Dave McCurdy and his 10-year-old son, Nate, ride their mountain
bikes on a Tantalus trail. Photo by Dennis Oda, Star-Bulletin

There is an improvement, said Ati Jeffers-Fabro, environmental educator of the Hawaii Nature Center, 2131 Makiki Heights Drive.

"As far as the condition of the trails, it seems like it's starting to recover a little bit," he said.

"You can already see some differences. It was pretty eroded, especially after a rain and if bikers were on the trail after it was wet. That's when the real damage occurred."

Hawaii Nature Center staff members, there seven days a week, near where Kanealole Trail begins its climb up Tantalus, see only a few bikers now, he said.

"They don't come anymore," Jeffers-Fabro said.

These are mountain bikes that are pedaled - not motor-driven, he said.

Intermittent rain kept hiker traffic sparse on Tantalus trails Sunday, some five weeks after the temporary mountain bike-ban took effect for the 18-mile Tantalus Trail System.

A spot check Sunday revealed no visible ruts from mountain bikes, just dampness from recent rain and no bikes on the dirt routes. Even hikers were rare on the somewhat muddy trails.

Mountain bike access on some trails may be permitted again during dry summer months, the state said.

Some mountain bikers are upset.

"I think the trails are in pretty good shape," said Dave McCurdy of Manoa.

"I don't know how they determined that mountain bikes should be banned."

Three trails he rode some months back seemed in similar shape to how they are now, he said.

McCurdy's not convinced mountain bikes are all that damaging.

"My opinion is that one mountain bike probably isworse than one hiker, but how many hikers are up there and how many mountain bikes are up there?" he asked.

Tantalus trail conditions have been monitored for the past five years, and mountain bike damage has been witnessed and documented, said Curt Cottrell, program manager of the state Na Ala Hele trail and access program.

"A lot of near accidents were reported where hikers had to jump out of the way - and in addition to that hikers also noticed the damage to the trails from mountain bikes," Cottrell said.