Michaux State Forest has got everything from slabs to skinnys, as well as crazy tech and big drops. While we focused on hitting the expert and advanced trails, there are plenty of intermediate trails throughout the park as well. If you are in the area I highly suggest checking this place out.
Our Route
From the Laurel Lake parking lot we climbed Throttle to the Traverse West Hook trail and linked in to Wishbone at the end. This was a mellow climb for the most part, perfect for a warm up. From Ridge Rd we hopped on to Traverse Trail which was punchy and technical to start. Eventually it flattens out and dumps you back out onto Ridge Rd again. From here we hit our first black trail called Glory Hole. This is a fantastic trail filled with big rocks and challenging tech.
To get to Hammy we took Ridge Rd again to Hammonds Rocks. This double black trail is definitely expert only. It is filled with big slabs and drops. At the bottom you can make a right onto the Traverse West Trail which will take you to Bong. This was the second double black trail and it will test your limits. Bong will eventually dump you out onto Mt Creek Rd where we made a right and followed it down until we reached Dream Weaver. Eventually this merged with Vista.
Big Boy is located off Vista and starts with a few big drops. For the amount of climbing we did this was not worth the effort in my opinion. You lose a lot of elevation and end up climbing Cold Springs Rd to get back to the top again. At the top we linked back in to Vista which led us to our final double black trail called Fireline. This was extremely technical and full of massive slabs and power moves. Toward the end the tech mellows out but that first half was so much fun.
In total, our ride ended up being 20 miles with 3000 ft of climbing. If I did it over again I think I would eliminate Big Boy and just take Vista right to Fireline. If you are interested in the route we took, check out my Strava or Trailfork links below.
Trail Details & Additional Info
Laurel Lake Parking Area
735 Pine Grove Rd, Newville, PA
Strava activity:
https://www.strava.com/activities/6392310921
Trailforks ride log:
https://www.trailforks.com/ridelog/view/33359659/
Book your MTB tour at Funk Entertainment:
www.funkentertainment.net/mountain-bike-tours
Featured riders: Dan @the_ride_abides, Kirk @kirk.shumaker.3, and Michael @funk_entertainment
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