CRAMBA: Addison Oaks

[c0nsumer]

Any additional information about the Lake George connector? Is it easy to find & well-marked? We would much rather ride from Bald Mountain to Addison on trails than roads.

It's very easy to find. It's an obvious gate/hole in the fence at the intersection of Lake George and Indian Lake Roads. You'll have to ride a little bit of Lake George to connect the two, but nowhere near as much dirt road as before.

[utabintarbo]

Stony was beautiful, so I rolled in from the fence off of Lake George last evening and pulled out after the first 2 track... it's not draining well at all. Please avoid until we get a few days of no rain.

Unfortunately, when the water table rises (Buhl lake is pretty high this year, much like 2 years ago), Addison suffers disproportionately. Once it drops, (likely early May this year) the clay will dry, and it will be pretty nice, and will likely stay good until Winter.

We got spoiled last year.

[paynful]

Stony was beautiful, so I rolled in from the fence off of Lake George last evening and pulled out after the first 2 track... it's not draining well at all. Please avoid until we get a few days of no rain.

Unfortunately, when the water table rises (Buhl lake is pretty high this year, much like 2 years ago), Addison suffers disproportionately. Once it drops, (likely early May this year) the clay will dry, and it will be pretty nice, and will likely stay good until Winter.

We got spoiled last year.

Yup... I was amazed that it was rideable the weekend before?!!

[utabintarbo]

Will we get the access from the Lake George Rd? Doing Bald Mountain and Addison Oaks without hitting much of the gravel road would be nice.

That's already baked in. If you look at the Trail Day Facebook page, you will see what the new entrances look like.

BTW, the rain the past few days have really hit the trails hard the past few days, such that I was contacted by the OCP to let everyone know that the trails are officially CLOSED for the time being. Given the relative crawl at which Addison drains in the Spring, you can figure at least a week to get some semblance of structural integrity back on the trails. As always, stay tuned for updates.

[lawn dart]

BTW, the rain the past few days have really hit the trails hard the past few days, such that I was contacted by the OCP to let everyone know that the trails are officially CLOSED for the time being. Given the relative crawl at which Addison drains in the Spring, you can figure at least a week to get some semblance of structural integrity back on the trails. As always, stay tuned for updates.

*banghead* I wish I had read this post before heading out today.
Yes, Addison still has a lot of places that are draining. Much of the trail is in fine shape, but there are areas where frost layers are still melting and soaking large sections of trail. It makes the going very slow and not fun. We tried our best to work around the obviously wet areas, but only found more wet, soft, gooey, spongy, sloppy earth.
With all that said, the trail is not all that heavily rutted, but there are few reasonable optional lines, so best to avoid for now.

There is a BIG tree with lots of debris down at about 1 mile, another at around 2 miles, 1 or 2 more that will require a dismount, and lots of smaller bits that can be ridden over.

You can see where lots of great trail work has been done, so (a little later) this year Addison Oaks should be in rare form.

[lawn dart]

Also, the connector from Lake George Road is soo obvious it is almost comical. I was expecting a long trek through the woods, but it's not that at all. Probably 10-15 feet from the road to the trail. *thumbsup*

[wspfan]

Rode last night and was near perfect EXCEPT the last 20' of 2 track along Lk. George. Was still a little moist there, but bike was clean. All but that section were either summer dry or fast and tacky. The moist section was pretty tore up.

First ride of the season there was a good one!

[Rock N' Rolla]

My first Addison ride of the year. I came in off of Lake George. The trail was awesome at 4pm Tacky and fast. One spot was muddy but it was hardening up well. I didnt sink . It look as though the park drove a tractor over it to mat down some ruts.Came up on Pauly on the Bridge, he was replacing some planks.Nice meeting you Sir. I passed another rider on my 2nd lap as i was back tracking to see where to pick up this re-rount( it was firm and dry).
From the tracks, it looks like you enter the re-route from the horse trail? I came at it from the two track from Lk Grg.
Also Is there another re-route in the works? I saw some crushed gravel on what lookeed like an incomplete section to the left of the trail before the 5.5 mile marker.Hopefully, I'll get out there again tomorrow morning before work in the afternoon.

[lawn dart]

Addison is definitely ready for Prime Time. No standing water anywhere on the trail this evening, just 4-5 areas of "taffy".

Watch for a 5" leaning tree at about 3 1/2 mile and a couple of helmet slappers.

There has been continuing work done on the trail, all for the better. The lines in many corners are opening up a bit. Very fun!

[utabintarbo]

Have you guys tried the re-route at the end of the Lake George 2-track, or just turn left onto the connector? I ask because the park opened up the fence there, but didn't change the signage yet.

[lawn dart]

I rode the re-route backwards (missed the "entrance"), then turned around and rode it the correct way. It is still pretty raw. And soft in the grassy areas. But it should be pretty fun and fast once a line starts to develop.

On the second lap I made a point of remembering where the re-route entrance was... and STILL missed it. It really needs a sign.

[utabintarbo]

Addison is very nice right now. With the exception of a few face-slappers, it is just about perfect.

[utabintarbo]

My wife Rita and I rode Addison Oaks on Sunday and for first time did the connector route down lake George Rd. to Bald Mountain. Fantastic that Addison Oaks put in that gate which is at approximately 3 miles from trail head. Total miles for both trails including connector is approximately 16.5 miles. A great ride.
Yes, there were some annoying face slappers and I got rid of some with my trusty little saw and clippers.
Rick

Thanks for the trimming! Please record the time here, as every hour we put into the trails helps us justify more and better trails with the Land Managers.

[c0nsumer]

The Addison Oaks Connector West Entrance Bypass at Addison Oaks is now open and has some temporary signage up on it. After hanging the signs today I grabbed some photos, and I wanted to share them here so people can find (and ride) this new piece of trail. This is found after the shared horse/bike two track paralleling Lake George, continuing straight instead of turning left on to the crushed limestone path.

I also collected the GIS data necessary to update the map, and this will be done shortly.

Click each picture to embiggen:

Looking down the two track in the direction of travel, the new trail is ahead and slightly on the right:


Ride through this opening in the split rail fence, following the yellow sign, and you'll be on the new route.


Turn left after passing through this next piece of split rail fence, as the sign illustrates.


Turn right down this new piece of single track. You can see the connector trail ahead in the distance.


Temporary signpost, along with the new piece of single track leading past the Cell Phone Tower. Ride down here, then continue straight and you'll be back on the old / familiar route.


Bob / utabintarbo scalping a line in the grass to help illustrate the new route.

[Sortaslow]

Thanks guys. Thus will help a lot! I'm one of the dumbies that missed the connector. Usually, I see these things.