Mountain Biking - Calling all east coast riders!!

My friend and I have decided to go on an epic journey touring some of the finest trails the east coast has to offer. So, my friends.... I ask you... what are the best trails you've ridden on the east coast? I don't want to go much further north than say North Carolina or Virginia, and I'm not opposed to going west to Tennessee, etc. So..... I need your experiences!! We're deffinitely going to be riding in Atlanta at the Olympic Course since I've always wanted to ride there and see what it's like. Maybe we can even meet up with some of you guys and ride!

To get a full knowledge of what East Coast riding is about you need to do the entire east coast, Northeast trails offer different challenges than ones in the South East. The north east doesn't have loose sand, but what the Northeast lacks in loose sand, they make up in very technical singletrack.

Oh, I've ridden some of the best the northeast has to offer, that's for sure! I've ridden in Virginia, West Virginia, etc... but not much north of there. I'm not looking to go much further north than that anyway due to time restraints and the fact that I don't want to be stranded thousands of miles from home. I don't trust my car since it's getting high in mileage... plus we only have a week to ride, and I'd rather spend my time on my bike instead of inside my Jeep, you know?

I'd suggest the George Washington National Forest in Virginia. The area west of Harrisonburg has nearly endless trails open to Mountain bikes and you'll probably not see another rider. Camp at Todd Lake if you want showers, otherwise you can camp just about anywhere in the forest for free and without a permit. Todd Lake, Reddish Knob, Hone Quarry - look for these on a map and you'll be in the right area.

Sweet.... we deffinitely need places that we can camp. As I'm a broke college studen't I'd like to keep this as cheap as possible.

Heck, I'd pack up the camping gear, and head to GA and NC.

If you're going to hit Conyers, GA on the way to hit the Olympic course, figure a day there. You could then head North hit Gainesville, GA and then hit the Unicoi State Park just outside of Helen, GA. Then over to Elijay for a day or two.

You must ride the Tsali Trails in (just outside) Bryson City, NC, spend at least two days there. They have a network of 4 trails, and alternate two and two between equestrian use and mtn bike use. Two days to ride all 4 trails. Well worth it!

After that, I'd head to Pisgah Nat'l forest spend 2 or 3 days there! Maybe more. There are trails throughout Pisgah.

Maybe then down to DuPont Forest...etc.

If you've only got one week, I'd spend it in these areas as opposed to driving to so many states. From Gainesville, FL to Convers, GA is about 5 to 5.5 hours, and that should be your longest stretch of driving. Convers to Gainesville, GA is only like 1 hour, then another to Helen. From Helen to Elijay is like 2 hours. Elijay to Bryson City might be 3 hours. Bryson to Pisgah is like 2.5 hours.

Riding in Florida is a blast, I look for to bringing my bike there each year.

But seriously, you need to give the trails in New England a shot.

Tsali has my vote.

Definitely tsali and pisgah.I remember my first trip to tsali we pulled into the campground and EVERY campsite had at least 2 mtb in it,i was in awe.Defiinitely stay at least 2 days.Eat at the rivers end in nantahala,it's right on the water w/ kayakers and rafts coming in and by.Also oak mountain state park in birmingham,al is worth riding.

I've ridden Tsali, it's a great park. Been to the Nantahala Outdoor Center.. awesome place. What are some good trails in SC and GA? More suggestions... this is 2 weeks away.. thanks for the help so far guys!

Unicoi State Park outside of Helen, GA. Killer loop!
A ton of trails in Elijay, GA. Do a search and get some info from the local shop!

L8R

What about South Carolina? Anything decent up there? Spring break starts a week from today!! We're going to hit the freeride competition in Ocala on the Saturday before that, and then probably head north from there to GA and SC.... I'm actually rather concerned about it being too cold for riding in GA/SC.... but hopefully we'll be okay!

E-mail me when you will be heading to Conyers and I will try to meet you there. It is about 10 miles from my house to the Horse park. Heck, I may even go up and camp with you guys and do some riding in the mountains.

Sam

csjeeper@bellsouth.net

So far the places we'll be riding are:

Valdosta, Macon, Jackson, Conyers, Chicopee, Dahlonega, Elijay, Murphy, Pisgah, Hendersonville, Greenville, and Helen.. in that order. We are leaving early this Saturday morning, and coming back a week later. We plan on hitting Valdosta, Macon, and Jackson on Saturday, then riding at Conyers on Sunday... so hopefully we'll get to see you there, Sam! We want to ride the olympic course which is in Conyers, or even whatever trails you can recommend for us... always good to have an experienced rider amongst us!

Check out this link to MTB trails listing. You might find something here, as well. Have fun!

http://www.mtbr.com/trails/

That's what we're basing our trip on... MTBR! We picked the best trails on there that we could find, and we're gonna ride those. Hopefully it will be fun :D

Here are some links to trails all over N.C. http://www.americantrails.org/resources/statetrails/NCstate.html It should have about any info you need, but if that's not what you're looking for, these guys just plain scare me http://homestead.com/hickhucksters .

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