Travis, they did some trail rework a few years ago (2017?) south of the horse corral and wiped out the remaining old singletrack. Like you said, the new stuff is very steep, has massive erosion ruts, dangerous sharp corners, and was carved with a bulldozer by someone who never heard the phrase sustainable trail design. Almost all of this work created wide fall line trails/roads which severely erode after each rain storm and create a massive maintenance burden for the park and natural resource damage. A huge mess basically and super disappointing to see. I've emailed the Loud Thunder Ranger on a few occasions over the last few years and, based on the replies, didn't get the feeling they are interested in developing the kind of trails FORC likes to build at this time. Huge potential but I get the feeling the politics isn't right yet.
Erosion ruts shortly after the "trail" was carved in 2017.
One of the steep & eroded corners.