It's funny, but you'd think there would be more of a buzz about The newest and most expansive, destination-worthy, trail project in all of New England. Well, I'm here to kick the bee hive.
In the space of a little less than two years, with the dedicated work of several different trail building smiths and their respective crews (Harold Green and crew, Jon Schaefer and his Berkshire East crew, and Bruce Lessels and his dedicated Zoar Outdoor crew), close to 30 miles of exciting, fun and at times quite challenging bike-specific single track has erupted across the long, steep hillsides of the upper deerfield river valley/ mohawk valley.
I have had the opportunity to get in three very long rides recently on these new trails with their primary architect Harold Green. Honestly, these have become some of my favorite trails anywhere. First of all, they are carved into the hills and valleys of one of the most beautiful areas in Southern New England. There are great views and landscapes to take in at almost every turn. These trails would be a pleasure to ride anywhere, but getting to ride them in this impressively lovely location is a real bonus.
Secondly, these trails serve up the longest sustained single track climbs, and the longest sustained single track descents in MA. The run up to the top of Berkshire east is an epic ride in an of itself (no lie, for those of you looking to build up to crushing the climbs at epic races like the VT 50 or the Wilderness 101, the climb to the top of Berkshire East and up Zoar and the Warfield House will give you the mettle to excel!
The long, dedicated DH descent from the Top of the B'East is a turny, techy, long thrill ride that makes the solid climb up very worth it!
The Trails on the Warfield House and Zoar Outdoor side, boast similar, challenging, impressive sustained climbs, as well as thrilling prolonged descents...plus a ton of just great crisscrossing, unique and fun singletrack to link the whole thing together.
Truthfully, These trails all started out pretty rough and raw and took some real hard work (and hard riding) to work them in (which is just the reality of working with the terrain up this way!). But now, the trails...all 30 miles of them, are riding wonderfully.
I believe Harold is organizing a monster all day Epic ride of these trails (and Hawley!) for Oct 20th or so. Navigating around this system isn't too hard, and there are online maps, and new signage going up all the time. But the best way is getting a local tour on one of Harold's thursday night rides or just getting a hold of a local.
Oh, and if you do come up, be sure to buy a beer and some good food in the Warfield House Restaurant after your ride!
Don't let the Fall end without checking out these trails.
In the space of a little less than two years, with the dedicated work of several different trail building smiths and their respective crews (Harold Green and crew, Jon Schaefer and his Berkshire East crew, and Bruce Lessels and his dedicated Zoar Outdoor crew), close to 30 miles of exciting, fun and at times quite challenging bike-specific single track has erupted across the long, steep hillsides of the upper deerfield river valley/ mohawk valley.
I have had the opportunity to get in three very long rides recently on these new trails with their primary architect Harold Green. Honestly, these have become some of my favorite trails anywhere. First of all, they are carved into the hills and valleys of one of the most beautiful areas in Southern New England. There are great views and landscapes to take in at almost every turn. These trails would be a pleasure to ride anywhere, but getting to ride them in this impressively lovely location is a real bonus.
Secondly, these trails serve up the longest sustained single track climbs, and the longest sustained single track descents in MA. The run up to the top of Berkshire east is an epic ride in an of itself (no lie, for those of you looking to build up to crushing the climbs at epic races like the VT 50 or the Wilderness 101, the climb to the top of Berkshire East and up Zoar and the Warfield House will give you the mettle to excel!
The long, dedicated DH descent from the Top of the B'East is a turny, techy, long thrill ride that makes the solid climb up very worth it!
The Trails on the Warfield House and Zoar Outdoor side, boast similar, challenging, impressive sustained climbs, as well as thrilling prolonged descents...plus a ton of just great crisscrossing, unique and fun singletrack to link the whole thing together.
Truthfully, These trails all started out pretty rough and raw and took some real hard work (and hard riding) to work them in (which is just the reality of working with the terrain up this way!). But now, the trails...all 30 miles of them, are riding wonderfully.
I believe Harold is organizing a monster all day Epic ride of these trails (and Hawley!) for Oct 20th or so. Navigating around this system isn't too hard, and there are online maps, and new signage going up all the time. But the best way is getting a local tour on one of Harold's thursday night rides or just getting a hold of a local.
Oh, and if you do come up, be sure to buy a beer and some good food in the Warfield House Restaurant after your ride!
Don't let the Fall end without checking out these trails.