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From: Kevin Highfield, Vice President of Trails, GHORBA
To: Houston Area Mountain Bikers
Phil Niccum came to me a few months ago requesting help with a tract of land on Green's Bayou, about 10 mile northeast of downtown Houston. The land lies on either side of the bayou, between Lake Houston Parkway and Tidwell Road (see attached and picture below). The area was looked at about three years ago by GHORBA and the Texas Trail Docs, working in conjunction with the Harris County Flood Control District, with a view to creating trails there. Unfortunately the effort to establish an "official" trail was unsuccessful at the time.
But this effort did confirm that there is some prime real estate here for MTB trails covering an area about 2.5 miles in length by 1.5 miles width, with further appendages along the bayou. This side of town probably does not figure in many of your minds, since perhaps the majority of mtb'ers live in the other three quadrants of town. But the demographics are changing, with a lot of new developments around Lake Houston, and of course Kingwood - Atascocita residents should be especially interested.
We currently enjoy good relations with Harris County Flood Control District, and they have provided us with a large scale map of this area, confirming that HCFCD own all this land. The area lies in Harris County Precinct 1 (un-incorporated), though I understand that the City of Houston may have some designs on it. We are working to learn the status of any plans. Ideally, we would like the area to become an established park, with a trail maintenance agreement in place through GHORBA. If we start using the land, we will demonstrate the potential of the land to the county / city.
In the meantime, Phil needs your help in scouting the area to cut more trails.
When I say "You", we are looking for two (2) types of people:
- A few experienced hands with trail building experience to assist Phil with planning new trails.
- Anyone with a warm body who is willing to help.
That means you all qualify on some level. What is needed is a critical mass of riders to start using this land. Some trails exist, but with a little work, a lot more could be established. Currently, HCFCD seem to have adopted a "don't ask, don't tell" mode regarding access by non-motorized vehicles (bikes) and hikers on their land along the bayous, which very much works in our favor.
So, if you would like to assist, drop us a line with "Green's Bayou" in the subject and send it to trails@...
Happy Trails,
Kevin
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