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Green Point - node and land use status...?
Went out to Green Point last weekend for the first time and found it was a lot of fun. However had no idea where I was going most of the time and wasn't able to find a decent map of the trails before or after.
Having had a look thru the older forums, there has been some discussion previously about checking with council about using Green Point. Was that ever done as I can't see any updates since that discussion? From what I can tell, Lake Macquarie City Council would appear to encourage its use for cycling but there is nothing specific I could find about use by mountain bikers.
Given the lack of available maps was wondering if it would be worthwhile creating another trail map node/entry? I have kmls from my ride and can upload some tracks but didn't want to unless this was likely to cause grief with LMCC. Any objections?
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I'm pretty certain that the Plan of Management for greenie still excludes mtbs. My understanding is that there was a very vocal minority who ensured this was the case when the pom was adopted. It might we worthwhile giving the council a poke again to see if they are willing to amend the pom.
Until recently greenie was my local. Excellent trails that dry quicker than most, if not all other areas around here.
I was shown around by a local ended up doing at least 10km loop with a bit of road riding involved not a lot tho there is some nice stuff in there and you only ride the same track in one spot reverse for about 200m .
I would worry that as Green Point is quite small in overall area to ride making it too well known would leave it open to overuse and trails would suffer as Glenrock has. As it is there are some spots beginning to suffer from being ridden when wet and this would only get worse with increased usage.
Can't help but wonder if keeping quiet is the best way. While you may get a good response talking to council, you are just as likely to make them want to put up signs and send a ranger in......
Anyone who wants to find a good loop anywhere they like these days, should use strava and a mapping GPS , so the motivated can find their way round, but as said above, volume of traffic kills trails - green point is fantastic in the wet probably in no small part to great soils and low traffic - it's awesome that someone goes out there and builds trails for other people to use
I ride Green Point all the time and love it. I have also spoken with Council about it about 2 years ago and was advised that the POM was one of the hardest fought/agreed to in the Council's history and that the only trails allowed in there are the ones marked on the official map, and if you have seen that you will realise that is not many!
The main reason for enquiring was to find out about doing maintenance work on the existing trail network and the 'official' advice I was given at the time is that if this was to be made formal through council it was most likely that would require an official assessment and any trails not on the map would be shut down, particularly as some of the main objectioners to the original POM were still in council - basically I was told that it would be better just to quietly enjoy the trails and not annoy the walkers too much - anything that would draw too much attention from council was likely to result in a major loss of access and certainly there was no hope of any existing or new trails not already on the map being approved.
So since then I have just ridden it, shared it with a few friends or shown people around that are already in there - it would be heartbreaking to lose it and I hope people feel the same about it as me. As stated, you can always find out the trails by going on Strava, or just ride it for a couple of hours, pretty hard to get lost in there.
Ive also been involved in talking to Council about legitimising Green Point. At the time it was pretty quickly apparent the best thing was to do nothing.
I'm talking mtb with LMCC again in the hope a venue can be found to take the pressure off Glenrock. Not sure that it will be Green Point though. Shame because it has a lot of potential and already has some very cool trails.
They are fun if you are fit and have a moderate amount of skill, a lazy beginner or a Strava freak would no doubt change a whole lot of lines through that place which would kill it. I'm not currently fit enough to enjoy riding it so I ride elsewhere.
Probably the two things that have saved this place from being overused are that it is hilly and requires a reasonable fitness level to enjoy and that it's hard to find your way around without a guide.Trail work is done there but its minimal except for the hard work done by trail fairies to clear the network of fallen trees after the big storm.Let's just keep it quiet and enjoy it how it is - the network of singletrack is just awesome and I for one would hate to be banned from riding here.
Land management issues always complicated to get your head around between different tenures & knowing the history on sites certainly helps. Is certainly nothing informative available for Green Point on the LMCC website.
Some good info on all of this and happy to leave Green Point as site to explore and enjoy without a formal trail network node listed for the site. Thanks all for your feedback on this one.
There is one trail that really shouldn't be ridden and nature lovers place logs across it as it is an old line straight down and it erodes quite badly. I'm all for the logs on it as it makes riders look like morons as they are skidding in plain sight of locals and walkers.
1st and 2nd of September hazard reduction burning will occur in Green Pt FYI.
Cheers for that mate, I'll make sure to go somewhere else those days.
Oh no, I hope Pluto and Kermit will be okay.
Rode Green Point today and no burn happening in that area, no sign of any activity.
It's a lot of fun in there and the less said about riding in that area the better i say that way it will keep the interest low.
Plans can change I suppose.