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Written by JOE ORSO | La Crosse Tribune
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Wednesday, 07 May 2008 20:55 |
 The pace of trail building on the La Crosse bluffs is about to pick up.
Human Powered Trails, a nonprofit group that has built 10 to 12 miles of trails in the past seven years, has received more than $40,000 in grants in recent months.
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| Dan Luebke, left, and other members of Human Powerered Trails, a nonprofit group that has built 10 to 12 miles of trails, talk Tuesday along Hwy. FA about grants the group has received. Part of the money was used to buy a Ditch Witch SK 650, which is a miniature skid loader, according to Luebke. Dick Riniker photo |
It used part of the money to buy a Ditch Witch SK 650, which is like a miniature skid loader, said Dan Luebke, president of Human Powered Trails.
“It should speed up our trail development quite a bit,” Luebke said.
The Human Powered Trails grants included:
* $27,000 from the La Crosse Community Foundation;
* $5,000 from the Paul Stry Foundation in La Crosse;
* $10,000 from Bikes Belong in Boulder, Colo.
The group announced the grants and showed off the Ditch Witch at a Tuesday press conference.
The all-volunteer group so far has built all single-track trails, which are narrower and, Luebke said, are more sustainable than wider trails.
The trails can be used for hiking, biking, running, skiing, bird watching, snow-shoeing and other activities powered by humans.
Luebke, who uses the trails about twice a week, said volunteers will work on trails every Thursday from now through the summer.
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Written by Dan Simmons | La Crosse Tribune
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Saturday, 25 August 2007 17:50 |
When the rains came, I went down to my basement, but my thoughts went up to the bluffs. God, please save my favorite trails.
This prayer was co-sponsored by my dog. My zeal for the Human Powered Trails can’t match my dog’s delight about them.
They are 130 acres of nature-laced recreational heaven surrounding the National Weather Service station atop Grandad Bluff. Wide grass trails roll through meadows, narrow dirt trails snake up and down thickly forested hillsides. It’s a place with no cars, no annoying noises, just a big sky above and a great view all around. And they’re truly human-powered, built and maintained entirely by volunteers, with no taxpayer funds.
I walk there, my dog runs and smells things, and we are happy. To me, this undiscovered place, more than any other, makes La Crosse La Crosse.
But as I drove around covering the destruction this week, I became convinced the trails would look like so much of our landscape now: washed out, rutted, unrecognizable.
And I felt guilty for caring so much about the trails. How can I worry about my favorite place to play when some have lost lives and so many others have lost homes?
Dan Luebke of Holmen, Wis., also went down to his flooded basement that night, but said he had few thoughts of the trails. I found this odd, since he, the chief trail officer (I want his title) for Human Powered Trails Inc., had helped build most of them. But he wasn’t worried.
“I figured the trails would hold up better than my basement,” he said with a laugh.
He proved right. Bob Marhefke, the chief operating officer, was the first on them Sunday afternoon and found them mostly intact. While the ground around them was soft and squishy, the trails held their solid form and flat shape despite resting on hillsides sodden with 10 inches of rain in 24 hours. They closed them as a precaution, he said. Trees tend to tip over in squishy soil. But they plan to reopen them by Tuesday.
“I think these trails will hold up through anything now,” Marhefke said. “This gives us a proving point.”
Their durability is no accident. When the trails opened in 2001, the group of volunteers studied trail design from the International Mountain Bicycling Association. The goal: “Build trails that won’t wash away and can handle the load of anyone who wants to use it,” Marhefke said.
“Anyone” includes hikers, bikers, runners, dogs and horses. Basically, things with legs. But not things with engines.
They don’t build trails on slopes greater than 10 percent. They build a small shelf onto the upper side of each trail to allow water to wash down in an even “sheet,” rather than in one concentrated stream. They strip the trails of their topsoil and tamp the layers underneath for durability.
In a week in which so much beautiful and meaningful was lost, it was nice to know at least one place held strong despite the deluge.
Dan Simmons can be reached at (608) 791-8217 or
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Written by Mike C
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Thursday, 12 July 2007 01:08 |
 On Friday, June 29, 2007, HPT hosted Lee Retzlaff and the Central High School Outdoor Pursuits Class for the second year in a row. 24 students and their assistants came up to HPT at 8:30 am and rode until 11:30 am. The students were led by HPT volunteers, Bill Bakalars, Ryan Hamilton, Josh & Kim Shively, and Frenchy. The students bikes were checked over and minor tweaks were handled by Josh. A brief lesson on proper trail etiquette, discussion and demonstration of skills needed for mountain biking was led by Frenchy. The students then split into 4 groups for trail rides guided by the HPT volunteers. After an easier trail ride, the group came back together and were re-arranged so that more challenging trails could be explored. The weather was perfect. The trails were in excellent shape. The students did a great job and had fun. Sounds like the day was a success !! |
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Written by Bob M
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Saturday, 21 October 2006 22:24 |
 Standing at the rim of what will be a trail system spanning over the city's bluffland are just a few members of those involved which range from HPT, Hixon, MVC and the city. After several planning meetings and efforts by multiple groups, we are about ready to start to lay down the trails that will connect the quarry to existing trails in HPT and beyond. Eventually this will connect to more areas as the system grows over several years. Watch for more updates and a map of what we are working on very soon. It will take a good bit of effort from everyone. Many thanks to all those that have worked to get us to this point. |
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Written by AUTUMN GROOMS | La Crosse Tribune
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Friday, 06 September 2002 17:56 |
With shovels, pick axes, rakes and pruning saws in hand, volunteers re-carved a trail to an off-road play area in La Crosse this summer.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at noon Thursday at the entrance to the trail - dubbed the "This is Not a Trail" (TNT) trail - located near the Milson Court parking lot behind the Hixon Forest Nature Center. The TNT trail will provide off-road access to the Human Powered Trails network, located on top of Grandad Bluff.
The TNT trail received its name from a sign that read "This is Not a Trail," which was posted near the entrance to the trail before volunteers improved it.
During the past three months, the TNT trail has been renovated by Human Powered Park, a group of mountain biking enthusiasts, and more than 100 community volunteers.
"It's (the Human Powered Trail network) a 160-acre site on top of Grandad Bluff under the big white weather ball, where we have built six or seven miles of trails for mountain biking, cross-country skiing, running or hiking," said Ralph Heath, chief executive officer of Human Powered Park Inc.
The city offered to allow the group to build the trails because the group asked for a safe area to mountain bike, according to Heath.
Off-road access to the Human Powered Trails network was critical because of the traffic hazards of biking or hiking on Bliss Road up to Grandad Bluff to reach the trails, Heath said.
The dedicated access trail to the Human Powered Trails network will be safer and also will curtail illegal bike riding through Hixon Forest to reach the trails, Heath said.
"We think we can put another three miles of trails on that 160-acre site," Heath said. "Ideally we would like to acquire more land and continue to expand." |
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Written by DAN SPRINGER | La Crosse Tribune
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Friday, 31 May 2002 17:54 |
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Human Powered Park Inc., which last summer built more than six miles of trails for mountain biking and cross-country skiing, is now turning its attention to finding a safer way for the public to access the 160-acre Human Powered Park that sits on top of scenic Grandad Bluff.
Two weeks ago, the 75 members of Human Powered Park Inc. began renovating an abandoned trail behind Hixon Forest that they have jokingly tabbed "TNT Trail." That's short for "This is not a trail," words once painted on a sign that hung in front of the closed path that leads to the park.
The park will be officially named by the La Crosse Parks Department later this summer.
Ralph Heath, Human Powered Park chief executive officer, said the group of mountain-biking enthusiasts and community volunteers hope to use the abandoned trail as a safe, off-road access to the park.
"Our goal is to get a trail built from the city up to Human Powered Park," Heath said. "Right now, the only way to get to the park is either up Bliss Road or to go around Hwy. 33 and up the back," Heath said. "Bliss Road is very dangerous because there's no bike lane, and in a few weeks it's going to be closed for construction. So, we really feel there's a great safety issue to get this trail built."
Heath said having a designated access road to the trail will help curtail illegal riding through Hixon Forest.
However, he said, there is much that needs to be done to get the trail ready for use.
"The erosion problems on the trail will be repaired through the use of expert trail design and construction techniques to make the trail safe and sustainable," Heath said.
Each Thursday at 6 p.m., volunteers meet in the Milson Court parking lot in Hixon Forest and use shovels, pick axes, rakes and small hand saws to clear and groom the trail.
As the volunteers found out last summer when they worked to build six miles of the biking and skiing trail on top of the bluff, Heath said, the work will not be easy, but it will be enjoyable and satisfying.
"It's pretty back-breaking work, but it really is a good time. I know that sounds strange, but once you get started it is a good time. There's quite a bit of camaraderie involved in a job like this," he said.
Dan Springer can be reached at (608) 791-8269 or at dspringer@@lacrossetribune.com. |
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uman Powered Trails, Inc. is a non-profit organization whose mission is: “To develop and maintain first class sustainable and environmentally correct, human-powered, shared use trails for the La Crosse, WI region."
