Your recollections are correct. I used this trail myself almost daily for the first 29 years I lived in Northfield. Erosion has always been an issue on this trail. Last fall, after a particularly heavy rainstorm, this short connector trail was closed. My hope was that it was a temporary closure, but there has been no work done since that time. A significant (for pedistrians) pile of dirt has been arrayed across the top entrance, and no mowing or other regular maintenance has been done this year. Two days ago, as I ran by the top entrance to the trail, I decided traversing the trail would feel more like bushwhacking than an easy hike; the undergrowth covering the trail had become significant.

It is my hope that this section will be reopened, but the Arboretum staff had tried several heroic erosion control projects over the past few years, and none of them worked. If the segment is reopened, I will gladly return it to the map

A new trail, opened about three years ago, connects the ridge top trail to the ridge floor trail about 400 years east of the trail we're talking about. I wonder if Carleton feels this is an adequate replacement.