It's decades overdue, but the DCR is finally, publicly pointing out that the "Friends" of the Fells is lying to the public. Bikers have been saying this for years, as the "Friends" of the Fells has posted countless articles, letters, and even entire websites strongly pushing false and misleading information about the impact of mountain bike use on trails. The purpose of these lies, in my opinion, has been to convince their greater membership, and the public in general, to side with them in their battle against mountain bike trail access. People who might otherwise think that mountain bike access in the Fells is fine, may change their mind when they are told the DCR is "turning the Fells into a bike park", which is a complete lie.

Read the whole article on wickedlocal.com, we also saved a local archive of the article:
DCR disputes claims about Fells management (Archive)

The "Friends" of the Fells are angry at the DCR over a recent orange trail (Reservoir Trail) reroute near Bear Hill in the Fells. Their main complaint appears to be that the trail was rerouted to make bikers happy, as the end of the trail consists of giant stone steps. They don't mention that they built those steps themselves only a few years ago, specifically to inconvenience bikers. Also, the orange trail is now a multi-use trail, open to bikes. Removing or bypassing stone stairs whose primary purpose was to antagonize bikers, is something that should be done. All that said, the real reason the trail was rerouted, was that the stoney section of a trail overlapped a very muddy area, where the trail itself turned into a stream during wet periods.

Read the full article, minus my own commentary, on wickedlocal.com:
DCR on spot over stone steps, rerouting of Middlesex Fells trail

The DCR just announced that this season's Spring mud ban is over. The signs are in the process of being taken down, but the Fells are open to bikes despite any remaining mud ban signs you may run into. I am personally very pleased to see that the "as needed" ban wasn't just an excuse to have longer bans, but that they can also lead to shorter bans as well. Now, if only that mud ban would be fairly applied to all trail users . . .

The DCR has released an updated set of rules and etiquette for the Fells, based on the results of the Resource Management Plan. These rules are posted on our Information page:
fellsbiker.com/information

I just got notice from the DCR, the Fells RMP has been approved. The RMP now IS the plan. While it saddens me that the rules are still very unfairly biased against bikes, even the biggest pessimist can't deny, the rules are significantly less unfair than they were a month ago. The DCR has said again and again, that the RMP is a living document. The last 'living document' was set in stone for some 25 years. I hope this one turns out to be more flexible than that.

The DCR has released their final version of the Fells Resource Management Plan.

You can download a copy of the plan here: Fells RMP