What eBikes mean for many trails

The news that electric bicycles got the goahead “to begin zipping around on trails in national parks” sent nightmare visions of hikers getting plowed into by fast riders on nowpeaceful trails.

In California, a closer look shows that the impacts will be minimal at Yosemite National Park, Point Reyes National Seashore and Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park.

Of my favorite 120 trails at Yosemite, Sequoia & Kings Canyon and Point Reyes, eBikes would be allowed at only four — all at Point Reyes. With one inhouse maneuver, they could be banned at these, too, and avoid the potential scenario for flashpoint showdowns.

Interior Secretary David Bernhardt issued a directive that orders National Parks, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Land Management to develop rules that would allow eBikes wherever mountain bikes are permitted.

It would have no effect, of course, on state parks, national forests, wilderness, the Pacific Crest Trail or local park districts, where eBikes are banned from hiking trails and most service roads.

At sites where eBikes would be legal, the biggest potential for showdowns is on the walkway in Yosemite Valley. It gets heavy use from visitors on walks with cameras or using the lowspeed rental bicycles. Mix an eBike into the crowd and you’ve got the potential for conflict.

But not everywhere. At Yosemite, I traced my 50 favorite hikes, including those out of Yosemite Valley, Tuolumne Meadows and along Glacier Point Road. Turns out eBikes wouldn’t be permitted at any of them. Same thing at Sequoia & Kings Canyon, 52 out of 52. At Point Reyes, they would be allowed for stretches of roughly 3 miles or less — not worthy of the ease and speed of an eBike — on a few trails, including the popular Bear Valley Trail.

Of bigger concern is the Estero Trail, a personal favorite, where present rules would permit them out to the ridge that overlooks Drakes Estero. Rangers could solve this by banning mountain bikes here, a worthy sacrifice that would take care of the eBike issue in a single maneuver.