5/16/26 Community Chat

12 attendees, a nice mix of KT staff and board, business and landowners, and avid riders. As we chatted, the parking lots and Wildflower trails were quite busy, including many families and Canadians. It was so nice to see!

ED UPDATES:

•Georgia discussed the investment in new equipment to replace old and broken-down equipment. 

•KT doubled our maintenance investment in East Haven, and IdeRide has been working on resurfacing Lower Black Bear and revamping Stormin' Norman.  Great reviews for Lower Black Bear changes.

•The entire network is open except Kirby Connector and Wilder Way – both have bridges out.

TRAILS UPDATE:

•Drainage work has been stellar and virtually every trail is in fantastic shape. It feels like where we normally are in July. 

•Flying Monkeys just needs more tires on it, which it seemed to get this weekend. 

•The connecting trail for Sugarhouse to Burklyn is starting within a couple weeks. Should be beginner and adaptive friendly. Those trails can be very fun for advanced riders too – like Buttertubs is.

•The DH trail from Sleigh Ride down starting this summer.

•Burnham Down review is ongoing.

•Good N You will have a reroute around the field due to the landowner building a house there. This could result in a nice improvement over the steep and narrow field trail.

•Couple more improvements coming include erosion area on E Branch and and re-route of the Lower Pond Loop. Also some trail renaming for the pond loops in White School to make the area less confusing to navigate.. 

•The bottom of Widowmaker is now open- the broken bridge has been removed and there are stepping stones to cross the ford.

•Village Strider Track upgrades: planned for, but KT is awaiting grant decision.

OTHER UPDATES:

Burke Mtn relationship is very positive. They are working hard on planning more trails, including lower mtn trails for beginners, and working well with KT on Dashney expansion. Burke really has a “rising tide” mentality that improvements there and at KT are complementary and help both orgs. And that expands to all local businesses.

Comment of thanks for pivoting to focus back on trails.

Wildflower Inn has some events coming up – a Hill Farmstead tap takeover, and a disc golf event (the disc golf course has been hugely improved this spring).

QUESTIONS

Q: Are landowner easements being pursued? Those can be tricky. We are always happy to work with landowners on agreements, but many landowners feel that easements can be tricky. It could potentially change to liability protection that landowners currently enjoy. KTA hasn’t had a firm answer on that yet.

Q: Roots and erosion: plans for that? Trail sustainability is a priority, and we are working with landowners on making sure we are doing that. Some trails we’ll use a lighter touch to keep the “old school” feel, while others can be more of a rebuild. KT takes our cue from Landowners and their needs/wants for their land.

Volunteer Days have been great. Special thanks to everyone who came out, and that includes Wednesday Women’s Ride volunteers. KT added weeknight volunteer opportunities this year and that has been well-received. We also had 2 group from St J Academy come out for Sophomore Stewardship Day. Thandks to the Academy for including KT again.

Q: Parking areas? There will be a new parking area on South Darling Hill Rd with a trail added that will link up to Culvert Cut. Burke also keen on hosting KT parking in their lots.

Q: Could we widen bridge on Millie’s Way that leads over to Trillium area? Trail crew will consider.

Q: Could we review the parking sign at the logging area as you come into East Burke from the south? It will be reviewed. It is confusing.

Q: Could we post our Trail Guiding Principles on web site? Yes.

Q: Will the Kingdom Connector shuttle be back? Not likely, ridership wasn’t sufficient. Perhaps there will be another solution, KT will keep in mind.

Q: It would be nice to have a water source on trail, maybe at Dashney?

KT’s new Office Manager, Ilan Weitzen discussed his plan for revamping the web site and asked for feedback from public. Please contact him anytime ilan@kingdomtrails.org.

Ilan and Kara Dunn are sprucing up the area in front of the Welcome Center. Should be a nice meeting spot and place for a mid-ride snack.

TRAILFORKS will be the app of record for trail reports.