Hi All,
While looking for some more fun bike loops I thought I'd try one I saw on the Monongahela Forest web site. It runs up to Bickle Knob then down and over to the Fernow Forest and then back along the Shaver Fork.
I found 34 miles of the ride to be very enjoyable. Unfortunately the loop is 36 miles long. It's the two mile trail in the middle that connects FR 774 to FR 324 that I have a real complaint about. I'll admit to not being a technical rider but this isn't even a good footpath much less a bike route. It's badly overgrown, has several major washouts and and I don't thinks it's seen any maintenance since it was first blazed. How they can advertise this as a bike loop is beyond me.
Of course if you REALLY like a challenge this might be for you. Just be ready to push, pull or carry your bike for two miles. Of course that's after having biked to the top of Bickle Knob first.
The loop is shown on this web page:
https://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/graphics/randolph-bike.jpg
and is listed as the "#6 Bickle Knob - Government Road Loop" in the "Monongahela Nation Forest Mountain Bike Map" you can pick up for $8 at the forestry offices.
Be sure to take a topo map or GPS. Trail is overgrown and barely marked.
Tumble off the side of this trail and you'll have quite a roll. It is after all a mountainside.
You probably can't tell but the trail runs straight up through the center of this photo then between the two trees. This is a representative view of whole sections of the trail.
There are several of these total trail washouts where you have to haul the bike down one side and up the other.
It sure is lovely but WHERE THE HELL IS THE TRAIL?
While looking for some more fun bike loops I thought I'd try one I saw on the Monongahela Forest web site. It runs up to Bickle Knob then down and over to the Fernow Forest and then back along the Shaver Fork.
I found 34 miles of the ride to be very enjoyable. Unfortunately the loop is 36 miles long. It's the two mile trail in the middle that connects FR 774 to FR 324 that I have a real complaint about. I'll admit to not being a technical rider but this isn't even a good footpath much less a bike route. It's badly overgrown, has several major washouts and and I don't thinks it's seen any maintenance since it was first blazed. How they can advertise this as a bike loop is beyond me.
Of course if you REALLY like a challenge this might be for you. Just be ready to push, pull or carry your bike for two miles. Of course that's after having biked to the top of Bickle Knob first.
The loop is shown on this web page:
https://www.fs.fed.us/r9/mnf/graphics/randolph-bike.jpg
and is listed as the "#6 Bickle Knob - Government Road Loop" in the "Monongahela Nation Forest Mountain Bike Map" you can pick up for $8 at the forestry offices.
Be sure to take a topo map or GPS. Trail is overgrown and barely marked.
Tumble off the side of this trail and you'll have quite a roll. It is after all a mountainside.
You probably can't tell but the trail runs straight up through the center of this photo then between the two trees. This is a representative view of whole sections of the trail.
There are several of these total trail washouts where you have to haul the bike down one side and up the other.
It sure is lovely but WHERE THE HELL IS THE TRAIL?