Derby, IN...any info on this area?

[nscrbug]

I have a friend who is planning a small Labor Day weekend get-together. She is going to rent a house (cabin?) in Derby, IN which is right on the Ohio River and on the SE border of Hoosier Nat'l Forest. The other people attending this gathering, will be on motorcycles, and I may very well ride my Harley down there too. But my DH would drive down and would be able to bring along our bikes in the back of our SUV. I thought it would be fun to maybe get some cycling in on at least 1 of the days. Is the Hoosier Nat'l Forest a good place to do some riding? Or are there better roads in this area to explore? Any info or advice is appreciated! Thanks!

Linda

[Catrin]

I have a friend who is planning a small Labor Day weekend get-together. She is going to rent a house (cabin?) in Derby, IN which is right on the Ohio River and on the SE border of Hoosier Nat'l Forest. The other people attending this gathering, will be on motorcycles, and I may very well ride my Harley down there too. But my DH would drive down and would be able to bring along our bikes in the back of our SUV. I thought it would be fun to maybe get some cycling in on at least 1 of the days. Is the Hoosier Nat'l Forest a good place to do some riding? Or are there better roads in this area to explore? Any info or advice is appreciated! Thanks!

Linda

What kind of riding are you interested in? I know there are a good number of gravel roads in the Hoosier National Forest, some single-track and some paved roads. I was just there yesterday... The pass to get in is $5.00. Brown County - just north - and Brown County State Park has a lot of good riding if you have your hill climbing legs on.

Brown County State Park has a lot of very nice single-track if you want to mountain bike - though I do not know if the trails are open - right now their status appear to be "yellow" (slick spots but not closed). http://hmba.org/ provides a list on the right side of the main page that indicates if the trails are open in a particular area.

I am sure that others who live/have lived in the Bloomington/Columbus area can provide better information when they see this, but this is a start.

[indysteel]

The Hoosier National Forest is made up of several seperate districts. The one Catrin is referencing (Brownstown) is well north of the one surrounding Derby. Brown County State Park is over 2 hours away.

I would go directly to the Forest's website if you're interested in MTBing, along with HMBA's website. There is a 24-mile trail near Derby called German Ridge that might appeal to you. I can't help you with road riding there, as I've not ridden in that part of Indiana. I'm guessing there's at least one bike shop in nearby Tell City that could help you with road routes though. Shops in Evansville might be of some help, too.

[Catrin]

Ok, I had not realized that we were so far from Derby yesterday - I know on the way home I saw a sign for Nashville (26 miles). Sorry about that!

[nscrbug]

Thanks for the info. We would only be interested in road riding on paved roads. I'll just do some research on this area and see what I can come up with. We haven't committed to going just yet...we have about a month or so before we have to make a financial commitment to reserve the house, so we still have some time to sort out the logistics and all. I just thought it would be cool to have my DH join us, along with having the bikes to do some riding. Worst case scenario is that I can always go solo on my motorcycle with the rest of my friends, leaving DH home. (: