Category Archives: Trail Safety

Mountain Biking, Trail Safety, Trail Updates

We’re open for bikes, hikes and walks

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Update July 1st: The park is open along with the Carriage Trail and the upper loop of the Redfield trails. Even though we have experienced a very wet year so far our trails are holding up well. Please consider leaving a donation in Tinman on your way from having a great ride or hike. Thanks!

Update: June 12th:  The upper loop on the Redfield trails is now open. Please DO NOT ride the lower loop as it’s a soggy mess. If you are in a soft spot please get off and walk.  Lichen Rock is now open also.

Update: June 10th: Redfield Trails remain closed. We checked them out Friday and they are still too soft for bike tires. Please respect private land by not riding at this time.

Carriage Trail is now open. There are a few soft spots please get off and walk.

Update: May 29th:  Redfield Trails and Carriage Trail are still closed. We have had so much rain they have not even started to dry out. They were probably drier the end of April than they are now. Please NO BIKES of any kind out there. Hikers are welcome-walk through the puddles and not around them.

These pictures were taken May 27th on the Redfield trails. Please resist…………..

 

 

 

 

 

Update: April 24th: Trails are open for mountain bikes.  We still have a few closed trails and those are clearly marked. Please do not ride the closed trails in the park, Carriage Trail or the Redfield trails as they are still drying out. Thank you.

Update April 22nd: Fat bikes only please. 4″ or wider tires. The banked turns are still very tender. The question we’re hearing is trails seem fine. The trail tread is fine but the banked corners are still sloughing off a little bit. If you hit those fragile corners with a bike tire you will do damage to the corner and means more work for the volunteers to repair. We have some warmer weather coming next week so hopefully the banked corners will finally set up. Thank you.

Update: April 17th: Fat bikes ONLY with 4″ or wider tires. Are bermed corners are still very tender. Please no regular mountain bikes at this time. It would be greatly appreciated by our volunteers.

Update: April 13th: Our trails are slowly drying out. They are in a pretty fragile state right now and we will keep them closed until the dirt firms up a little bit more. PLEASE do not be tempted to ride our trails as you might think they’re dry enough to ride but in reality they really are not. We have some freeze/thaw cycles coming up with some rain which will cause problems with the trail tread. Please respect our hard earned volunteer hours by staying off your bikes in the park. If you really need exercise we would be glad to give you a rake and clean out water drainage’s from last years leaves that have collected in them.

Hikes, Mountain Biking, Observations, PHP in the News, Pine Hill Partnership, Trail Running, Trail Safety, Trail Updates, Trail Work, Uncategorized

Powerlines in the park

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Green Mountain Power will be working on the powerlines in the park this winter. Please DO NOT park at the end of Evergreen Ave starting Tuesday, December 27th till the end of February. GMP will be moving in large machinery and stone and need room to move vehicles.

Mountain bikers be aware on Underdog as GMP will be putting a very large mat down across the trail to move machinery. This will protect the trail.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Hikes, Mountain Biking, Nature Study, Observations, Photos, Pine Hill Partnership, Trail Running, Trail Safety, Trail Updates, Trail Work, Uncategorized

A few sections of trails are now closed for winter

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We have closed Exit Strategy, Lichen Rock(Overlook Trail) and the steep hill on Droopy Muffin between Intersections 30 and 30A. These trails will be closed until spring when ground thaws out and dries out. Please be respectful on the trail closures.

 

 

Mountain Biking, Observations, Photos, Trail Safety, Trail Updates

Please NO Bikes until further notice

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Update: April 13th: Our trails are slowly drying out. They are in a pretty fragile state right now and we will keep them closed until the dirt firms up a little bit more. PLEASE do not be tempted to ride our trails as you might think they’re dry enough to ride but in reality they really are not. We have some freeze/thaw cycles coming up with some rain which will cause problems with the trail tread. Please respect our hard earned volunteer hours by staying off your bikes in the park. If you really need exercise we would be glad to give you a rake and clean out water drainage’s from last years leaves that have collected in them.

Update: April 3rd: We are going into a major thaw cycle this week with rain. The trails are sloppy and we are asking folks with bikes(including fat bikes) to stay off them until further notice. Thanks for your cooperation.

Update March 3rd:  Wish our trails still had snow on them like this photo. However, they do not. We are down to bare ground. Frozen for a day or two then above freezing temps again. Please stay off your bikes on the trails when we are in the thaw part of the cycles. It is greatly appreciated.

Update: February 27th: most of the snow and ice are gone from the trails. We are asking folks to use common sense if temps are above freezing by not riding and doing trail damage. Thank you.

Update February 24th:Trails are just sloppy. It has not been below freezing for 3 nights. No cold weather until late Sunday 2/27 to return the trails to a firm condition.

Trails will be frozen today 2/20 early on before they soften as temperatures rise. Tuesday they will be frozen like a rock with cold temps Monday night. The rest of the week temps are above freezing so trails will be wicked soft not so great for fat bikes.

Update February 16, 2017: Trails are in great shape with snow. Lot’s of ski, snowshoe and fat bike tire traffic. Winterfest is this weekend which will bring more people to the park.

Update January 31, 2017:Trails are covered with packed snow that is basically packed white ice.

Update January 27, 2017:Trails are snow covered with a fair amount of frost upheaval on some trails. Green Mtn Power folks are still replacing telephone poles please be aware of heavy machinery on the trails. For more up to date information on trails please join TrailHUB.org and mark Pine Hill Park as a favorite.

Update January 8, 2017: Studded tires are highly recommended as the trails are pretty icy under the snow.

 

 

Hikes, Mountain Biking, Nature Study, Observations, Pine Hill Partnership, Trail Running, Trail Safety, Trail Updates, Uncategorized

Deer Season is upon us!

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Youth rifle season is the weekend November 5th and 6th.

Full on rifle season is Saturday, November 12th through Sunday, November 27th.

Muzzle loading and archery season runs from Saturday, December 3rd through Sunday December 11th.

There is NO HUNTING ALLOWED in Pine Hill Park.

The Carriage Trail and the Redfield trails are private property.  Owners do allow hunting on their property.

Please be respectful of deer hunters and wear orange.

Mountain Biking, Trail Running, Trail Safety, Trail Updates, Trail Work, Volunteering

Trails are now open!

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Please NO bikes. April 18th update: Trails are open to bikes. Voldemort, Carriage Trails and lower loop on the Redfield trails are still closed. PLEASE RESPECT TRAIL CLOSURES. The rut in this pic was from the past weekend. We just repaired all those drainage’s last week and someone just had to ride through them.

April 14th update: Trails are open to all bikes. Trails that are closed-Underdog, Voldemort, Carriage Trail and Redfield trails. Please respect those trail closures. Thank you for your patience.

April 7th update: Trails are closed to all bikes. We are monitoring the trails daily and they are soft from 3″ of snow last Monday and an 1″ of rain today. Please be patient.

We are closing the trails for a few days with the cold night temps moving in the frost has come in with those temps. Hopefully by the end of the week we will be able to open the trails to mountain bikes.

April 2nd update: Most trails are open today and tomorrow April 2nd and 3rd. Trails will close Sunday at 5pm due to cold weather moving back in. The freeze thaw cycles raise havoc with the trail tread with frost issues. Underdog, part of Droopy, Lichen Rock, Exit Strategy, Voldemort are closed in Pine Hill Park. The Carriage Trail and Redfield trails are closed and will remain closed until we get some significant drying weather.

April 1st update: We are going to open the trails for Saturday and Sunday, April 2nd and 3rd. They will close Sunday late afternoon. The weather is going to get really cold with some snow and we’re trying to protect the trails the best we can. Underdog will be closed to bikes this weekend. Please set Pine Hill Park as a favorite on TrailHUB for up to date information on the trails.

March 31st update: The freeze/thaw cycles are wreaking havoc on the trails.  Please DO NOT ride any type of bike in the park.

Our weather gods do not appear to be cooperating next week to be able to open trails up either.

Here is a very good explanation on why not to ride during freeze/thaw cycles.

Reasons why trails are closed right now

First community work day is Saturday, April 30th at 9AM.

Saturday, March 25th at 10AM there will be a volunteer work day to clean drainage’s and repair ruts left from the bikes last weekend. Meet at front entrance.

Unfortunately we have had to close our trails due to the freeze/thaw cycles we are experiencing. Please be patient while trails dry out and firm back up. No bikes-this includes fat bikes.

 

We opened most of the trail system Thursday, March 17th. Redfield, Carriage Trail and Voldemort are closed to all users(pedestrian, bikes, fat bikes, etc) due to very soft conditions. We would greatly appreciate all your cooperation on staying off these trails.

We have had some vandalism in the park. Pulling ‘you are here’ signs down, cutting small sapling trees along the edge of the trails, plus pulling down trail blazes. If you see vandalism occurring please report the activity to the Rutland Police Dept at  802 773 1820.  If the destruction has already occurred please report it to Rutland Recreation at 773-1822. If you see someone trying to start a fire please call 911 and report it to the police and fire dept. Spring is a nasty time for wildfires. Pine Hill Park is a Rutland City Park, means no fires, no smoking, no camping and pets on a leash.