State’s first adaptive mountain bike trail opens in West Milford
West Milford. The new trail improves outdoor recreation access for disabled in New Jersey, which is currently ranked in bottom half of the U.S. for livable states for people with disabilities.
| 17 Nov 2022 | 04:27
Aaron Essner
Dale Short (
)
Ribbon cutting on the trail.
Representatives from New Jersey’s robust mountain bike community and the New Jersey State Parks department were on hand for the ribbon cutting of the state’s first adaptive mountain bike trail on Tuesday.
Located within the Long Pond Ironworks State Park trail system in West Milford, once home to the “Jungle Habitat” drive-through animal safari operated by Warner Brothers in the 1970s, the new trail is a project of the New Jersey Off Road Bicycle Association. The 3/4-mile-long “Stags” trail is the first offroad trail in New Jersey that is accessible for adaptive mountain bikers and was constructed by King Trail Alliance over the past 8 months with funding provided in part by grants from Santa Cruz, Fox Factory, and Athletic Brewing. The trail is now open to cyclists, adaptive cyclists and hikers.
“We at JORBA believe that trails are for everyone, so we set out nearly a year ago to create this first adaptive trail in the state,” said Tom Hennigan, president of the Jersey Off Road Bicycle Association. “Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors and the cooperation of the New Jersey State Parks, we are excited to officially open this trail today and we welcome everyone to come and experience this.”
