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Brown County: First trip

13K views 95 replies 27 participants last post by  roknfnrol 
#1 · (Edited)
Going to check out brown county tomorrow, super excited.

Was wondering what a good place to park and start, by North Gate maybe?

Is there a Gas station close by or something where i can get some energy if needed?

I am going down with a friend and her kids and was wondering about things they can do and check out while I am riding so they stay entertained?

Any cool restaurants in the area?

I really want to plop a tent down and stay but i can't, however i want to later this month. Any recommendations for a good small tent?

EDIT:
I'm also curious which trails may be too technical. I feel at disadvantage at times with obstacles since i am on a 26er lol.
 
#35 ·
Echo the love Brown County sentiment. If you have a wife/girlfriend/daughter/other female friend who bikes or is even slightly interested in mountain biking the women's clinic there in June is awesome. Put on by same folks who did SuperD. Both I and my kiddo started learning there (there's a youth Linux same weekend!) in June2011. Back again this June. Have gone from not knowing MTB to riding nearly ever trail there (except Schooner and Hesitation Point).

Used the SuperD ( and the need to ride new bikes) as an excuse to drive from Milwaukee down to BCSP to do our first ever bike races in the SuperD. Shorter /Intro course (still didn't have nerve to tackle HP...next year).



12 yo kiddo was in the intro men's class. Unfortunately, his mom (me) only hand tightened his GoPro mount. Guess our warm ups on Pine Loop loosened it, and in the race it came off. He had to stop pick it all up and get going. Suspect if that hadn't happened he would have medaled. Meanwhile, this happened to me... :)



Fun weekend!
 
#38 ·
Hey Sock, yeah that was me that stopped you guys walking your Shiba! I saw you guys at the start of the super d and was gonna see if I could have petted him for good luck, should have because I clipped a tree about a mile down hp! Still finished 5th in the beginner class. Such a cool unique breed and cant wait to come back to that area.
 
#45 ·
Are there any other interesting trails to check out in the area? Just looking to explore the area is all.

I am down here for my 2nd time and had an absolute blast yesterday, even went down the mountain this time!

Sent from my MB865 using Tapatalk 2
 
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#47 ·
I second Nebo Ridge and Hickory. Nebo, is a 8+mile out and back, so it's hard to get lost.
Hickory Ridge is more a system of horse trails, but has a back woods feel.

Gnawbone Camp is my personal favorite trail system in the area. but it has steep hills and on some trails route finding can be tricky at times. Its trails intertwine with valley branch retreat.

If you like adventure, and don't mind hopping logs or just getting lost for a while, it's super fun.

Valley branch can be the same way too, but the trails are more 4wheeler type trails.
 
#58 ·
I'm dying to know what the feature is on Schooner that keeps being mentioned as one most people *should* walk. Watched a couple of youtube videos of the trail, and am not sure what is that piece (or if its even shown as the rider did walk it and edited out of video).

When I rode Walnut Trace, I saw the entrance to Schooner and realized the gatekeeper aspect of the set up. Until I am comfortable riding the entrance, have no desire to ride the rest. tho' one of these days I do want to hike it. Hear its beautiful.

On the drive down from Milwaukee to Nashville on Saturday, killed me to be driving past the Columbus/Nashville/BCSP exit off I-65...and not being able to stop and ride.
 
#59 ·
There's one section that's way beyond my level. It's a combination hard left turn and 3' drop, all in a complete rock garden with a possible high price of failure.
I comfortably ride the gatekeepers but I won't even try this section.
 
#62 ·
I have not tried the part roxtar and Fett mentioned yet.
Up would be harder with the approach, but I bet someone has cleared it.

So far I have not made the entrance at the Hoosier's Nest end without leaning on the tree, or over the tree that's about 18" or so high.

Oh, I have gone down, but not up the groove next to the rock really tight switchback.

Other parts I make one day, but not another.
 
#63 ·
hehe i want to at least walk Schooner next time i am down....it looks interesting to explore if anything...and i want to get some nice photos of it.
 
#65 ·
That's the easier entrance but the harder exit :cornut:

Going down is pretty straightforward; just ride down the steps. Gravity does all the work.
Going up? Not so much.
 
#66 ·
Xmas present

Mi Wife really surprised me with a canvas of me on riding that entrance on Schooner.



It took me 3 or 4 tries, but i was able to clear it once. The bike in the picture has given its life to allow me to ride silly stuff like this (cracked weld). So I have a new bike build specifically for Schooner



The photo is in the room with the indoor trainer and should help to motivate me for the Schooner Shakedown.

Home

This tt on Schooner Trace will be part of the Great Lakes Regional meeting and will be the most technical TT in the Region.
 
#68 ·
Mi Wife really surprised me with a canvas of me on riding that entrance on Schooner.



It took me 3 or 4 tries, but i was able to clear it once. The bike in the picture has given its life to allow me to ride silly stuff like this (cracked weld). So I have a new bike build specifically for Schooner



The photo is in the room with the indoor trainer and should help to motivate me for the Schooner Shakedown.

Home

This tt on Schooner Trace will be part of the Great Lakes Regional meeting and will be the most technical TT in the Region.
That's awesome, Props to her.
I love Schooner but not enough to buy a bike just for it ;)

That TT sounds very cool. I'll be there if we still live in the midwest.
They should really consider adding penalties for dismounting. That would keep the XC speed guys from making it a CX style race where they just hop off and run the obstacles.
 
#69 ·
Huge thanks to Roxtar and Fett for helping unravel the mystery about the (especially) hard feature on that trail. Great to know which end it is located - helps if we decide to hike in a bit, knowing where to start. Which end is the cave that had the bobcat a couple years ago (for some reason I think that's at the Walnut end).

Womens Clinic weekend can't come son enough, my next for sure time to be down that way. Tho' am wondering if I can sneak a spring visit onto the start or end of a biz trip to Indy (might be worth driving down versus my usual flying in and out when I have work meetings there).

In the meantime, my phone lock screen will have to suffice
 
#71 ·
I live in the Brown County area, and I must say, I can't get enough of these trails. It is nice to be able to go whenever you'd like. If you get to Columbus, Ind. Make sure to check out a LBS called "The Bicycle Station."

Great service and advice.
I can't wait to go back but we are in that crappy time of year. Any idea on how the trail conditions have been?>
 
#72 ·
I would think rather soggy. But, I was talking to a fellow rider the other day and he said he went out and the ground was frozen and seemed to do pretty well. I assume since the temp has dropped again that is a correct statement.

I'll likely be going out within a week, I'll be sure to let you know what it's looking like.
 
#75 ·
If it's been anything like up here in Fort Wayne with all the rain/snow/above 30 degrees then I would expect it to be terrible. It's been typically muddy unless the temps have dropped low enough to freeze and harden the trails.

I was hoping it was going to be cold enough this weekend to ride but they've since updated the forecast to a high of 31 and 32. Might be good in the morning though.
 
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