Mountain Bike Trails?

[Dirt]

http://www.logoffrideon.com/trails/index.php?title=Main_Page

Log Off, Ride On is a pretty cool place to find people who ride.

There’s also a local mountain bike club called MORE. Google MORE MTB and you’ll find them.

[justasaintz]

Wakefield is a popular park for mountain biking. Its just off 495/395 exits. You will find more info about the rides on the MORE forums (http://www.more-mtb.org/) as Pete suggested.

[jabberwocky]

I drew all the maps on the LORO wiki and help maintain the entries. I also lead casual rides through both LORO and MORE when I have time. Wakefield would be my local recommendation (along with its sister park Accotink). Then Laurel Hill (down in Lorton) and Lake Fairfax (Reston).

Whats your skill level like? If you’re looking for more advanced trail, Gambrill and the Watershed up in Frederick have you covered.

[bikepirate]

Currently I have a few rides listed for the Washington area on my website and will be adding more next year. A couple of the epics listed, with photos, GPS and maps, include:

Angel’s Staircase: Twisp, WA (http://www.bikepirate.com/x-country-trails/angels-staircase/)

Cutthroat Pass: Mazama, WA (http://www.bikepirate.com/x-country-trails/cutthroat-pass/)

Hope it helps you a little bit.

Good luck,

bikepirate

[justasaintz]

I like mountain biking and i’m a beginner. however I do not drive and so understand the limitations of my options. So, here is are my questions..

1. What do you think of Fort Dupont Trail in DC
2. What is the best way to start mountain biking without a car? has anyone done this before?

[Dirt]

@justasaintz 9309 wrote:

I like mountain biking and i’m a beginner. however I do not drive and so understand the limitations of my options. So, here is are my questions..

1. What do you think of Fort Dupont Trail in DC
2. What is the best way to start mountain biking without a car? has anyone done this before?

I haven’t ridden Fort Dupont in years, but it was an okay trail when I did.

Wakefield/Accotink are 30 minute ride from Dunn Loring Metro.

I don’t drive and I ride mountain bikes all the time. There are many ways you can achieve this. Both MORE and LoRo do group rides. When I want to do one that is further away than I can reasonably pedal give the time/energy constraints, I ask if there’s someone who can give me a lift to and from the ride start from the metro or my house. I’ve rarely found that it isn’t possible, easy or enjoyable.

I know this isn’t practical for most humans. I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t say it though. Fairfax Cross County Trail intersects with 7 different NOVA mountain bike trails and goes about 4 miles from an 8th. It is a long day in the saddle, but dang is it fun and rewarding to ride to the trails.

Fairfax Cross County Trail: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/cct/ connects to:

• Riverbend Park
• Great Falls
• Lake Fairfax
• 495 Jump trail
• Wakefield
• Accotink
• Laurel Hill
• Fountainhead (almost)

I just rode all but 2 of the trail networks in Montgomery County in a day from the house via the C&O tow path. Yes, it was a completely insane, 140 mile mountain bike ride, but it is possible.

C&O Tow Path: http://bikewashington.org/canal/ connects to:

• Schaeffer Farms
• Hoyles Mill Connector
• Black Hill Regional park
• Little Bennett Regonal Park
• Seneca Greenway
• Lower MacGrueder
• Seneca Ridge
• Cabin John
• And a bunch more that are a blur to me now.

MORE and LoRo both have descriptions of where these trails are and what they’re like. MORE and LoRo are linked earlier in this thread.

Hope that helps open some doors.

Happy riding.

Pete

[txgoonie]

A friend said he rode to Wakefield from the Springfield Metro station. Can anybody confirm that it’s easily ride-able? As a fellow beginner mountain biker, that’s one place I’d recommend trying.

[Dirt]

@txgoonie 9318 wrote:

A friend said he rode to Wakefield from the Springfield Metro station. Can anybody confirm that it’s easily ride-able? As a fellow beginner mountain biker, that’s one place I’d recommend trying.

It should be pretty easy. FFX County Parkway (7900) has a multi-use trail along most of its length. From looking at Google Maps, I can see that it goes right along. Follow that trail and it intersects with the Fairfax Cross County Trail. Take that North and it goes right through the middle of Wakefield and Accotink.

The route comes out to about 6 miles between Springfield Metro and Accotink: http://ridewithgps.com/routes/777295

Accotink is connected to Wakefield by the CCT and other trails.

[acc]

The Accotink Trail is well marked and easy to follow but not lighted so good luck in the dark unless you are well lit. It will take you right to the back boundary of Wakefield Park. And the great advantages of Wakefield Park are the flushing bathroom facilities, cold water, drink/snack machines, and enormous hot tub. Oh yeah, there are a bunch of trails back there too in deep woods where I routinely get lost. And perhaps fall off in the mud, that may have happened once or twice or a dozen times. Or the time when I looked over the side of a steep hill and made the mental calculation that the nearest hospital is INOVA Fairfax, just a few miles down the road.

Have a great time,
ann

[Dirt]

It is also illegal to ride at Accotink after dark… even if you have lights. Wakefield allows night riding on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays if I recall correctly. I used to lead those rides many years ago.

[justasaintz]

Actually Dirt, you forgot about Difficult run, unless you mentioned it by some other name. I did it almost a year ago and liked it. The thing is I live in DC and most of the trails seem far for a nice weekday ride.

I always wanted to join the Wakefield day/night ride on Thursdays, but since metro does not allow bikes before 7, its almost impossible without a car to get there. Also, most of the time I work till 6 on Thursdays!!!

I like your suggestions about CCX trails. I did see signs when I was doing difficult run and its also to get there by taking the metro till east falls.

I wish DC itself had better and easily accessible single tracks. Is there a reason one cannot be setup in rockcreek park?

[Dirt]

There are MORE-ons that drive out from DC. Depending on when you leave, I used to ride from work directly to Wakefield, leaving from near the white house at 4:30pm. I got to Wakefield by 6pm. You could take Metro home and it wouldn’t be too bad.

[jabberwocky]

@justasaintz 9409 wrote:

Actually Dirt, you forgot about Difficult run, unless you mentioned it by some other name. I did it almost a year ago and liked it.

These days, most people refer to Difficult Run as Lake Fairfax. It used to be that the loop everyone would do was to ride the Rails to River Trail (which is the doubletrack from the corner of the Ice Rink off Michael Faraday) through Lake Fairfax, across Hunter Mill Rd to where it joins the CCT at Carpers Farm Way. From there, ride the CCT south to the W&OD and then ride the W&OD back to the ice rink. I’ve heard that loop referred to as the Colts Neck Loop or the Difficult Run loop. But now theres enough singletrack in Lake Fairfax proper to do nice 6-10 mile loops in there without doubling up on too much trail, so its less common to ride the the larger loop.

I’ve also heard people refer to northern sections of the CCT as “Difficult Run”. Which makes sense, since the CCT parallels difficult run for the whole section north of the W&OD.

[justasaintz]

MORE-ons!!

@jabberwocky – is there anywhere i can check out the Lake fairfax loop online? is it on More website?

[jabberwocky]

MOREs where to ride page:
http://www.more-mtb.org/forum/showthread.php?t=18121

LORO trail wiki:
http://www.logoffrideon.com/trails/index.php?title=Lake_Fairfax

The LORO wiki has a pretty accurate trail map (which I happened to draw) of the trails at Lake Fairfax.

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