At the invitation of the park, the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) Trail Care Crew recently made their way to the Chickasaw National Recreation Area. On Saturday, March 6, 2010, the Subaru/IMBA Trail Care Crew led by Chris and Leslie Kehmeier provided both classroom instruction and on-the-ground training in support of bike trails in Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Leslie Kehmeier stated that the number of participants “was one of the largest we've had in our 8 months of traveling."
The Trail Building School was attended by park staff, bike club members, equestrians and other interested citizens from throughout the state all interested in learning more about maintaining the trails open to users in the park. Participants traveled from as far away as Edmond and Tulsa for this hands-on learning experience. Following some classroom work the weekend's trail building activities focused on a series of projects along the Rock Creek multi-use trail. Rock armoring, re-routes, and maintenance were conducted along several hundred yards of trail. By the end of the day the revitalized trail had already seen traffic by equestrian and mountain bike riders.
Park Superintendent Bruce Noble hiked the trail as the work progressed, and visited with the volunteers. “This kind of hands-on stewardship better connects park visitors to the resource they are using," said Noble. “If we can work with IMBA and other partner organizations to develop our trail infrastructure, the potential for improved mountain biking use at Chickasaw National Recreation Area is very favorable," he added.
Photographs of the event and more information about the Rock Creek multi-use trail system can be found on the park’s website.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
