Hey, y'all!

I'm a beginner with a couple months of riding under my belt starting last fall. My brother and I are going on a campus-organized "outdoor adventure" trip to Syllamo for a weekend in April ... wondering if anyone had advice for this noob, as well as tips on the area, things to not to miss, places to avoid, best way to approach the trails for beginners, things to watch out for, great photo ops, etc. ... anything that might help keep me in the saddle. I've read some reviews and it sounds more technical than the touristy marketing might suggest.

Any advice and thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Get your feet wet on the Bad Branch Loop (marked in Red on map). It's generally recommended that you ride the Scrappy Mountain Loop (Blue) clockwise. Make sure you stay hydrated. Don't try to ride it all at once. If you feel a particular part of the trail is too difficult...there's no shame in walking. I walked a section or two because I was beat and didn't want to risk injury.

Watch for bears!

If you feel a particular part of the trail is too difficult...there's no shame in walking. I walked a section or two because I was beat and didn't want to risk injury.

I agree. Discretion (hike-a-bike) is often the better part of valor. At my stage of riding experience, I'm mostly worried about steep drops and rock gardens. Good thing is I'll have the better part of 2 days to work on my skills. Thanks for the advice.


Watch for bears!

Is that a warning or a suggested photo opportunity? Seriously. :eek:

Is that a warning or a suggested photo opportunity? Seriously. :eek:

Um, both, I guess. A friend and I came up on a sizable black bear there. While cool it was also a tad unnerving as wildlife is well wild. It tore butt away from us, which is SOP for black bears as I understand it, but still.

My wife and I are leaving today, a little early because of a week of rain and t-stoms, after spending most of a week here. I would classify ourselves as intermediate level riders, but we have no experience on the rocky conditions that are prevalent on these trails. The weather this week has consisted of rain or t-storms, flash flood warnings, etc... We managed to ride twice and hiked once. We hiked the White R. Bluff trail and part of the Bald Scrappy loop (orange). Our decision not to ride that day was because of the downpours from the day before. We suspected that Green Mtn. Rd would be very muddy and the bikes, which are carried on a hitch rack, would be loaded up with mud (we had quite a bit of mud on them the first day we rode, Monday, and since there is no water at the trailheads spent some time scraping mud from brakes, derailleurs before riding). Quite a bit of the Bald Scrappy loop that we hiked seems to follow the fall line and after the heavy rain it was quite eroded with water running down the trail.

Our first day here we road the Jack's Branch loop. It rained the night before and there was light rain for the all but the middle third of our ride. The rocks were very slippery, even while walking. Our ride on Wednesday was the Bad Branch loop. It was clear and not technical but we expected that we would only be able to ride part of the trail due to the closure for logging (see below). When we got to the trail closed signage we decided to continue on, and turn around if we encountered any logging. There were signs of logging operations, but all was quiet. We felt lucky and had a great ride.

Ken


Sylamore District Office.

(870) 269-3228

NOTICE!

Syllamo Mountain Bike Trail

Beginning Immediately, the eastern half (the trail on the right side of Green Rd coming from Hwy 5) of the Bad Branch Loop (marked in RED) will be temporarily closed Monday through Friday, 6:00 a.m.-6:00 p.m. for timber harvest operations in support of forest health improvement.



ADDITIONALLY , beginning November 5, 2007 the 1.7-mile section east of Green Mountain Road where the Bald Scrappy and Scrappy Mountain loops run together, along with the 1.9-mile section of the Scrappy Mountain that continues north to the Hwy 5 Trailhead will be subject to the same closure times as the Bad Branch loop. The entire trail system will be open weekdays after 6 and on weekends.

Thanks. Our trip is next weekend (12-13), so we're definitely watching the rain ...

In your opinion, does this trail seem to dry out fairly quickly -- how "rideable" is it in the rain with mud, etc?

Bad Branch was almost totally dry when we rode, after lots of rain during the week. We met a hiker/rider early in the week that said it was his trail of choice when it was really wet. Jack's Branch, which we rode in the rain, was also pretty good. It was only the rocks that seemed affected by the rain. Have fun. It's a beautiful trail system.

Ken

I hope it can handle the rain this week ...

It's supposed to begin drying out on Friday and looks like a mild (cool but no rain) weekend ...

Any further updates from the area would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Well?

Been meaning to post ... but busy after getting back very late Sunday night.

The trip was a lot of fun. None of us had been to Syllamo (pronounced SILL-uh-moe) before, though I was the most inexperienced of the riders. "Epic" was a term we used a lot.

We left Stillwater around 3:30 Friday in a university mini-bus, packed with 6 guys and 6 bikes, tents, sleeping backs and plenty of DVD's for entertainment (from Jackass to the Big Lebowski to MTB daredevils The Collective) ...

The ride was enjoyable, but long, broken up by a stop at Jimmy John's in Springdale to stock up on subs. However, when we got into the mountains, the windy roads were a bit white-knuckle for me. Finally arrived at Blanchard Springs campground around 11 pm and set up camp. We could tell by the raging river through the low-lying campground that the rains had dumped a ton of water on the area that week, and had heard from the ranger that numerous trees were down across the trails.

Crawled into my sleeping bag around midnight, warm and toasty considering the overnight lows in the low 30s.

The next morning, we filled our Camelbaks, ate some oatmeal and drank some instant coffee before getting our bikes tuned up. The campground offered a pretty nice shower/bathroom area as parks go (with air dryers that would come in handy for drying out wet biking shoes after stepping in some streams). There was a "boil only" order on some of the water spigots, but we used some from higher ground that were okay. The weather would be windy and in the upper 40's, low 50's that day, so we dressed in appropriate riding layers and headed out.

We decided to ride the 14-mile Jack's Branch Loop (yellow trail) first, because it could be accessed from the campground. We hit the trail, and it was immediately muddy. Not a good sign. We slogged onward as I thought "this is much harder than I imagined" ... we rode through the slop for about a half-mile, crossed a rocky stream, then encountered an impossible rock staircase, with a large tree fallen across it. After hiking the bike up the steps, we realized that this trail was for hiking, not biking. Luckily, we found the intersection of the biking portion a ways up ahead. Things got a little easier from there, but it was still an eye-opening experience. Going from rolling single-track in the Oklahoma woods to mountain climbs in the Ozarks of Arkansas was quite a change for a beginner. I also realize that "beginner" is not only a skill level designation, but also a fitness designation. On areas that were easier to ride, I still had to rest and recover while coasting. After a winter layoff, I was definitely out of single-track shape.

I also was doing my first single-track experience with clipless pedals, so I took a few slow-speed spills (the first toppling over like a turtle in the campground). A few bruises here and there, but nothing serious. I did get a rather painful bruised coccyx from the point of the seat one time, and a nice thigh bruise on a clyde-a-pult endo I did trying to get over some limbs. As the boat anchor of the group, I brought up the rear, but that allowed the faster, fitter riders to work on their technical skills over rock gardens and the like while I hiked behind. Also, the frequent stops to cross large downed tree trunks allowed me time to catch up. I was struck by the beauty of the tall pines and massive mossy rock formations.

Half-way through the ride we paused for lunch -- pre-packaged tuna on pitas. Good stuff. After lunch, we hit the highlight of the trip, a great vista off the rocky mountain cliffs, overlooking a winding green river. After plenty of photo ops with bikes hoisted high above our heads on this epic vista, we headed onward. More rocky descents and killer climbs, but also some stretches of very nice flow. My computer read 14.4 miles at the end of the ride. All in all, a hard day of riding for me, but a satisfying entree into "real" mountain biking.

As for bears, other than a lone gray squirrel and some low-flying buzzards, we really saw no wildlife whatsoever. We did encounter many camo-clad hunters in search of turkey during the first weekend of the season.

We only encountered 7 other riders the entire weekend. (One group of three guys from Fayetteville, and two couples riding together). We spoke with them briefly and they gave us good advice on the trails, etc.

Sunday morning was noticeably colder when we broke camp and packed up the van. We drove several winding, rugged miles to Green Mtn. Road to get to the Bad Branch Loop (red) trailhead. When we saddled up, light snow flurries were in the air. We hit the trail and enjoyed a much more flowing start to the day than Saturday. This trail was much more to my skill-level, although the "baby head" rocks threatened to ruin my day lest I take my eyes off the trail too long to enjoy the scenery. There was no area needing hike-a-bike for me, though I did get in granny gear and slowly but surely creep across the ridge lines. The good news was the climbs were short and some areas really flowed well. Only once did I fall, on a rocky switchback -- I went too slow and lost all forward momentum. I hit my ribs hard on the rocky surface and impaled my shorts on the sharp end of a downed tree. It took the wind out of me at the time, but the pain wouldn't get bad until a day later. (I'm writing this with bruised ribs that remind me of my amateur clipless pedal skills with every bend, twist, reach or cough.) We made the day's 12.6 mile ride in around a couple hours. Definitely ride this trail clockwise in order to get the full benefit of the gravity. It seemed like the downhills would go on forever, and I wondered how we would get back "up" to the trailhead if we kept going "down" the mountainside ... There were no signs of mud on the trail despite all the rain the previous week ... A couple guys had mechanical problems, including a chain break. I did lose a screw from my cleat and nearly had to pedal the last few miles unclipped on one side, but caught the problem in time to save the remaining screw. My modest hardtail Raleigh held up nicely, but the rocky terrain took its toll on my rear. That was the one thing I didn't care for -- all the loose rock, which didn't allow for too much relaxation -- otherwise a really nice trail.

Getting home was a little trickier, as two of the park roads we tried on the way out were closed due to the high waters. So, after an hour of dead-ends, we had to go back the way we came in. Not fun, especially with a big diesel van on steep and narrow mountain roads.

Overall, Syllamo was a very memorable experience. The more experienced riders in the group were totally stoked and got a lot of thrills from bombing the downhills and testing themselves against the mountain. I was slow as molasses, but I kept the pedals churning and made it ... 27 miles in 2 days, much longer than I'd ever trekked in my brief 8 month riding experience. I fought the mountain and if you count my many bruises and scrapes, you may think the mountain won. I can't wait to go back. I think that's what they mean by "epic" ...

:thumbsup:

Nice ride up. Sounds like fun was had by all. That trail up from the campground isn't really ridable from what I understand. I believe Syllamo's Revenge starts from the same place and they take a fireroad up a little bit west of where you you guys came up and then hit the yellow trail.

Hopefully, I'll make it down there in May or late Fall this year myself. Fantastic trails.