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(article and photos by Joe Rykowski - member of W.T.F. and NW Trail Alliance) On Saturday, June 6th the Oregon Parks & Recreation staff of L.L. Stub Stewart State Park hosted various activities and a free BBQ at Hilltop Day Use area as part of State Parks Day.  
Stub park is roughly 1,700 acres and it's network of shared-use trails with full hook-up sites, walk-in tent sites, cabin village, and hike-in primitive sites provide Portland Metro residents a place to enjoy the woods within 30 miles from city limits. Steve Kruger, park ranger/trail manager, has recently been working in collaboration with local volunteer groups on development of mountain biking specific trail area and a disc golf course. The mountain biking specific area was approved as part of original trail plan for park and is located on east side of Hares Canyon - phase 1 trail loop is currently being completed by local volunteer trail builders organized by Westside Trail Federation (most recently there was group of 15 Intel volunteers out to help with a corridor re-route as part of trail network ). Park is responsible for development of additional trail facilities including kiosk for trailhead and on-trail signage. There is currently no established timeline on when this specific area will be opened to public for riding, but there's currently more than 15 miles of shared-use trails available within park which is open to riders. For more information about getting involved to help complete trail development in mountain biking specific area, contact
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.   Westside Trail Federation (W.T.F.) and other groups supporting development of L.L. Stub Stewart State Park had info booths set up at Hilltop Day Use area. W.T.F. is an IMBA club based out of Hillsboro, Oregon and focused on developing mountain biking specific destinations west of Portland through volunteer trail building efforts (collaborating with land managers - including Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon Parks & Recreation Department).  In the morning, Pedal Nation , a Hillsboro-based biking club, lead a fun family group ride from Buxton trailhead on Banks-Vernonia Linear State Park Trail to the Hilltop Day Use Area.
 W.T.F. volunteers Keith Shoenrock, Stephanie Yao Long, and Chris Long met with interested park users and other group volunteers to discuss mountain biking trail projects. At Clayhill Horse Staging Area there was a gathering of hiking, equestrian, and mountain biking users to discuss shared-use trail etiquette and discuss how local groups could collaborate in the future - this represented a great mountain biking advocacy opportunity and was attended by Joe Rykowski of W.T.F. and Kris Schamp of Northwest Trail Alliance.
In the afternoon, (after hot dog BBQ provided by park rangers) Ryan McLane, W.T.F. president/volunteer trail builder, and Joe Rykowski, W.T.F. board member/volunteer trail builer, lead group of interested mountain bikers out for riding tour of single-track (currently under construction) in mountain biking specific area of park. Included in tour group was Kris Schamp, board member/communication director, with Northwest Trail Alliance (formerly Portland United Mountain Pedalers) and Paul Barlow, owner of Barlow Bikes & Boards (Vernonia/Saint Helens).  Following the tour, a small work party remained behind to complete short section of single-track. Special thanks to Aaron McBride and Andrea Updegrave of Pedal Nation for pitching in! Westside Trail Federation has been organizing volunteer trail build events in collaboration with park trail manager since 2008. Additional trail build days are planned for June (see Event Calendar at htt://pedalnation.org, http://nw-trail.org, or http://westsidetrailfederation.org).
 What's next? Mountain biking specific area trails at L.L. Stub Stewart State Park for your enjoyment (coming soon)! See Northwest Trail Alliance or Westside Trail Federation for local advocacy and volunteer trail builder news.
 
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