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By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune October 18. 2014 4:40PM Work begins on Southern Oregon's first dedicated mountain bike trail Bob Lange, of Grants Pass, works on removing a stump while volunteering to help build a mountain biking trail on Saturday near Rogue River. Mail Tribune / Jamie Lusch As the sun rose into the sky over the town of Rogue River Saturday morning, a small army of volunteers was busy blazing what looks to be the region's first purpose-built mountain bike trail. The Mountain of the Rogue trail project plans to construct a new trailhead on Bureau of Land Management property near the Seventh-day Adventist church on North River Road, with roughly 10 miles of switchbacked trails climbing up Tin Pan Peak.  Roughly 30 volunteers turned up Saturday for the initial ribbon cutting and work day. BLM recreation planner Trish Lindaman said a work crew from Jackson County Community Justice had done much of the initial brush clearing the week before. Lindaman said the idea for the trails came from the cycling community itself. "2010 was when some guys in Rogue River came to me and said, 'Hey, we want some mountain bike trails,'" Lindaman said. Cyclist Dean Stirm said the project grew out of his riding group's concerns over stewardship of their favorite riding spots on BLM land. "There are a few of us around here who ride mountain bikes," he said. "One of the issues at that point was some younger guys had gone in and built illegal trails." After the group approached BLM about actively policing and maintaining the trails, the conversation eventually turned toward the need for dedicated trail systems for local cyclists. Despite the growing popularity of mountain biking in southern Oregon, Lindaman said, the most popular local trails — such as those above Ashland — are mostly user-created or repurposed from other uses. "The reason we wanted public land is that what we didn't want to do was deal with 10 different landowners," Stirm said. The North River Road site was ideal from an accessibility standpoint because a public roadway cut across a corner of the property, unlike other BLM lands boxed in by private land in a checkerboard fashion. Lindamen said that since BLM began testing the waters of support for the project, she's received more than 100 phone calls, letters and emails, some in support and others in opposition. The project has already received one grant from Travel Oregon, and organizers are planning to approach the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department in coming weeks for a Recreational Trail Program grant. "We don't just want any trail," Stirm said. "We want a world-class mountain biking trail." Reach reporter Thomas Moriarty at 541-776-4471, or by email at [email protected] . Follow him at @ThomasDMoriarty . http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20141018/NEWS/141019614 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->