ATV trails suffer washout
Staff photo/Kathy McCarty
SMOOTHING THE EDGE of a washout to allow ATVs to pass is Mike Coty, a Star City ATV Club board member. Watching from the other side are two unidentified volunteers who helped work on trail repairs Sunday. This section of trail is north of Parkhurst Siding heading toward Caribou from Presque Isle.
Mother Nature has wreaked havoc on area ATV trails, flooding some sections and washing out others.
Anyone venturing out for a ride is advised to use caution. Overconfidence can be a person’s downfall, should they try to cross a flooded section of trail. As with roadways that can be eroded leaving a sinkhole in place of a highway, so too recreational trails can be quickly converted from a safe route to one of danger. Caution is the key in determining if an outing is fun or tragic.
Trails in the Mapleton area have been swamped by recent downpours, making passage slow and tricky. From Washburn, routes are open, with only minimal problems, including a few soft shoulders and minor water on the trail near spots known for beaver activity.
In Presque Isle, some wooded sections have wet spots but are passable. The former rail bed trail is also holding up. But that’s not the case to the north of the city, between Presque Isle and Caribou.
THE ATV TRAIL between Presque Isle and Caribou has several washouts, with riders required to go slower to avoid injury. Pictured here, Star City ATV Club members Wayne Kaiser and Mike Coty lead the way around a problem spot. 
Beginning near the Parkhurst Siding leg of the trail and traveling north, washouts have caused minimal damage in some locations, while complete washouts are reported in at least a couple spots as you head to Caribou.
“We have problems along this section of trail every year. But this is some of the worst we’ve seen,” said Mike Coty, Star City ATV board member who was busy working on repairs Sunday with fellow club member Wayne Kaiser.
Coty and Kaiser, using a pickaxe, shovels and a chainsaw, leveled the edge of washed out sections to make the trail passable for ATVs. In some areas, a route was cleared around the problem spot, with the men cutting back brush to allow machines to be able to pass.
At least one spot was flooded recently as water rushed down a hill, taking out the trail and leaving a hole about 8 feet deep by 15 feet wide. Attempts were being made Sunday to make a temporary route around the hole.
“We’ll need to bring the tractor out to fill this hole in. It will take some time and we’ll probably need to bring some dirt in to fill in,” said Coty.
“We used rocks and trees to create a passage until we could get heavy equipment in to fix the trail,” he said. Coty said the same spot on the trail — adjacent to the Aroostook River and just south of where the trail comes out near the bridge in Caribou — washed out last year. He said while problems are visible during the daytime, it’s nighttime riders he worries about.
“This isn’t something you just want to ride up on in the dark,” said Coty.
Coty, Kaiser and other volunteers spent most of Sunday clearing downed trees, while repairing the trail as best they could until more permanent solutions can be made.
“Here’s hoping the rest of the summer doesn’t turn out like last year. Rain’s one thing but these heavy downpours really do a number on the trails,” Coty said.
