The Lawrence River Trail, part of the Lawrence Parks system, is for runners, walkers and bicyclists. Motorized vehicles and horses are prohibited on the trail but ATVs have been spotted there.

A caretaker for a popular hike and bike trail along the Kansas River is asking people to be on the lookout for a rogue ATV rider, or riders, damaging miles of trails and wildlife habitat.

Art King, trail maintenance coordinator for the Lawrence Mountain Bike Club, said riders have done damage to the Kansas River trails that will take several hundred hours to repair. The approximately 10-mile trail runs through the city’s Riverfront Park, which is on the north bank of the Kansas River.

Art King, trail maintenance coordinator for Lawrence Parks and Recreation's Lawrence River Trail, walks in the path made by an ATV, adjacent to the trail Wednesday afternoon in North Lawrence. Runners and bicyclists have reported ATVs in the area. Motorized vehicles and horses are prohibited on the trail.

King said for the past year members of the Lawrence Mountain Bike Club and other trail users have noticed increasing amounts of damage at the trail, which has multiple signs that prohibit motorized vehicles.

“But on Memorial Day weekend the amount of damage at the site escalated about 100 times from what it had been before,” King said.

King estimated that on Wednesday of last week one rider, possibly more, used an ATV and a small motorcycle to “shred vegetation, knock down trees and make his own trails.” King said the culprit created about a mile’s worth of rogue trails through the woodland areas around the river. At some point on Friday night, the culprit returned and cut swaths totaling about three to four miles, King said.

“They went through a lot of areas that had never been disturbed before,” King said. “It was really good habitat for wildlife.”

In addition, the riders have been tearing up the trail that the Mountain Bike Club has built and maintained for the city since 1989. King said the the riders have damaged berms, created loose soil and other issues that could be dangerous for unsuspecting mountain bikers.

King said a few trail users have seen the riders at various times but have been unsuccessful in getting police officers called to the scene while the riders were still present. King said he’s asking trail users to be diligent in calling the police whenever they spot the users. He said North Lawrence residents also can help by calling when they see people on ATVs or motorcycles in the area near the entrances to Riverfront Park.

King said the trail system has become a destination for many mountain bike riders across the country, in part because it is a well-maintained trail that allows for an exciting, higher speed trip for experienced riders. He said about 250 people contribute a total of about 1,500 hours of maintenance work each year on the trail.

“To have it just destroyed because one selfish individual feels like he has to go through there and tear it up, is really disheartening,” King said.