Kingdom Trails Vermont

[ridebikeme]

In the 14 years that I was in Indiana, I certainly did meet lots of folks from New England. Lots of students while I was in school, and I recruited quite a few while at Earlham... and Earlham already had a fairly decent percentage of New England students.

At any rate, I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying some temps much cooler than home... which hopefully means that you're getting lots of miles as well!

[SheFly]

Sorry - just coming back to this thread after a busy weekend.

Indy - even on the most crowded weekends (Labor Day, for example), the trails do not seem crowded at all. We will often see few riders on the trails we want to ride, both on the mountain and Darling Hill side. There is enough terrain to handle quite a lot of riders, and there is something there for every ability level - from true beginners, to cross country riders, to downhill junkies. You will ALWAYS leave with a smile on your face .

Ridebikeme - you MUST ride the Darling Hill trails! Here is the recommended route:

Up Darling Hill to Poundcake
Poundcake to Fenceline - cross over Coronary to stay on Fenceline
At the end of Fenceline, take a left on Coronary Bypass to the top of a clearing, then onto Pastore Point Loop. This will bring you BACK to Coronary Bypass at the bottom of Fenceline - take a left and a quick right on Coronary.
UP Coronary back to the upper fields (you will pass a dilapidated barn on your left).
Take a right onto Bemis, and then riders choice down either Troll Stroll or Tap and Die (both are WICKED fun and last time we were there, we descended Troll Stroll, climbed Toady's Tour (difficult, but doable) and descended back down on Tap and Die.
Follow River Run to Eager Beaver. At the end of Eager Beaver, you want to come back UP the trail (take a left) to Old Webs - the joy of coming DOWN this trail is SO WORTH the climb back up.
Right on River Run to West Branch. Follow West Branch and start climbing back out.
Take Hogsback up to Sidewinder and giggle like a little girl going down
Straight across to switchback back up. Here, on weekends, you will come to a clearing with a small cafe.
To the left of the cafe, climb Webs, and be sure to take in the Chapel at the top (go to the left once you crest the climb). Then, back down the rest of Webs, and climb back out on Violet's Outback/Border to the road.
Cross the road and there is another ENTIRE section of riding to be had. Our new route two weeks ago had us follow Culvert Cut to VAST to East Branch to Riverwood to VAST to Beat Bog to Sugarhouse Run and finally, down Kitchel to round out the day.

There are LOADS more good trails up there. I can't wait to get back. We've ridden MTBs in a lot of places across the US, and still think this is the best place ever.

SheFly

[indysteel]

LOL @ "giggle like a little girl."

I started digging around MTBR's site and Youtube regarding the Kingdom Trails. I definitely want to get better before heading there and we already have next year's trips mostly planned (we're taking a Big One to the Big Island), but there's always 2014. You've made it sound like a really appealing trip, especially if we survive our drive to Maine this September. So, thanks for the head's up and additonal information. TE has inspired a number of our recent vacations; you ladies always inspire me.

[SheFly]

LOL @ "giggle like a little girl."

I LOVE riding Sidewinder, and have been known to climb out from the bottom just to do it all over again. It's hard to describe, but it's kind of like a giant half pipe for bikes - or a roller coaster. Even the boys giggle like girls on this one. And no one has ever NOT been smiling at the end.

Definitely put it on your list - they add new trails almost every year, and each one becomes an instant classic (like Troll Stroll - new last year and almost as fun as Sidewinder).

SheFly