Trail Map and Latest News

Shutes Branch trail building has generally ended.  Now what to do?  Improve some corners and improve lines - of course!!!  We'll be setting up some fun days of trail improvements soon, so we can make a great trail even better. 

Wet weather - please don't mud ride.  We don't have much soil to begin with, and mud riding makes it even less by promoting erosion.  If it's wet, take a hike.  Shutes is awesome for hiking.  It's so much different at a walking pace.  And bring your dog.  Just make sure to clean up after them if something gets worked loose by the hike :o)

Grand Opening Event a Success!!!

This past weekend, about 40 folks showed up for a grand opening sponsored by the US Army Corps of Engineers (COE) to celebrate the final trail building for the Shutes Branch MTB Trail.  This past spring, we finished cutting new trail - finally after 5 years of hard work. 

The Grand Opening started with some works from former Ranger Crystal Tingle (now Natural Resources Manager) and followed by some words from the person responsible for starting this project - Tommy Hatcher and from the person who finished it - myself - Steve Capps.   My right hand man - Eric Fisher was speechless after a late arrival from a vacation.

The trail started as an idea from some rangers to use the abandoned campground property for a mountain bike trail.  Tommy was contacted via Patrick Flowers (formerly w/ the Bike Pedaler).  The first part started as a mowed path through the open areas of the old campground - the beginners section was born.  After the fist section was cleared, organized trail building efforts were started via posts on the local forum - Nashville Mountain Bike - aka NMB (now called Tennessee Mountain Bike http://tennesseemountainbike.com/board/forum.php ).   The work was done by volunteers from the area as well as a few from farther away, including Clarksville, Murfreesboro, and Bowling Green, KY.  The local Middle Tennessee SORBA chapter also helped, especially by the use of their tool trailer.  Other tools - including the now famous Weed Wrenches - were loaned to us from the COE.  Over 2000 man-hours provided by more than 120 people over a 5 year period were needed to layout, cut, and most importantly - maintain the trail.  Without the support of the local biking community, this trail would not exist!  And we thank all that have helped out over the years.

The following is a link to a video produced by the COE's Amy Redmond (former Ranger) as well as a scan of the certificate of appreciation presented to the FOSB.   Another link shows some photos from the day's activities from the TN-MB forum.

http://youtu.be/MeIeZR4dQHE

http://tennesseemountainbike.com/board/showthread.php?15164-Shutes-Branch-Grand-Opening-(Nov-3)-plus-some-trail-work-in-Sept&p=127332#post127332

A special thanks goes out to Bikers Choice (Hendersonville and Mt Juliet), Swiftwick Socks, and Ride615 (Hermitage) for donating prizes that were given away during the cookout that followed this fun day of riding, socializing, and being recognized for the good that this loose-knit group of awesome people have done for our community - the Friends of Shutes Branch MTB Trail.

We have 2 work days planned - the first one is on the Sept 22 and also on the following Saturday, the 29th. The 22nd is a general maintenance and corner improvement work day. The 27th is National Public Lands Day. The NPLD is sponsored by the COE and they will provide lunch. Both days will start at 8:30 and end around 12:00 to 12:30 The reason for 2 work days is that several of the regulars can't come out on the 27th, so we thought we would get a little done a head of schedule. I think that Skoby (Mike) will be the host for the 29th.


And the BIG EVENT - NO TRAIL WORK THIS DAY

Saturday November 3 - we'll be having our official GRAND OPENING w/ a ribbon cutting ceremony. We currently have a couple of shops lined up for some give-a-ways and hope to have a few more. We'll also have some fun stuff and group rides. We hope to have a bunch of folks that helped to come out and socialize and ride. The COE will have cake and drinks. And the Friends of Shutes Branch will have a cookout in the early afternoon. More details to come.

Steve

Trail Updates: New Map and E-Mail Address

Here's the latest map - hope to get some posted up by the end of the week. 

And Shutes now has an E-Mail address: ShutesMTB@gmail.com

Please us this to let us know of any trees on the trail or any other info requests.

Steve

Latest Map and the End of a Successful Season!

Here's a draft of the trail map. I'll put together a better one soon. The new stuff is in the campground inner circle and what we built this season is in red. This newest trail is about 1.1 miles long.  We have a little space to extend the trail a little more and exit a little farther down the road.   And, another of the old abandoned bathhouses got painted at yesterday's trail work day.   Should have been there - we had "real" burgers - YUM!!!  
Thanks to all the trail workers this year - with out you, this place would not be the awesome place to ride or walk in the woods that it has become.

Steve and Eric

We're Nearing Completion of the Trail

We're entering the 5th year of the Friends of Shutes Branch MTB Trail!   And we're finally about done.  We have two workdays scheduled - this Saturday March 3 and April 7 - also a Saturday.  There is a lot of new trail marked to clear and hope to have good weather and turnouts to finish.  The current trail is 7.8 miles long and will end around 8.5 miles!  Trail work begins at 8:30 - hope to see you there.  Also check Nashville Mountain Bike's Forum for more details.

We hope to have a big cookout at the April 7 work day to celebrate our accomplishment.