favorite trail?

[sundial]

I like the pics of trails in DirtRag magazine and I was wondering........what is your favorite trail? Do you have pics of your favorite get away? Here are a couple of mine I'd like to share.



a local favorite of mine--the state park



Syllamo mtb park

[Tuckervill]

Hey, I was in Mt. View for the folk festival, and there were lots of guys with mt bikes in the campground. I know they were doing Syllamo.

How is it? Is it really technical? Do they divide the sections up by difficulty? Maybe when baseball is over, I'll get to go.

Karen

[sundial]

Karen, we did part of the Bad Branch trail, the *beginner* trail. I don't know who decided it was beginner but I'm told the guy who designed the trails is from off. I'm used to packed dirt and some rocks and the entire trail was narrow and rocky. It's very scenic, gentle grades, but definitely narrow singletrack. When I started at the trailhead, I noticed to my left there was a steep drop off as I was shouldering my way through trees. Be sure and tuck a map in your pocket and go with someone because there's no cell service and at one point the trail comes out on the fire road and it's easy to get turned around. We rode several miles before we even saw a forest service worker. There are over 50 miles of trail.

The yellow trail is more scenic and rated intermediate.

There's a bathroom located at each trail head and the fee is $3 per vehicle. To get a map, stop by the Blanchard Caverns or the main office at Syllamo. Here's the info about Syllamo trails.

[singletrackmind]

The Berryman, Monarch Pass, Tsali national forest trails that I can't remember the names of except for the Mouse, Fred's Lunchbox, Porcupine Rim, that's a small sampling...

[bounceswoosh]

I don't have pics; my two favorite local rides are Betasso and Heil Valley Ranch.

Betasso is not really technical; it's a fun roller coaster-y loop. It has some interesting rules -- two days a week it's off limits to bikes, and bikes are supposed to go in the direction indicated at the trail head. They flip the direction every month or two. I think this is a pretty good way to reduce trail use conflict. (Now, when they introduce bike-only days, then I'll be thrilled! But I won't hold my breath ...) Betasso has an alternate approach that is extremely technical and steep; I've never tried that part. The loop is just over three miles; the most I've done is three loops. My favorite direction is clockwise; you start and end on a descent, so it's easy to keep going and only realize half way through the loop that you're committed to more climbing!

Heil, well, if you're going to ride Heil, you want a full suspension bike. Parts are buff trail, but much of it is loose rock or jagged stuff sticking up. It's not classified as technically difficult, but the loose rock is a lot of work. It's an eight mile lollipop -- you climb up forever, do a roller coaster loop, and then dessert, the descent, of course way too short =) What I like about it is that I inevitably want to go back, because all I remember when I'm done is the descent, not the climb.

[Tuckervill]

Thanks for the info, Sundial!

Yes, when I first started mountain biking, I wondered if the guys who rated trails had EVER been a beginner!

I can't wait to try Syllamo out.

Karen