Greetings all,

I will be leading a epic all day soul searching ride this Saturday on Squirrel Gap to Turkey Pen. Please check out the message board on my website and leave a message there if you are interested so I know how many to count on. This ride is for those who know they have 35-40 miles of Pisgah in them. I am a average to moderate climber with a fast downhill speed and a bit o technical aptitude. There are a few bail outs for emergencies or bonks but, I hope to get the whole ride in.All the detail info is on the message board at my site. www.wncmountaingoatepics.com

Jeremy

Have you done that route recently?? Just asking because I rode it in august and there was so much vegetation and fallen logs many sections were only rideable for about 100 feet at a time. We did it accidentally while crazy lost. We were riding horse cove and took a left on squirrel gap rather than a right. We ended up ridng the highway into brevard then getting picked up by a cop on the way up to wolf ford. Hows that for epic? Other than the fallen logs, I enjoyed some intense remote singletrack on that ride and it was a ton of fun. It was so tight. Hope you have fun, I dont think I could handle it, and I think I would hate myself for taking my freeride bike on a ride of that distance.

Have you done that route recently?? Just asking because I rode it in august and there was so much vegetation and fallen logs many sections were only rideable for about 100 feet at a time. We did it accidentally while crazy lost. We were riding horse cove and took a left on squirrel gap rather than a right. We ended up ridng the highway into brevard then getting picked up by a cop on the way up to wolf ford. Hows that for epic? Other than the fallen logs, I enjoyed some intense remote singletrack on that ride and it was a ton of fun. It was so tight. Hope you have fun, I dont think I could handle it, and I think I would hate myself for taking my freeride bike on a ride of that distance.

There are a few trees down along Squirrel Gap, a few can be hopped and a the group will have to dismount and squeeze under. The route being took is down 66 jumps, across the swinging bridge, up Mullinax, Across Squirrel Gap to S. MIll River trail, across another swinging bridge, up S. Mill river trl, across Buckhorn Gap to Black MTN., pass the Shelter, in the summer I would use Avery's Creek as the downhill but, the seasonal trails are open so we'll use BUckwheat Knob, Bennet Gap, and Perry's Cove, up Clawhammer, across Maxwell Cove, up Black MOuntain and across Turkey Pen. 35-38 approx. miles.

I read your post at your site about this. I figured you'd just go up black mountain to Turkey Pen from the shelter. Noooooo, you have to go the Looooong way..... Sounds awesome. I'll try to be there. What's the estimated time in the saddle?
Eric

Greetings all,

I will be leading a epic all day soul searching ride this Saturday on Squirrel Gap to Turkey Pen. Please check out the message board on my website and leave a message there if you are interested so I know how many to count on. This ride is for those who know they have 35-40 miles of Pisgah in them. I am a average to moderate climber with a fast downhill speed and a bit o technical aptitude. There are a few bail outs for emergencies or bonks but, I hope to get the whole ride in.All the detail info is on the message board at my site. www.wncmountaingoatepics.com

Jeremy

Some buds and I did pretty much that same loop last time were out there this past fall only starting at the stables and ending on Avery. That was clocked at only 32 miles. It's definitely an ass kicking ride though. Kind of a "There and Back Again" epic that criss crosses the park. It's one of my all time favorites. I want to get out this summer with more daylight and add another trip up to Presley and down Black Mountain the other way to Thrift and maybe even Sycamore to the loop. That will be absolutely brutal though. I don't get to ride Pisgah but a few times a year so I have to get my fix all at once. :D

Enjoy the ride.

I read your post at your site about this. I figured you'd just go up black mountain to Turkey Pen from the shelter. Noooooo, you have to go the Looooong way..... Sounds awesome. I'll try to be there. What's the estimated time in the saddle?
Eric
I'm looking at close to 6 1/2 to 7 hours hopefully. I will be posting the actual map and directions to the site within a couple of days. I will be using the seasonal addition so it should be a great ride. I rode this past weekend with some friends from Missouri. We did 35 miles on Friday with a variation of my heartbreak/Kitsuma route, only about 18 on Saturday due to rain, and then Sunday we did about 21 miles between Dupont and Pisgah. Gettin ready ready for the race in May!

Jeremy

The map and directions to Squirrel Gap to Turkey Pen are now online! You can find them a link to them from the main page of www.wncmountaingoatepics.com or the epics page. As I said before if you plan on coming please post a message on the message board at my site or email me.

Jeremy

The map and directions to Squirrel Gap to Turkey Pen are now online! You can find them a link to them from the main page of www.wncmountaingoatepics.com or the epics page. As I said before if you plan on coming please post a message on the message board at my site or email me.

Jeremy

LOL!!! Your blue line "Bail Out" had me busting out laughing. It might be a "short" cut but it's definitely not the easy way back. If you don't have enough to finish the ride as planned, you definitely wouldn't want to send anyone up over the twin peaks of death and then over the 6 gaps on Turkey Pen Gap trail. The real bail out from Buckhorn is to roll down Clawhammer, and hit the road back to Turkey Pen.

No joke. We did that ride pretty-much exactly as described with the "bail-out option" last summer. Those who actually did bail due to mechanical failure or fitness failure rolled down Clawhammer and sat at Backcountry outfitters until they were picked up by the survivors. (some time later)

I've forgotten the mileage, maybe 25?, but I remember I stopped having fun somewhere on the Turkey Pen Trail. It's not so much the climbing that kills you, it's all the hike-a-bike.

Good luck boys, and pack a dozen powerbars.

Guys,

By far this is the easiest way to do Turkey Pen. Try to do Turkey Pen from the Turkey Pen trailhead back to Black Moutain and you'll see how tough it really can be! These rides are meant for the guys who can handle the punishment that a epic in Pisgah can throw out. I'm hoping novice mountain bikers and those who only want the regular rides of 10-15 miles still go to www.mtbwnc.com . I created the site after seeing so many out of towners wanting to something big and not really knowing what trails to connect when I worked part time as a mechanic at Back Country Outdoors.

Jeremy

I've had a couple of guys email me about the river crossings. The only river crossings will be on the swinging bridges. All stream crossings are under 4 inches deep. I did this ride back in November on a 40 degree day and did not get my feet wet.

Hey - I'm curious how many of you there are going to be...although I don't think we'll come along, we may run into you guys since you are doing pretty-much all the trails in Pisgah Saturday :-) What time are you starting?

I can't imagine anybody tough enough to want to do THAT ride is worried about their feeties. It's gonna be 58 degrees !

Hey - I'm curious how many of you there are going to be...although I don't think we'll come along, we may run into you guys since you are doing pretty-much all the trails in Pisgah Saturday :-) What time are you starting?

I can't imagine anybody tough enough to want to do THAT ride is worried about their feeties. It's gonna be 58 degrees !

If you really want to get wet and some hike-a-bike for good measure, Vineyard to Riverside to Cantrell to Squirrel would do it. It makes the ride all the more epic.

Hey - I'm curious how many of you there are going to be...although I don't think we'll come along, we may run into you guys since you are doing pretty-much all the trails in Pisgah Saturday :-) What time are you starting?

I can't imagine anybody tough enough to want to do THAT ride is worried about their feeties. It's gonna be 58 degrees !


I've only gotten one, "maybe I'll be there" and another asking about the crossings. If I have to do it alone you'll see me on my Black ( only the headtube has the Raliegh badge) Raliegh hardtail with a chick in a red dress sitting on a bomb on the downtube/headtube, Silver Marzocchi Fork, silver helmet and red/grey camelback hawg filled with food. I'll be starting 9am at the Turkey Pen trailhead. Should be a beautiful day for a ride.

Hey Guys and Gals,

Ken Shelton, Jason Morgan and myself completed the Squirrel Gap to Turkey Pen Epic including the seasonal Buckwheat Knob, Bennet Gap, and Perry's Cove. This was a great ride with Jason and Ken leading on the climbs while I buzzed by them on the downhills. This ride took us a even 6 hours to complete with a start time of 9:30 and end time of 3:30. Whew what a blast! I think all of us have a few extra scars to carry with pride!

Jeremy

I was hoping you'd let us know how it went. Glad you had fun. You guys are tough.