J
Jeff Strickland
Guest
A mountain bike trail that is an average of 2ft wide takes less than a quarter acre of land for
every mile in length. A single trail in a square mile of land takes less than 0.0004% of the area,
this leaves 99.9996 of any habitat available for wildlife and plants. Since most open space
(habitat) has growth that is below the level of the handle bars, the trail width in the vast
majority of the areas is less than 2ft wide, leaving even more area for the species that live there.
Given the vast majority of square miles of open space have no trails in them at all, mountain bike
trails (and hiking trails, for that matter) take an insignificant amount of land away from the
habitat and its species.
In spite of the rhetoric often seen here that mountain bikes destroy the land, keep in mind the real
facts as I have spelled them out. A square mile is 640 acres, an acre is 43,560 sq ft. A trail that
is a mile long and 2ft wide takes up 10,560 sq ft, or just under .25 acres. As a percentage of the
space, this trail is 0.000379% (0.2424 / 640 = 0.000379%) of the space. This is just the square mile
that has a trail, there are thousands of square miles with no trails at all, and there are very few
trails that are dedicated to bikes only, the vast majority are shared use trails, and more bike
routes share with automobiles than with pedestrians.
every mile in length. A single trail in a square mile of land takes less than 0.0004% of the area,
this leaves 99.9996 of any habitat available for wildlife and plants. Since most open space
(habitat) has growth that is below the level of the handle bars, the trail width in the vast
majority of the areas is less than 2ft wide, leaving even more area for the species that live there.
Given the vast majority of square miles of open space have no trails in them at all, mountain bike
trails (and hiking trails, for that matter) take an insignificant amount of land away from the
habitat and its species.
In spite of the rhetoric often seen here that mountain bikes destroy the land, keep in mind the real
facts as I have spelled them out. A square mile is 640 acres, an acre is 43,560 sq ft. A trail that
is a mile long and 2ft wide takes up 10,560 sq ft, or just under .25 acres. As a percentage of the
space, this trail is 0.000379% (0.2424 / 640 = 0.000379%) of the space. This is just the square mile
that has a trail, there are thousands of square miles with no trails at all, and there are very few
trails that are dedicated to bikes only, the vast majority are shared use trails, and more bike
routes share with automobiles than with pedestrians.