[Stamps]

My friend you are in the dead center of a lot of MTB trails. You’ve come across some good trails already with Hobby Park. However, there’s some others that you should not miss that are a maximum of an hours drive from Winston.

First, check out Salem Lake. I’ll describe these trails in greater detail because there’s not much trail beta on the net. I know you’re in law enforcement and the trails have no mountain biking on ’em but everyrider I know rides the trails there.

There’s a gravel double track path that circumnavigates the lake. Get off Bus. 40 at Linville Rd. exit and head down towards the lake. Park on the side of the road near the trail head of the gravel trail. Down the trail you’ll find some off shoot trails that go up into the woods. Explore around as there are trails all up in there all the way to the bridge. The trails on one side of the power lines tend to be more cross country while the other has some pretty sick free ride type stuff.

Next, check out Dark Mtn./ Over Mountain Victory trails just outside of Wilkesboro. There’s a breakdown of the trails on this website. Its fast becoming some of the best singletrack in NC outside of Asheville/Brevard.

As for afterwork or short commute rides, come over to my backyard in Greensboro. Go to either BurMill Park or Battleground Park; the trail networks accesible from either. The two major trails are Owl’s Roost and the newest addition to the Triad, Wild Turkey. Both are great rides but Wild Turkey stands out as its built by MTBer’s for MTBer’s. Tons of flow and challenges for all skill levels.

On top of those trails there’s a network of shorter trails both at Battleground Park and BurMill that are great including a freeride jump park near Battleground park.

For the Triad trail beta this site or http://www.biketriad.com are great resources.

Finally, once you’ve gotten your skill set up and are ready for the REALLY fun stuff, head to Asheville/Brevard. There are so many places to hit its truely a MTB mecca for the Southeast. Tops on my list are the following in no particular order:

Bent Creek
Wilson Creek
Dupont State Park
Black Mtn (aka Clawhammer)
Kitsuma
Tsali

Sorry for the long post but I hope you find this info useful. MTBing is a truely great sport and like those posts said above, its addictive. Most all riders are cool people and for a career like yours, it’ll keep you in great shape. As long as you don’t put down too many beers after those epic rides!

Good hunting!

Stampers

[Author]

Posts