So, I just finished an 8.5 mile trail just south of Atlanta. It rained earlier today and the trails were kinda wet. There was a lot of leaves and pine straw coverage over the trail. I was cautious at first, but found that my bike was doing not damage to the trail. I had little/practically no mud in the tread of my tires. Towards the end of the ride, it did start to rain but the result was the same.

I love this trail, I try to ride it 1-2 times a week...so it is dear to my heart and I never want to damage it. I do love to trail ride in the rain, I think it adds an element of difficulty and its just really fun!!

I guess my question is, when is it too wet to hit the trails? Standing water?

I was also wondering this recently. I just got into MTBing and it's recently been raining here and it's killing me. My new found fun and enthusiasm for MTBing is getting so frustrated, but being new to it, I really want to make sure I'm doing right by the trails and not damaging them.

I think it depends (BTW: hello again!). For instance, there's a trail that's maintained by my high school (on a rather large, boarding school campus) that has mud holes, and ways to go around the mud holes. You always see bike tracks, horse hooves, etc going through the mud, as well as around. They keep adding dirt to the mud holes, and it never seems to deteriorate much, but as it's in the woods, they never really dry out either. This to me is OK, and I've gotten super-sloppy when hitting all the mud on the trail (i.e. you can't see the color of the bike), but I do find that trails that aren't maintained like that, you shouldn't ride them if you're obviously damaging it for others. I.E. if there's significant mud, and your tracks are 1/2" deep or more? Don't do it.

YMMV.

Go to a local shop that serves mountain bikers and ask someone, or if there's a local club check their website or shoot them an email. It really depends on your area. Here light rain doesn't matter but if has been raining constantly it is best to avoid the trails, and they can get really torn up after spring snowmelt, though I imagine that isn't a concern in Atlanta!

I'm south of Atlanta too in Henry County & rode at Dauset Trails earlier today. I found that there were enough yellow fallen leaves on the ground to create a sort of floor between me & the remaining mud. With how dry it's been these last few months, I don't think we're going to be able to get enough rain before winter to really do damage to the trails. If the mud on your tires becomes flush with the knobs for an extended period of time, it's probably too wet. At Dauset or the Horse Park, I generally don't worry about it. They're trails with obstacles that are built purely by erosion anyway, so it's not really a big deal. When you get to trails like Blanket's Creek with man-made obstacles & such that have to stay a certain way to remain fun & functional (like berms, seesaws, jumps, etc) it's best to stay away when they're more muddy than not.

Depends on the soil... if it's wet and it's clay based, stay away... if it's sandy go for it... a lot of trails are on an ancient lakeshore near here and all sandy... some are better when wet and packed by the rain.

There's a state park here on the shore of NJ called Alliare that is better when it's wet than it is dry due to the sand.

I've been focusing my time on my training for the track when it's been too wet to hit the pumptrack.

Can there be such a dilemma??? LOL!

SAM! You road without me! YOUR BUTTHOLE! ....forgiven


OP where do you ride?

Lakeside trails at the West Point Lake Dam....Freakin great trails. Johnny law and Sam...where do you guys ride?

That's the key... but just know if you ride in county or state parks, trails are generally closed up to 48 hours after a rain. The area I ride in is sandy so I can ride there after a rain. But I was really dismayed. Monday after it rained I rode and the trails were beautiful. Last night I went back and the horses have been out and chopped up everything. Horse riders should not do wet trails, even sandy wet trails. Wrecks it for us bikers and hikers!!!

If anytime your wheel leaves a rut, even a small one... give it up for another day. That rut can caused major damage.

That is a case for fat tires if i heard one...

SORBA says.......
"Trail Closure Status & Updates
-Trails are closed when it is raining and the following day after heavy rain - thanks for your cooperation. Please try to attend the trail maintenance days...
-Weather - Southeast Regional, Radar Loop
-Blankets Creek, Chicopee Woods and Gainesville College trails will be closed when it is raining and the following day after heavy rain.
-For trail status at Dauset Trails Nature Center, call 770-775-6798."



Here in the Front Range, 1 of the guys started a Twitter page to keep everyone up-to-date on trails when times are iffy. You might try something like that.

Is there like a trail police that will take you"down town" if you ride when SORBA says not to?

Is this something that you're familiar with?

I doubt it, but if you want to be a douchè and ride them when everybody else decides it's not sustainable that way it's your problem.

No...I don't have a problem, I just ask a question. Why the need for name callin'?

we ride at dauset trails and the the International Horse Park, both are sick trails.

were do you live man?

I live in LaGrange, GA. Its about an hour South of ATL on I-85. Would love to ride with you guys!

First ride in MONTHS. I'm just totally out of it lately. The new fascination with motorcycles has cast a shadow on my love for mountain biking. I still frequent the forum because I don't have an SV650 & as such all motorcycle forums relevant to me are boring & slow. But lately I haven't done much mountain biking. I'll be going a lot more over the next few days & really need you to join me so I over-work myself. I got offered a promotion at work, but I have to take a drug test for it & couldn't pass one to save my life right now. I'm going to exercise until I pass out over the next few days so that hopefully I won't have to turn down a 20% raise, better hours, & power over people twice (& in one case 4x) my age

I ride at Dauset Trails in Jackson. Johnny prefers the Olympic Horse Park. However, I'm moving to Atlanta in the next month or so & will probably frequent Blankets Creek up in Canton for solo riding after the move.

Because people who ruin trails and know better suck?

Hmmmmmmm.......interesting. Who does that?

owch dude! LaGrange is a good hour and a half from McDonough.. are there any good trails around there?

^ I recall some trails near Carrolton, or Newnan.
Can't remember names, it's been 10yrs.

If you're innocent, don't worry! Hahaha. You seemed a little concerned the SORBA trail police might catch you!