooden matting placed on top of damp low-lying areas to prevent erosion, did get shunted out of place by the force of the torrent. But his club’s volunteers are already at McLean reinstalling the infrastructure to maintain the integrity of the trail network.
“They got washed down the stream a bit. We’re just going to pick them up and put them back.”
His club designs and maintains single-track offroad motorcycle trails to specifications outlined by the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council. The trails are created to support offroad motorcycle use while providing adequate drainage to ensure massive weather events like those of June 18-21 don’t wipe the trails off the map.
Kromrey said his club has been working closely with provincial-government officials on a comprehensive trail plan that will accommodate responsible offroad motorcycle use on properly-engineered trails.
Given the McLean Creek single-track trail network’s endurance in the force of last week’s weather, the partnership appears to be working well.
“The damage on the trail network in McLean Creek doesn’t seem to be that substantial,” said Alberta Parks area manager Mike Roycroft, who manages the Canmore Nordic Centre and chairs the Kananaskis Trail Advisory Group. “There are certainly washouts in certain areas, but the trail system doesn’t seem to be as impacted as in other areas of Kananaskis Country.”
The club’s annual cross-country race at Fallen Timber in the Ghost/Waiparous Public Land Use Zone, has been moved from July 14 to August 17-18.
