Believe it or not, I started mountain biking in the dark days before the Internet. Back then there were basically three ways to find new mountain bike trails: 1. Talk to a friend 2. Talk to your local bike shop 3. Buy a guidebook. Talking to friends worked well but usually limited you to the same old local trails. Bike shops were another good source but were often staffed by clueless roadies whose knowledge was mostly hit or miss. Guidebooks were pretty helpful but hard to find since there was no Amazon.com back then. All of this led mudhunny and I to start singletracks.com almost exactly 9 years ago and we’re always looking for ways to make mountain bike trail information more accessible.
I remember the first mountain bike guidebook I purchased– it was called “Biking the Trails of Rabun” by Lester Ramey and it covered 30 mountain bike trails in Rabun County, GA. The maps were primitive but the writing was entertaining and covered everything from mountain biking attire to trail etiquette. Since that first purchase I’ve been collecting mountain bike guidebooks covering trails from California to New England and one thing I’ve come to realize: most guidebooks suck.
If you’ve shopped for a mountain bike guidebook recently you’ve probably seen a FalconGuide branded book covering your area (they’re the ones with the yellow and black spines). The books usually include maps and elevation profiles but they’re often expensive, poorly edited, and by the time they hit your bookstore, they’re horribly out of date. To make matters worse, most mountain bike guidebooks (particularly FalconGuides) are full of fluff– long-winded turn-by-turn directions and mountain bike “trails” that are 100% pavement and gravel roads. In my experience about 20% of the trails in a FalconGuide are worth riding– the rest are just boring rides invented by the author. Trails.com sells FalconGuide trail descriptions on an ala-carte basis but it’s still tough to weed through the fluff to find the sweet singletrack. Plus Trails.com limits the number of trail descriptions you can download with your membership so be choosy!
Obviously I’m a bit biased but I really like singletracks for finding the latest trail info. We’re updating our trail maps and elevation profiles (more than 225 and counting) to be more printer-friendly so you can take an easy to read map with you when you ride. With a singletracks membership you get access to ALL our maps and you can even view maps using your favorite topographic software or upload the data to your GPS (something you can’t do on Trails.com). Reviews and trail status reports give you the latest info so you’ll know what to expect when you get to the trailhead.
Most of the trail information on singletracks is free and we’re committed to giving you the best available trail info through photos, videos, and reviews every day. If you appreciate this resource, consider giving back this summer by posting a review, a photo, or, best of all, a new trail. Share the love in 2007!
