Ill. MTB'ers & horse riders plan trails

Working together, mountain bikers and horseback riders hope to establish trails within Anna Page Park in Rockford, Illinois, according to the Rockford Register Star newspaper.

An initial plan for multiuse trails at the park was scrapped by the Rockford Park District after it was pointed out that trails shared by bikers and equestrians can be dangerous for members of both user group.

District officials are now considering separate trails determined by a joint committee whose members have "nearly 240 years of mountain bike and horseback experience," the newspaper reported.

Now the plan is to develop a 1.5- to 2-mile mountain bike loop in the park. The trails would be built by volunteers, including mountain bikers on the Rock Cut Trail Crew who built and maintain about 15 miles of mountain bike trails at nearby Rock Cut State Park and 3.5 miles at Espenscheid Forest Preserve.

New horse trail are also planned with a minimal number of intersections between them and the mountain bike trails.

According to the newspaper, the proposed trail plan has sparked interest from ATV riders, who asked about developing a trail near Searls Park.

"We're not horse people or bike people or ATV people," said Jay Sandine, deputy director of operations for the park district. "We're the park district. Everybody pays taxes so we're going to try to help everybody out."