POLLOCKSVILLE — A five-mile network of user-built mountain bike trails off Island Creek Trail in the Croatan National Forest is temporarily closed while U.S. Forest Service officials examine whether its use could harm archaeological remains there.
“Archaeological sites with both prehistoric and historic components have been identified under the trails,” said Deborah Walker, interim Croatan Forest Ranger.
U.S. Forest Service archeologist Joel Hardison is examining the areas where the trails are because they have evidence of a Tuscarora Indian settlement from the 1500s to 1700s and an abandoned African-American settlement and cemetery, she said.
“The ‘spider trails’ off a half-mile trail for hiking and nature study were built by mountain bikers who never came to the Croatan for approval or review of what they wanted,” Walker said.
The original trail was established in 1967 by Trent Woods Garden Club of New Bern with the U.S. Forest Service.
“A Forest Service law enforcement officer was hearing about an extensive trail system that we didn’t know about because the user groups never came to the Forest Service to ask about setting it up,” she said. “If they had, we would have done a site review to make sure they were avoiding sensitive areas. We weren’t out there on the ground until recently, but we were aware there was a sensitive area.”
Walker said the Forest Service archaeologist could be on site until the first of June.
Island Creek Trail is located off Island Creek Road in Jones County about 7.5 miles from the Craven County line. It’s a popular place for hiking and nature study, and was enhanced with numbered posts and matching interpretive information through an Eagle Scout project of James C. Simmons Jr. of Scout Troop 67.
Walker, who served as a ranger in the Uwharrie National Forest northeast of Charlotte before arriving in Craven County on Monday to take the interim Craven post, has received numerous calls and heard concerns about the closing from bikers. The bikers are also using social media sites to circulate a petition to stop any permanent action prohibiting mountain biking on the trails.
The petition, which now has more than 70 signatures, says the original Island Creek Trail was abandoned after hurricanes in 1993 and 1994, and again in 2000.
“Since 2006, through volunteers (and only volunteers) the existing train systems, to include the use of existing fire ditches, were cleared and have been maintained, which brought the Island Creek Walking Trail back to life,” the petition states.
Supporters urge the Forest Service to “Please keep Island Creek Walking Trail Open, to include all trails within the five-mile perimeter and all the intersecting trails.”
They might eventually get their wish, Walker said.
“This may just be a temporary closing,” she said. “When the agency has a reaction, it is usually pretty swift. We have the federal legal requirement to take steps to make sure there is not any further resource damage.
“There has been an explosion of mountain bike use in recent years, and we understand we need to provide an opportunity. It’s just necessary that we make sure we do it right. We are working on a new bike trail system at Flanners Beach, but we don’t have it in place now, so we don’t have an extensive trail system in the forest now.”
Walker said the review at Island Creek might take a few months, so in the interim, she is urging bikers and equestrian riders not to use the trail system beyond the original half-mile walking trail.
That half-mile loop remains open to hikers, Walker said.
Sue Book can be reached at 252-635-5665 or sue.book@newbernsj.com. Follow her on Twitter@SueJBook.