parks and recreation advisory board

Hike vs. bike: Council will likely let them ride

Senior citizens who enjoy quiet but challenging hikes are only accommodated in one place in Charlottesville and all of Albemarle County, according to former mayor Kay Slaughter. And that’s Ragged Mountain Natural Area, where three out of five city councilors say mountain biking and trail running should be allowed—which would make the vicinity a little less peaceful.

“Ragged Mountain is one of two natural areas,” says Slaughter, who has been hiking there since the trail system was completed in the late ’90s. “For those who want [them], more than 70 miles of bicycle trails currently exist in other county and city parks.”

Several people voiced the same grievances at a December 5 City Council meeting, in which the public heard the first of two readings of a draft ordinance to lift the ban on biking and running at Ragged Mountain and 35 signed up to comment. A conclusion to the ongoing controversy draws nearer—the final reading is scheduled for December 19.

Dave Hirschman, chairman of the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, says his group has spent some time hiking and boating at Ragged Mountain—“not biking or taking any dogs, of course”—and consulting with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s natural heritage program.

“One of the things that some of the board members pointed out is that even though there are various opinions, there’s a great deal of common ground,” he said. “When it did come time to take votes, there was one unanimous vote, and that was to allow hiking, trail running, fishing and boats with electric motors or no motors.”

However, he said opinions varied on details of the proposed ordinance and the board decided on a few limitations: To the extent possible, the trails for hiking and mountain biking should be separate, though all biking trails should also be open for hiking. On very narrow and steep single track trails, there should be no shared use. And biking should not be allowed from the natural area’s dam to the pontoon bridge nor around the southwest corner of the property.

The last restriction is troubling to those in the mountain biking community, which wants the ability to bike an entire loop around Ragged Mountain’s perimeter.

President of the Charlottesville Area Mountain Bike Club Sam Lindblom says allowing bikers in the southern area near the floating bridge would disperse them away from the majority of hikers who may not want to be in the same vicinity as the cyclists. He submitted a CAMBC-approved shared-use map to council for consideration.

“It makes sense to allow cyclists to quickly move towards the west and south side trails where only a small percentage of walkers will venture to,” he wrote in an accompanying letter, adding that without a loop trail, bikers will be restricted to the northeast corner where the majority of hikers concentrate. Hikers rarely use the floating bridge, he says, because it’s a long hike from the parking lot, next to the noisy interstate and down a steep gravel road that could be designed safer for bikers.

Former mayor Slaughter says this southern area is also an “ecological hot spot,” an area of great concern for the plant populations, which a city-ordered biostudy previously noted. Though it seems like bike approval at Ragged Mountain is a foregone conclusion, she says a landscape architect should have a hand in mapping which trails will support shared-use.

“I don’t think I should come in and design the trails, either,” she says. “I think it’s arrogant for any group to think they can do that. I believe that it should be a professional with some kind of oversight from people who have looked at this long and hard.

See full map below. Click to enlarge.

If approved, hikers and bikers will have access to 13 miles of trails at Ragged Mountain Natural Area. City of Charlottesville

Bikes in, dogs out at Ragged Mountain

In a 6-2 vote, the Charlottesville Parks & Recreation Advisory Board recommended on October 19 that City Council allow biking on some trails at Ragged Mountain Natural Area, but some sports enthusiasts still have their concerns about the endorsement.

Dave Stackhouse, an advocate for shared use of the trails, says he’s disappointed the board recommended no bikes in the southeast and southwest corners of the natural area because of its “unsuitable terrain” and a desire to protect sensitive areas.

“Terrain can be handled with good trail design, which is needed anyway,” he says. “And bikes wouldn’t cause any more difficulty or damage than hikers in the southwest corner. Plus, those areas being closest to I-64 won’t be peaceful for hikers, so why not have them as shared-use?”

Shared-use in this area, he says, would allow bikers to complete a loop around the site by riding across a floating bridge.

At the meeting, a series of motions led to the parks & rec board’s recommendation, beginning with a unanimous vote to not lift the natural area’s prohibition on dogs and to allow trail-running, hiking, fishing and non-motorized boats.

Cyclists, runners and dogs have been banned from Ragged Mountain since it opened as a natural area in 1999. Multiple meetings on the controversial topic have been highly attended.

“City Council still needs to decide this, so we’re concerned what the trail plan and what the specifics of the ordinance will be,” Stackhouse says. “We expect the hiker-only vocal minority to continue to exaggerate the impact of bikes and we expect them to speak strongly against shared-use during the public comment portion when the matter is before City Council.”

The planning commission will make its own recommendation November 9, before City Council ultimately decides on the fate of Ragged Mountain, which could happen as early as December.

“The purity of the water should be the main issue,” says Afton resident Cathy Clary, “especially with all the different water controversies that are bubbling up all over the nation.”

Those advocating against allowing bikes and dogs on the property have long cited the environmental effects of doing so.

About the bikers, Clary says, “They want to do what they want to do and they don’t want to accept the fact that what they want to do has negative consequences.”

She adds, “You’ve gotta draw the line somewhere. I would hope that the public interest would trump—if you’ll forgive me—these individual private interests.”