County Board Debates Expansion of Trails in Mangan Woods

A Milwaukee County Parks woodland with rare old-growth trees is the focus of heated debate over new trail development meant to serve both mountain bikers and hikers. The Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors' role in oversight of parks is also at issue.

Mangan Woods’ undulating hills and ravines were formed thousands of years ago by glacial events. Strolling its rustic trails offers spectacular vistas year-round and extraordinary seasonal displays. Wedged between Whitnall Park and the Root River, this rare and exquisite landscape includes one of the park system's few woodlands that has never been logged.

Nonetheless, many people may not know about Mangan Woods—or may not realize where they are when they chance upon it. Naturalist Eddee Daniel wrote in Milwaukee Magazine in June 2017, “You would be hard pressed to find more beautiful woodland in any urban county in the country. You’d also be hard pressed to find Mangan Woods at all unless you were told where to look. It doesn’t appear in the Parks Department website directory and isn’t labeled on its official map. While there is a sign outside the tiny parking lot across from the Whitnall Park golf course on 92nd Street, be forewarned: the sign reads ‘Ross Lodge,’not 'Mangan Woods.’”

Metro Mountain Bikers call Mangan Woods "The Rock Bike Park"

Neither Mangan Woods nor Ross Lodge is listed in the county's Find a Park online directory. However, the Nature Trails webpage includes Root River Parkway—Mangan Woods as part of the county's Forked Aster Hiking Trail System.

An accompanying map, dated November 2014, says: “Located on the southern Root River Parkway, Mangan Woods contains some of the largest old-growth hardwoods in the Park System. The stand is found in the southwest corner of the site. Mature northern red oaks and sugar maples provide a dense canopy over prevalent ground flora, including a number of rare plant species. This park also provides birding opportunities.” A two-mile hiking trail is shown on roughly half of Mangan Woods' site; mountain-biking and shared trails are not shown.

In contrast, Milwaukee County Parks' Mountain Bike Trails webpage lists the “Kegel Alpha Mountain Bike Trail, a 4-mile, single-track, narrow trail in Franklin, with a few steep or rocky segments.” No mention is made of being within Mangan Woods. It says, “Trailhead: 6740 S. 92 St., Whitnall Park (park in the Whitnall Park Golf Course parking lot).” This page links to a Metro Mountain Bikers' map, which brazenly rebrands the mountain-biking trails, located entirely within Mangan Woods, as "The Rock Bike Park." The Rock Sports Complex is a private, for-profit business abutting the woods. Several trailheads into Mangan Woods are accessed from The Rock.

One of two “official” trailheads on the Metro Mountain Bikers’ map of Mangan Woods is from a parking lot at the Rock. The other is near the Ross Lodge. The Alpha Trail is described as 2.8 miles and as 4 miles of mountain-bike trails. The map says, “This trail system was improved by and is maintained by Metro Mountain Bikers in association with Milwaukee County Parks.” The nonprofit organization has done so for about 20 years.

Official online descriptions of trails for bikers and hikers make them seem unrelated, especially when Mangan Woods' name is erased from mountain-biking information.

A Tangle of Poorly Marked Shared Trails

An “official” mountain-biking trailhead into Mangan Woods, at the end of a huge parking lot at the Rock, is indicated by a slim vertical sign saying, Trails by Metro Mountain Bikers with Milwaukee County Parks logo. About 20 steps into the trail, a large sign says, Hikers Only! No Bikes Please. Often there are simply voids of information within Mangan Woods’ spaghetti-bowl tangle of trails, especially on shared trails.

  Seven identified trailheads are on the two maps linking to the Parks’ website. Even more trailheads are visible on site. At least three paths enter Mangan Woods from paved Oak Leaf Trail spurs, completed in 2017, within The Rock Sports Complex. Metro Mountain Bikers’ online map does not mention these trailheads, although signs with the group's name and county parks' logo are posted at several of them.

Dain Maddox, a licensed hydrologist who is retired from the National Forest Service, recently walked throughout Mangan Woods. “There clearly is room for improvement within this important trail system, and in managing these exceptional natural resources. Given anticipated increases in usage, this is especially crucial,” Maddox said. He oversaw construction and upkeep of many trails during his forestry career.

One crucial area is where Mangan Woods, the Oak Leaf Trail, the Root River, and The Rock's ski hill converge, said Maddox. “This confluence does not seem to comply with best practices regarding wise trail use, erosion control, and sound ski-hill management. This is an important opportunity to bring to the table all interested parties to develop solutions that serve everyone.” He cited the need for safe pedestrian crossings into Mangan Woods, clear signage guiding users, and measures protecting natural areas.

Maddox, who frequently rides bike trails throughout the county and state, said, “There are ways to successfully manage trails, including ones that include some dual-use areas. And there can be successful public-private stewardship of public land. However, it requires commitment to effectively planning for, coordinating, and transparently monitoring uses and impacts on irreplaceable natural resources.” He said that Mangan Woods will not remain a healthy ecosystem if serious usage conflicts or domination by a single use go unchecked.

Maddox also praised examples of effective trail maintence in Mangan Woods, “such as through hardening of some low areas, and some appropriate signage. Some bridges are effective and some are not. Consistently replicating good practices will serve multiple goals.”

The Need for Consistent Signage and Guidance

Although some trails in Mangan Woods trails may once have been more separated, co-mingled hiking and biking trails now overlap haphazardly. Maddox also noticed that there seem to be many undesignated (user-created) trails, in addition to designated ones. “Mountain bikers are randomly creating new trails, whether to move away from wet areas, or to go off in another direction for the fun of it.”

Ramsey Radacovich, Milwaukee County Parks Operations Manager, told the county board’s Parks Committee in March that, “All mountain biking trails in Milwaukee County have [a] shared-use option. Most of the time they’re single track, where they go in one direction and pedestrians are encouraged to go in the other direction. But at no point will you ever find a mountain biking trail...that says ‘mountain biking only.’...Some hiking trails [in Mangan Woods] are for hikers only.”

Nonetheless, hiker-only trails are not clearly and consistently marked. When Supervisor Ryan Clancy  recent visited Mangan Woods with his family, he noticed a disconcerting lack of clear guidance for safe pedestrian use. “We had no idea know which trails we were on,” he said.

Small trail maps sporadically posted in Mangan Woods are often degraded, outdated or illegible. Many trailheads lack a map or any indication of the park's name, or that a visitor is on public land.

Some signs say, “Mountain bikes ride counterclockwise. Please do not use this trail when wet.” One trailhead advises hikers to walk facing the bikers. Maddox said, “Following such directives is virtually impossible since there are so many entry points, with users going in all directions.”

While frequent visitors may eventually figure out how to navigate, newcomers—especially hikers—are left to wander around and possibly get lost. Worse, hikers may unwittingly encounter a mountain biker traveling at a high speed. Some pedestrians have said that they avoid Mangan Woods due to fears for their safety.

Debating Impacts of Expanding Trails

A County Board resolution, 21-207, was introduced at the March 16 meeting of the Parks, Energy and Environment Committee calling for a “pause” in the establishment and rerouting of trails in Mangan Woods. John Weishan, Jr., Anthony Staskunas and Patti Logsdon sponsored the resolution in response to citizen concerns about trail proliferation, impacts on nearby neighborhoods, and environmental issues. Logsdon said that usage of already-popular mountain biking trails “will increase even more on this 200-acre woodland with the recent launch of mountain-biking clubs” at Franklin, Whitnall and Oak Creek high schools.

Parks officials say 1.2 miles of new trails are being added and that sections of existing trails totaling about one mile will be abandoned, primarily by placing leaves on them. Weishan, who has visited Mangan Woods for many years, said he doubts that existing trails will be effectively fully closed in this manner. “It’s likely that there will simply be more trails. With the co-mingling of biking and walking trails, there are already more and more biking trails. Instead of mountain biking happening priamarily during dry weather, as was the case for many years, Mangan Woods is now used for mountain biking all year long,” Weishan said. “It’s just that we need to balance [mountain biking] with other uses that have also taken place for many generations.”

Maddox said that efforts to close existing trails requires vigilance—by creating a fixed barrier—such as a felled tree--installing clear signage explaining why the area has been closed, along with long-term monitoring.

Radacovich said the Parks Department informed the public in October 2019 about Mangan Woods and Kegel-Alpha Proposed Trails. Several attendees described the meeting as a “one-way informational presentation in which no public questions or comments were allowed.” Clancy said that “a meeting with [top-down] one-way communication does not seem to qualify as a public hearing.” 

The initial resolution was laid over until the parks committee hearing on Tuesday, April 13 at 9 a.m. A revised resolution will be introduced.

Disparate maps of proposed trail expansion

Metro Mountain Bikers be involved in building and managing new trails in Mangan Woods. Members of the group enthusiastically endorsed the proposed trails.

Other constituent groups apparently have not been directly involved. Staskunas, whose district includes Mangan Woods, said that neighbors have voiced concerns about new trails being placed close to residential yards and property lines and that their quality of life might be affected by the changes. Environmentalists want to ensure protection of natural resources in and near the woods.

“Through the Parks Department [staff’s] professional background, training and education, we know how to put these trails in the right spot and that's kind of what our attempt is here,” Radacovich told the parks committee.

A map dated 10/7/2019 was distributed at the sole “informational” meeting about Mangan Woods trail development. Notably, that map, obtained from an attendee, does not show a major mountain-biking trail that hugs the banks of Root River. One access point for this trail is from an unmarked trailhead near the Oak Leaf Trail spur at The Rock. Much of this trail is within three or four feet of the river, which reportedly floods regularly. The trail was wet and heavily rutted with bike tracks last week.

A different map, dated 3/30/21 and shared with supervisors during recent on-site tours of Mangan Woods, shows the river-edge trail but does not label the river. That area was not part of the tour, said Sup. Patti Logsdon. Neither map appears to be posted anywhere on Milwaukee County Parks website.

Citizens Weigh in at the Hearing 

Amelia Kegel, a co-owner of Wheel & Sprocket and former chair of the Milwaukee County Trails Council, said it would be “detrimental to our business” if the trail project is temporarily paused. The longtime bicycle store recently moved from its flagship location in Hales Corners to Ballpark Commons, next to the Rock Sports Complex. She said that the nonprofit Kegel Foundation has donated or paid over $100,000 to Milwaukee County Parks, including for Oak Leaf Trail signage, the Park People's Discovery Passport, bike-lending programs and event permits.

Ian Martin, representing the Mandel Group, said that Velo Village, a luxury apartment development, opened near the Rock last fall. He said that Velo means bicycle in French and that mountain biking trails are a key feature in their marketing. He said he opposes any further discussion about trail development in Mangan Woods.

RoseMary Oliveira, a member of the Milwaukee County Trails and Milwaukee River Advocates, said that when she was the principal policy analyst for the Milwaukee County Board, supervisors did have oversight of parks projects, such as what is proposed in Mangan Woods. She said, “It worked fine. It gave the public opportunities to know about and possibly weigh in on significant projects in parks. This resolution would simply return some of that parks oversight to the board, following an intentional devolution of the board's role in policy making.”

Brian Rothgery said he was “speaking as a citizen” although he works for Milwaukee County. He said he was concerned about impacts on “this one-of-a-kind place. It seems that there are issues here about policy versus day-to-day decision making...There seems to be a trend to just concede to bikers since they will ignore the rules and cut their own trails...I have observed policies that favor bikers over walkers.”

Rothgery said he had “spent many, many years as a mountain biker.” He said that when you have people walking in the same areas as mountain bikers “it doesn't mean there are always collisions, but you definitely can have user conflicts. This needs to be considered.”

Dana Gindt, who has lived next to Mangan Woods for 18 years, said that supervisors are accountable to citizens who elected them in ways that county staff are not.

Sup. Felesia Martin, a member of the parks committee, said she is “on the side of preserving as much nature as possible, because we live in this concrete jungle...I want to make sure that we are not compromising nature in removing shrubbery and the natural habitats there...[leading to] other problems down the road...”

Clancy said that “more robust public engagement about the fate of treasured park assets such as Mangan Woods is essential. This is an opportunity for thoughtful long-term planning about how to wisely address and balance various demands on all of our parks.”

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