Camelback and the Gamelands

The trail system known commonly as"Camelback" at the state gamelands near Camelback Mountain certainly has its fair share of rocky sections. I mean, there is sandy jeep road, smooth singletrack, pine needle singletrack, rocky doubletrack and rooty and rocky singletrack as well. Rocky sections are a hallmark of areas like this Allegheny Plateau at 2,000 feet above sea level. It's glacier action, people!

A slice of singletrack at SG38

And here we are again, discussing trails that lie in the "gray area" of the legality spectrum. Bike riding isn't prohibited in the state gamelands, but the building of trails is, however. It's OK, the skinny paths are deer trails, we all know that. I will be straightforward here, and give credit to the relationship, albeit tenuous, that the riders, hunters, fishermen and gamelands personnel have organically come upon for the usage of the area.

I believe that there is a gentleman's agreement on the gameland usage when peak (read deer hunting season) arrives. I've had my own fair weather October or November encounter at the trailhead with a gameland official, and he was cordial, offering the advice that if I had just a fishing license on me, there would be no problem.

Honestly, deer hunting season corresponds with my offseason anyway, where I'm snowboarding or just drinking a lot of wine and watching Netflix. The hunters can gladly have the land unabated.

But we're back to the rocks. A good rum on the rocks or a glass of wine, I've passed the time through hunting season and I'm back onto the rocky and rooty gameland trails. There's a lot to ride up there, with punchy ups and downs, or the case where a riding buddy named Alan and myself dropped most of the 2,000 feet down into Reeders, Pennsylvania only to have to pedal all the way back up to the car.

You'll get your mix there of roots, rocks, sand and dirt, and you'll also get to spy some great views upon some vantage points. I certainly don't ride just for exercise, adventure and escape are key elements. Below I have a photo from a powerline break that divulges itself as you wheel the last few meters to the trailhead to your waiting vehicle. I almost always stop, or at least slow down here, to take a deep breath and gaze at the view.

I may post the map below, I'll think about it. Some of the trails are in a gray area of sorts, so I want to be cognizant of that. It's a shame, it's a pretty decent place to ride.

[g]

MRT Monday Nine Miler

A different day, a different configuration of the close-and-convenient McDade trail. I pushed out nine miles by riding from Smithfield access to the park headquarters and back. The stretch between Smithfield and the River's Edge access point has a bit of cornfield boring-ness, but the warm weather is still fresh, so anything rocks right now.

North of Smithfield

I decided to spice up the ride by endangering my cell for a quick video of the parking lot cruise back to my truck at sunset.

Everything survived, I didn't crash broadside into my truck and destroy the phone. I'll embed the map below.

[g]

McDade HQ, hills and 20k Taco

There's a little bike trip on the McDade Recreational Trail that is short of distance, but packs some climbing alongside a great scenic view. I take the Riverview parking lot up to the park headquarters, which requires a couple hundred feet of climbing to the HQ and ride back the way I came. It's a my fitness ride, of sorts, that only works because I enjoy the view the entire way. You see, I'm not really that big a fan of fitness for fitness sake. More like FFS, the typical interpretation of that.

Beware of the mastodon, at park HQ

There is a good little extension on the way back to add more elevation, in that you can take the spur up to Turn Farm and back to climb and descend about 100 feet. If you're feeling froggy, you can pass Riverview, where you're parked, and head towards the Smithfield access to extend your trip, maybe get some sun on the way in the corn fields. Sometimes there's corn in the fields, I should say.

I completed the ride by driving up the dirt road by Zion church, only to realize that my Toyota Tacoma just surpassed 20,000 miles, which begged for a photo op.

20,00 miles, still cherry, not even broken in for a Tacoma

This dirt road is an easygoing bit of offroad that carries you near the top of the ridge on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware. Take a left at the "Y" and you'll roll onto the unpaved portion of Mosier's Knob Road, which travels along the top of the ridge. There are a number of fields and an abandoned farmstead along this road, with some views of the river valley sprinkled in.

Mosier's Knob dirt road empties onto it's paved rendition, and that takes you back nearby Shawnee on Delaware. It's a nice little piece of "out there" driving to finish up a ride. Although, I do have to start remembering to bring a growler with me to fill it up on the way home with some Shawnee Craft brew at the Gem & Keystone or the brewery itself at Shawnee.

[g]

The DWG Loop

The "DWG Loop" is my home loop. It's one of those sought-after affairs where your doorstep almost spills out directly into forested mountain bike trails. The ideal is this holy grail situation where there is no car commute to the trailhead, it's a short stint from your garage to some amazing network of singletrack upon the same fat tires that you'll be rotating on those trails.

I'm almost there. I roll out of my garage and ride for a few minutes on pavement around "the block". Suddenly, I swing my wheel towards the woods and I'm on my local trail network. It's not fantastic or big, but it's right there. It's magical. No car keys, wallet, bike rack, locking mechanisms... just jump on the steed and go.

No, the trails are not all magical singletrack, and there isn't 100 miles of it, but it's been evolving and improving as a small group of local riders trim up the trails and slowly add more. And like a lot of local stash ride spots, this all exists in a gray area. And it's also hard.

Immediately after leaving the pavement, you begin to ascend a rocky, gravelly and somewhat blown-out path. You gain a bit over 200 feet of elevation in only about 1/2 a mile. This used to be an old road traversing the hilly national park, interestingly enough. This levels a bit for several hundred feet and then up we go again. Old power lines still run the path, many of the small poles have fallen down from disrepair and dead-fall trees taking the wires and poles with them.

You make a right after passing some downed poles and deceased wiring and once again you ascend for a while. This leg will take you from about 785 feet and top out at 1020 feet at a pipeline break at the top of this ridge. This stretch is just a bit over 1/2 a mile as well, but from here, it's all downhill, as they say.

The top of the ridge "behind" my house

It's downhill in the direction of the photo above. It's basically a steep hill with some humps designed as runoff or ATV deterrents. They kinda work as jumps, however. Grin!

For my "normal loop", you head left at the bottom of the hill and descend gradually on doubletrack. At this time of year, the vegetation is still at its wishful thinking stage of choking the trail until it becomes a veritable tunnel in spots. You're headed for where you started now, but before you completely retrace your steps, you dive back into singletrack at an unmarked location for a bit over a half mile of varied terrain. You've got some log-overs, rock gardens, swoopy stuff and a few dirt mounds. You bounce out of the singletrack onto the old road and you're out. If you time the ride correctly, you can grab a slice of the sunset.

It's nice to take a few breaths and watch the horizon here before pedaling back home on the pavement to my doorstep. That photo kinda summarizes the feeling after the ride following a work day full of bullshit. Just wind it down and calmly stare off into space... maybe crack a beer on my patio where I can see some of this same sunset, albeit lower down the mountain.

[gjn]