Growing up in Inverness as a child of the ’70s, Burton Eubank filled his afternoons riding a bike through the skein of trails in the Phillip Burton Wilderness. Balanced atop a mint blue Schwinn Columbia, he would plunge down the wending path that Sky Trail cuts to the coast, his red mop of hair jouncing between the viridescent Douglas firs.
Mr. Eubank has spent much of his life astride a bike, but the freedom to explore the narrow single-track trails he relished as a child has steadily waned. Bicycles have long been banned in the Point Reyes National Seashore’s designated wilderness area, and last year, efforts to expand bike access elsewhere in the county were stymied by a lawsuit driven by environmental and safety concerns on county watershed lands.
This fall, the acidic, decades-long debate between bikers and conservationists was markedly more collegial at workshops hosted by Marin Water, as the district sought input on an update to its roads and trails management plan.
Around 200 cyclists, conservationists and other stakeholders gathered at the water district’s Sky Oaks headquarters to weigh in on changes to the framework, which was first adopted in 2005 and outlines how the 150 miles of watershed roads and trails are managed.
“The workshop was set up in a way that was meant to be an opportunity for people to speak from both sides, so that we could literally hear each other’s concerns,” Mr. Eubank said, describing an exercise in which participants were invited to mark trails with their desired use on a topographical map. “We want to have more bike access, but we also want to come from a place of deep understanding for how we can also co-steward these trails.”
The event’s collaborative atmosphere contrasted sharply with the litigiousness that has shaped disagreements over the watershed.
Last year, two pilot programs that would have opened about seven miles of single-track trails to bikes and e-bikes on Mount Tamalpais were scuppered after conservationists sued the water district.
The lawsuit, filed jointly by the Marin chapter of the California Native Plant Society, the Marin Conservation League and the Marin Audubon Society, argued that the water district had failed to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act.
In response, a Marin County Superior Court judge issued an injunction halting both programs pending the legal review.
Larry Minikes, a board member of the Marin Conservation League, said the groups felt they were given scant opportunity to review the pilot programs and had little recourse once they were adopted.
“This is what really led to the breakdown between the environmental groups and Marin Water,” he said. “We had asked for a reasonable amount of time to go over the proposal, and we didn’t get that. Because of the way CEQA operates, once they voted on it, we had no choice but to file a lawsuit—it’s the only way CEQA allows you to respond under these circumstances.”
The groups argued that in addition to safety issues, opening single-track trails to mountain bikes and e-bikes would have further degraded sensitive habitat already pressured by human recreation. Members voiced concern that the whir of an e-bike’s motor could disturb roosting bats and that riders might be emboldened to add to the watershed’s network of social trails—unofficial paths created by visitors who cut their own routes.
“One of the major issues with social trails is that they are an excellent way to bring non-native and invasive plants—such as French broom—into areas that were previously pristine or near pristine,” Mr. Minikes said.
French broom, with its canary-yellow flowers that produce voluminous seeds, spreads across the landscape like a rash. It outcompetes native plants for resources and contains flammable oils and resins that make it ready fodder for wildfires. Mr. Minikes estimates he has pulled hundreds of thousands of broom plants that have taken up root alongside trails over the years.
In May, after a spate of negotiations, the two sides reached a settlement. The water district’s board assented to revoking the pilot programs but approved a modified e-bike plan, allowing Class 1 e-bikes—which provide assistance only while a rider is pedaling and only up to 20 miles per hour—on fire roads where conventional bikes are already permitted.
Data from the revised e-bike pilot program, along with feedback from recent workshops and a 2024 feasibility study on expanding and managing watershed recreation, will help shape the district’s new management strategy. In October, the board approved spending up to $1.26 million for Ascent Environmental Inc. to complete the update and its environmental review.
Vernon Huffman, a Woodacre resident and the executive director of Marin Trail Stewards, a mountain biking advocacy group formerly called Access4bikes, recalls sitting in on meetings 20 years ago to develop the original roads and trails management plan. At the time, he said, the water district’s resistance to allowing mountain bikes on single-track trails was unyielding.
“I asked staff about allowing bikes on some trails, and they said they were not going to discuss that. It was an incredibly disappointing answer, and a way to kick the can down the road,” he said.
Mountain biking in the watershed has taken off since the initial roads and trails management plan was approved. According to the 2024 feasibility study, an estimated 400,000 bicyclists used the district’s roads and fire roads in 2022—nearly 30 percent more than in 2012.
As the sport grew, advocates began clamoring for access to the watershed’s nearly 60 miles of “system trails,” which are currently open to hikers and, in some cases, to equestrians.
The district’s willingness to greenlight the mountain bike and e-bike pilot programs last year was seen as a hopeful gesture. Riders showed up in spades for trail-work days ahead of the launch, clearing sight lines around corners, improving drainages and shoring up eroded sections with stone.
While the court injunction that stopped both pilots was a blow, Mr. Huffman remains bullish about the district’s evolving attitude toward bike access. Like Mr. Eubank and Mr. Minikes, he attended the Sky Oaks workshops this fall and said he was heartened by what he saw.
“Flash forward 20 years later and I’m hearing staff tell me to take three colors of pens and mark the trails you think should be open to bikes,” Mr. Huffman said. “We have come so far. This is hopeful. We might actually be addressing the changed demographic that now exists on our mountain.”
Some of the shift in ridership stems from the proliferation of middle school and high school mountain bike teams in Marin. As part of the Northern California Interscholastic Cycling League, teams from schools like Tamalpais High, San Domenico and Archie Williams train in the watershed multiple times a week to ready themselves for events across the state.
But coaches say the district’s policy of limiting the teams to fire roads handicaps their riders’ ability to prepare for races, many of which involve deftly navigating single-track trails. And fire roads, they add, can be incredibly unsafe.
“They’re steep, they’re off-camber, they don’t drain, they don’t work,” said Ross Blanchard, a coach at Archie Williams. “You can talk to any land management group, and they’ll say fire roads are the most dangerous thing for bikes out there.”
If the district eventually permits mountain bikes on some single-track trails, riders might be asked to share them with horses, a prospect that some equestrian groups have balked at.
In a statement, the Marin Horse Council said it “opposes any trail sharing scheme with bike riders such as alternative day use of trails, as enforcement and compliance are challenging issues.”
Linda Novy, the council’s president, sees the creation of bike-only trails—another proposal the district has floated—as a slippery slope.
“Is adopting some of these trails and making them bike-only going to spill over?” she asked.
Ms. Novy said she regularly sees the twinkle of headlights from her stable as riders poach trails at night. “How will behavior and accountability for following the rules be improved by providing more bike access on Mount Tam?” she asked.
Advocates on both sides of the debate hope to see those questions addressed at upcoming meetings. A draft of the updated roads and trails management plan is expected next spring, according to Adriane Mertens, a communications manager for the water district.
Despite their differences, mountain bikers, equestrians and conservationists have shown a willingness to work together. In 2014, the Marin County Bicycle Coalition joined with the Marin Horse Council and the Marin Conservation League to form Trail Partners, a countywide program aimed at promoting responsible trail use and protecting natural resources.
One of its core campaigns, “Slow and Say Hello,” encourages trail users to acknowledge one another when passing rather than barreling by. Volunteers set up outposts at trailheads around the county, quizzing visitors on trail etiquette and handing out tchotchkes to help spread awareness.
“It’s really an education program,” Mr. Minikes said. “We go to busy trail corridors and do our best to inform people about what’s important out there so that we all get along.”