By all accounts, California’s China Camp State Park is a great place for beginners to grasp the basics of mountain biking, without sacrificing any of the experience. The Shoreline Trail’s wide, smooth singletrack gently rises into the famed Marin hills, and provides sweeping views of the San Pablo Bay below.
The trail is one of the few legal stretches of singletrack in Northern California’s Marin County and its historic setting and stunning scenery earned it recognition as one of the best places for beginners to try out the sport in the June 2012 issue of Bicycling Magazine. That story, which I wrote, came with a disclaimer: Due to state budget cuts China Camp is scheduled to close in July.
Parks Under the Ax
Last summer, the California State Park department declared a plan to shutter 70 of its 279 parks. The department, facing a $33 million budget gap over the next two years, deemed the park closures an unfortunate consequence of a state economy in crisis.
In Marin County, four of six parks were slated to close, and in the adjacent Diablo Vista park district, nine of 12 parks were put on notice. Perhaps most troubling to mountain bikers, the Diablo Vista district’s 5,000-acre Annadel State Park and its 45 miles of cherished singletrack also appeared on the state’s closure list.
“The last year has been a bit of an adventure,” says Danita Rodriguez, who oversees both the Marin and Diablo Vista park districts. “We’re trained and experienced at managing open parks, not closing them.”
Fire danger and illegal activities in the closed parks are obvious potential issues. “At first, the State told us they would save enough money closing the parks to pay people to patrol them,” says Greg Fisher, the editor of regional cycling publication Bike Monkey, who is leading the two-wheeled charge to keep Annadel open. “Then, they considered allowing people to use the park’s trails, without continuing to manage them.”
That option gives Fisher pause. He envisions an apocalyptic park overtaken by marijuana growers and vagrant inhabitants creating fire hazards. “Annadel is a giant urban park with multiple access points,” he says. “It’s like a front-country wilderness.” In southern California, already closed,- but- unsecured, parks have fallen victim to thousands of dollars worth of vandalism and theft.
Saving the Singletrack
Fortunately, says Fisher, Annadel may not suffer such a fate. The local Santa Rosa and Sonoma County park departments agreed to take over management for the next five years. Though Fisher worries the local government’s takeover of Annadel isn’t a long-term solution, he sees a silver lining amidst the lagging California economy and stress on the State Park department’s budget.
For years, Fisher has lobbied for a race at Annadel. But with the park on the brink of closure, and new management at the helm, officials finally welcomed the event, and the accompanying financial boost.
So, in 2011 Fisher revived the historic Rockhopper race at Annadel. The event’s roots date back to the early Eighties, when the race featured some of mountain biking’s earliest stars, including Joe Murray, Tom Ritchey, and Jacquie Phelan. The 2012 race is slated for August 18.
China Camp appears to be nearing a positive resolution, as well. A nonprofit organization, Friends of China Camp, is submitting a plan to take over operations. That agreement proposes that the Marin County Bicycle Coalition, the area’s primary mountain- bike advocacy group, maintain the trail system and charge users a fee. The model is based after Camp Tamarancho, a popular privately owned singletrack network in Marin County. A ride on Tamarancho’s 9-mile loop costs $5.
“When we proposed a fee model for trail use at China Camp, 90 percent of the mountain bikers we talked to said they’d be willing to pay,” says Tom Boss, the coalition’s membership director and a frequent rider at China Camp.
If the MCBC is granted operation of China Camp’s trail system, the park will remain one of the country’s premier destinations for new riders, and according to Boss, may grow to include more technical trails—tempting those mountain bikers who don’t back down from a challenge.
Ian Dille is a freelance writer and producer based in Austin, Texas. He tells stories about bikes, and other things, too.
