National Parks Traveler

Like Lee, many (most?) of my interactions with bicycles in multi-use areas have been negative. And I'm not talking about whether they disturbed my commune with nature - a purely subjective view that would be irrelevant to this argument. I label them as negative because I feel like if I hadn't been at peak attentiveness my saftey would be compromised.

Thanks for the thought-provoking piece. Like many, my first reaction is I don't want mountain bikes on the trails in my favorite National Park - the Smokies. I can see them in some other parks, but not "in my backyard." After all, the Smokies are surrounded by National Forests with ample mountain biking opportunities, right? Then I paused to consider the many individaul trails in the Smokies.

I know that my perspective on this is very limited, because the only interactions I've had with cyclists on trails have been locally in the mountains around Ogden, Utah. Many -- perhaps even most -- of my encounters with bikes on trails have not been good ones. But that may be because the people riding on these trails are city folks. Many of the worst seem to be teenagers.

Thanks for the well written opinion. I cherish our National Parks, and I very much enjoy mountain biking. The two are not inherently incompatible. The key is to fit the trail to the park, not the other way around. Done right, mountain bike trails are a plus to the park. Done wrong, they detract from the experience of others.

Attacks on parks began as soon as Yellowstone was proposed, way back when. They will never end.

I don't understand the purpose behind this bill. Are hunting, fishing and recreational shooting are on the decline due to a lack of access? I don't think this is the case, so I don't see how opening more land to these activities will even address the stated problem.

From the article, it's hard to judge whether the bill is a practical threat to current NPS no-hunting rules or instead something that the NPCA has seized on as a bogeyman for fundraising purposes.

Hey, Eric, what took you so long?! Winners Circle stalwarts are expected to check in early. ;o)

Welcome back, richp39. The Winners Circle is getting crowded.

Connier has nailed it. Good job.

Caprice Kutz and viewmtn have figured it out. No surprise there. Welcome back to the Winners Circle.

Not Denali National Park.

Denali National Park?

I think that's an excellent idea. It's one that my bicycle-oriented friends and I have bandied about, particularly those of us who don't have kids who might (in theory, and probably in our wishful thinking only) look after us, i.e., those of us who run a higher risk of being alone in old age.

Actually, Bob, in the mid-1990s I rented a mountain bike from a bike shop in Fairbanks, Alaska. When I asked what the two metal hooks on the handlebars were for, the shop employee explained that that was my gunrack. Bears, you know. He was entirely matter-of-fact about it.