Dead Cow closed by NPS

MrGreedom

MrGreedom

Well-Known Member
https://corbamtb.com/news/2020/03/0...UYsUVkI66F579HvfokkOewtFc3Mrup1dOk2z5SyP5iJxI

The National Park Service has closed Dead Cow trail in the Cheseboro area of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. They also closed an illegally constructed trail in the vicinity, that had its own safety concerns and negative impacts to the area.

Dead Cow has been gradually degrading over the years, making it one of the more technical trails on National Park Service land. It is also in dire need of maintenance and safety improvements. When an uptick in injuries and accidents was seen over the last year, NPS rangers attention was drawn to the area. They inspected Dead Cow trail and discovered the unauthorized trail in the vicinity.

This closure is the direct result of a few rogue mountain bikers, who, without concern for the impact of their actions or its repercussions for the mountain biking community, illegally constructed a trail in the vicinity of Dead Cow.
 
MrGreedom said:
https://corbamtb.com/news/2020/03/0...UYsUVkI66F579HvfokkOewtFc3Mrup1dOk2z5SyP5iJxI

The National Park Service has closed Dead Cow trail in the Cheseboro area of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. They also closed an illegally constructed trail in the vicinity, that had its own safety concerns and negative impacts to the area.

Dead Cow has been gradually degrading over the years, making it one of the more technical trails on National Park Service land. It is also in dire need of maintenance and safety improvements. When an uptick in injuries and accidents was seen over the last year, NPS rangers attention was drawn to the area. They inspected Dead Cow trail and discovered the unauthorized trail in the vicinity.

This closure is the direct result of a few rogue mountain bikers, who, without concern for the impact of their actions or its repercussions for the mountain biking community, illegally constructed a trail in the vicinity of Dead Cow.
Click to expand...
That sucks donkey balls. DC itself isn't that bad, the more techy it got, the more fun it was. I hope the illegal trail builders have been identified and penalized.
 
I wonder if the illegal trail is connected to Dead Cow, or if they're referring to Back Door that runs more or less parallel to Bones. That's "vicinity", and seems a likely candidate for a shutdown if they're looking for illegal trails, though not sure how that would come up in a search of Dead Cow.

Edit: Just looked on Trailforks, and it says rangers were ticketing people coming out of Back Door, but that was back in early Feb.
 
Last edited:
'Back door' and 'Bones' have both been shut down by NPS. There are signs at the top and bottom of both trails that mention this. When I rode Dead Cow last weekend, it was open to the public. My guess is that buggravy is correct and the trail referenced in the article is most likely 'bones' and not Dead Cow. Dead Cow is an officially recognized trail per the NPS 'aka China Flat Trail' so it would be weird for it to be closed.
 
ndocpjf said:
'Back door' and 'Bones' have both been shut down by NPS. There are signs at the top and bottom of both trails that mention this. When I rode Dead Cow last weekend, it was open to the public. My guess is that buggravy is correct and the trail referenced in the article is most likely 'bones' and not Dead Cow. Dead Cow is an officially recognized trail per the NPS 'aka China Flat Trail' so it would be weird for it to be closed.
Click to expand...
Yeah, weird that Dead Cow would be closed, but not the gnarlier Suicide, based on the stated reasons. Wasn't Bones called Dead Cow at one time (or it got the name Bones because of a cow skeleton on the trail, but the name Dead Cow was already taken)? Wouldn't be surprising if the article just got them confused. I really hate to hear that Bones is closed too. Hopefully that's temporary.
 
buggravy said:
Yeah, weird that Dead Cow would be closed, but not the gnarlier Suicide, based on the stated reasons. Wasn't Bones called Dead Cow at one time (or it got the name Bones because of a cow skeleton on the trail, but the name Dead Cow was already taken)? Wouldn't be surprising if the article just got them confused. I really hate to hear that Bones is closed too. Hopefully that's temporary.
Click to expand...

Interestingly enough, Suicide is marked as a trail on the NPS map of Cheeseboro.
 
buggravy said:
Yeah, weird that Dead Cow would be closed, but not the gnarlier Suicide, based on the stated reasons. Wasn't Bones called Dead Cow at one time (or it got the name Bones because of a cow skeleton on the trail, but the name Dead Cow was already taken)? Wouldn't be surprising if the article just got them confused. I really hate to hear that Bones is closed too. Hopefully that's temporary.
Click to expand...
IIRC, this is true. Pretty sure that the first time I rolled down Bones, decades ago, it was called Dead Cow.

And if that is correct, why is the current Dead Cow trail called Dead Cow? Perhaps there was a skeleton there, too? Heck with all the sulfur springs in the area and high radon levels nearby, perhaps the area is bad for cows? :eek:
 
MrGreedom said:
https://corbamtb.com/news/2020/03/0...UYsUVkI66F579HvfokkOewtFc3Mrup1dOk2z5SyP5iJxI

The National Park Service has closed Dead Cow trail in the Cheseboro area of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. They also closed an illegally constructed trail in the vicinity, that had its own safety concerns and negative impacts to the area.

Dead Cow has been gradually degrading over the years, making it one of the more technical trails on National Park Service land. It is also in dire need of maintenance and safety improvements. When an uptick in injuries and accidents was seen over the last year, NPS rangers attention was drawn to the area. They inspected Dead Cow trail and discovered the unauthorized trail in the vicinity.

This closure is the direct result of a few rogue mountain bikers, who, without concern for the impact of their actions or its repercussions for the mountain biking community, illegally constructed a trail in the vicinity of Dead Cow.
Click to expand...
It sounds like the blame should go toward those in over their heads.
 
UPSed said:
The illegal trail in question is off Bones.
Click to expand...
buggravy said:
Shenanigans going on in the Cheese. Can you please handle this, Mr. Mayor.
Click to expand...
Apparently there has been numerous accidents resulting in injuries on Bones so when the NPS was there inspecting the trail they noticed the illegal trail that fingers off near the top. Unfortunately there are a lot of clueless people out there that think they can dig wherever they want.
 
Last edited:
tick said:
So @SnakeCharmer reports that the ebike restrictions are gone, then 15 minutes later we get a report that the technical trails are closed.

Um, not surprised....

Calling all SHARE, Rock & Road, and Path peeps—-this is totally predictable. Come to your senses now or stock up on road bikes.
Click to expand...
And Laguna Cyclery and The BikeCo and Pro Bike Supply and Cyclelogical and Jenson and...
 
Rumpled said:
Let me get this straight, Rangers find an illegal trail so also close the legal trail near it?
Makes sense, am I right?
Click to expand...
It makes perfect sense. In 1989, the USFS closed Poopout Hill Road over by San gorgonio. The meadows at the top of the road were being trampled, and closing the road made them a 2 mile hike to reach. This is the same thing.

I’m not saying that I’m happy about it, just that a rational trail manager would do exactly what they did.
 
Dead cow is the trail from the saddle pass between Palo and Cheeseboro cyns. It was originally a road that was abandoned when they put in Palo fire road. The range cattle still used it because it was the easiest way between the canyons. The NPS moved the top of the connector trail from the original saddle pass to a second saddle due south where it is today. By then the range cattle were gone but the cow trail kept its unique shape, not really unique but it is to cyclists. 18 inch wide bottom with high sides, because cattle follow the leader when it comes to climbing and they all stay on the same line.

Dead cow road is the old road up to China Flat before the Palo fire road. It was a rutted 4 wheel drive road into the late 80s. When they destroyed north ranch valley with megga homes for the stars we lost access to the 4X road and it turned into the stair step path of today.

The "illegally constructed" trail at the top of the saddle has always been there. It was a spur road off the original Dead Cow trail road. It follows the ridge out towards the gas pipe line. The NPS used it as a gathering point when they removed all of the barbed wire on the property, there was a lot of wire out there as there were many land owners and they all fenced their range to keep other cattle out. It was coll, each bundle had a numbered tag, there was many ages of wire too, some well over 100 years old.

It would be a shame to loose Dead Cow trail as it was a fun jump into Palo and a fire road climb back to the saddle.
It will be missed and soon overgrown if the trail is closed.
happy trails
 
da big hills said:
Dead cow is the trail from the saddle pass between Palo and Cheeseboro cyns. It was originally a road that was abandoned when they put in Palo fire road. The range cattle still used it because it was the easiest way between the canyons. The NPS moved the top of the connector trail from the original saddle pass to a second saddle due south where it is today. By then the range cattle were gone but the cow trail kept its unique shape, not really unique but it is to cyclists. 18 inch wide bottom with high sides, because cattle follow the leader when it comes to climbing and they all stay on the same line.

Dead cow road is the old road up to China Flat before the Palo fire road. It was a rutted 4 wheel drive road into the late 80s. When they destroyed north ranch valley with megga homes for the stars we lost access to the 4X road and it turned into the stair step path of today.

The "illegally constructed" trail at the top of the saddle has always been there. It was a spur road off the original Dead Cow trail road. It follows the ridge out towards the gas pipe line. The NPS used it as a gathering point when they removed all of the barbed wire on the property, there was a lot of wire out there as there were many land owners and they all fenced their range to keep other cattle out. It was coll, each bundle had a numbered tag, there was many ages of wire too, some well over 100 years old.

It would be a shame to loose Dead Cow trail as it was a fun jump into Palo and a fire road climb back to the saddle.
It will be missed and soon overgrown if the trail is closed.
happy trails
Click to expand...
Thanks for the history lesson. :thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top