Lakes Region Mountain Biking

[thinkxingu]

Hi, all--checking in to see if there are any updates. I know that there are a ton of hiking trails in the area--LRCT, etc.--but I'm not sure which allow mountain bikes.

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[Top-Water]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

Hi, all--checking in to see if there are any updates. I know that there are a ton of hiking trails in the area--LRCT, etc.--but I'm not sure which allow mountain bikes.

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Almost 3 years to the day of the first post in this thread, just out of curiosity where did "you" actually end up going to?

Anything you can share back.

[thinkxingu]

Originally Posted by Top-Water

Almost 3 years to the day of the first post in this thread, just out of curiosity where did "you" actually end up going to?

Anything you can share back.

I'm currently in the process of figuring out which LRCT and SLA properties are mountain-bike-accessible. Also, there appears to be a few trails in the Belknaps. Finally, Plymouth and just west of Bristol have a couple parks.

I've not done any of these yet--we ended up sticking to riding at camp and along the Moultonborough Neck bike path, but we're hoping to get out more this summer.

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[Slickcraft]

Originally Posted by thinkxingu

I'm currently in the process of figuring out which LRCT and SLA properties are mountain-bike-accessible. Also, there appears to be a few trails in the Belknaps. Finally, Plymouth and just west of Bristol have a couple parks.

I've not done any of these yet--we ended up sticking to riding at camp and along the Moultonborough Neck bike path, but we're hoping to get out more this summer.

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Belknap range trails:
http://belknaprangetrails.org/belknap-range-trail-map/
We have hiked most, not aware of any Mt bike restrictions.
Myles Chase at MC Cycle knows many of the trails
http://mccycleandsport.com/

Also Dave and Amy Shibley have a lot of Mt Bike experience in the Belknaps:
http://www.shibleysatthepier.com/

[NH.Solar]

Franklin Falls is definitely well worth a trip if you have time, lots of variety and some really fun short but very steep single track descents. It's only about 5 miles down Route 127 from exit 22.
There is also Sky Pond State Park in New Hampton. Leaving the parking lot head out on Beech Hill Road, it's a discontinued class 6 that would eventually bring you over to Straights Road and Winona Heights. About 3/4 mile in there is a steel gate and you'll see a trail going off to the left behind it, take that, You go down a moderate incline, cross a small stream and go about another 1/2 mile on relatively flat ground. On the right there will be 6 or 7 foot high 4x4 upright and a trail to the right. If you take that it will bring you to Bald Ledge looking over Lake Winona and be rewarded with a great view. The first attachment is looking eastward over Waukewan toward Meredith, and the second north over Winona, Hawkins Pond and Squam toward the Sandwich Range. When you come back to the post turn to the right and stay on the woods road for a few miles and it brings right back to Sky Pond. This loop is mainly known as a hiking trail but I've been biking it for years with no problems.
You could also start at the Winona Heights end of Beech Hill Road and come back toward Sky Pond and save some driving time from Moultonboro. But be aware that the steepest incline on the class 6 has been badly eroded over the years and you'll probably have to carry for a hundred yards or so.

[Slickcraft]

Oh yeah, the Mighty Chicken Ravine. Yikes!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylRrSrUjci4

Well there are tamer trails at Franklin

[fatlazyless]

About 34-miles, 45-minutes, via Rt 25-Meredith, Rt 175-Holderness, Rt 93-Exit 28, and Rt 49-Campton & Thornton from the big intersection in Meredith to Waterville Valley, which has rocky, hilly, mountain bike trails and paved roads for smooth tire biking.

WV pay trails system for mountain bikes doubles as the cross country ski trails/winter.

WMNF multiple use trails, pedal bicycles welcome: Livermore Rd, a dirt, single lane, 7-mile long Forest Service road with a locked steel gate that excludes all motor vehicles ..... $5/day or $30/year/WMNF- windshield sticker to 'pahk yah cah' at Depot Camp forest parking lot which has solar powered, public toilets. Parking pay rules are heavily monitored on weekends. About 2 1/2 miles up the hilly dirt road, at the small bridge, the pay-WV mountain bike trails start across the bridge, a $6-day pass ($5-senior/youth) is required, and monitored, especially on weekends. You may get away with no pass on a quiet weekday, but on the weekend, you will be stopped.

Local town roads: 5-mile local WV loop, includes ski area and forest roads

NH Route 49 in Campton, Thornton, & Waterville Valley: 11.297-miles of state road with a 3-4' foot wide, smooth, paved shoulder lane on both sides of the two car lanes, traveling along close to the Mad River and the WMNF, good for road biking. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Hampshire_Route_49 ... NH 49 at Campton Pond, on the Mad River just above the Campton Dam .... a small photo of Rt 49 shows the shoulder space, approximately 3' to 4' wide, that's actually very good for pedaling a bicycle, and is a great feature for a New Hampshire state road like this. Someone really knew what they were doing when they designed NH Route-49! In December 2017, the speed limit for motor vehicles was increased from 40 to 50-mph by the NH Dept of Transportation but that seems to have made only a little change in people's driving habits on this road. It gets a lot of local police attention from the three towns and still seems like a safe road for bicycles. These two 'bicycle lanes' are mostly 3-4' wide with some areas on the curves narrowing down to maybe 2'-3' wide.

https://www.visitwatervillevalley.com/bike The speed limit for motor vehicles drops from 50-mph on NH-49 down to 25-mph where it enters the village/golf course/town square area of Waterville Valley, which makes it a lot safer for bicycles to share the road.

The WV town square area has a pond, town swim beach, grocery, sandwich store, public rest rooms, huge indoor ice skating arena always 40-degrees inside, mountain bike trails retail center, and bike rentals.

Snow's Mountain chairlift runs in the summer, and is set up for carrying one bicycle/chair with a big hook welded to each chair lift support...... is an old, slow 1960's two-seater chairlift ... and the old Snow's Mountain ski slopes, a former small local ski area, got developed and sub-divided into super expensive homes. It also has close to the bottom of the hill, a large, high, artificial synthetic ski surface, practice ski jump designed for inverted aerial ski maneuvers .... with ski-jumpers walk'n back up the jump hill .... flying down the slope on skis, going airborne, twist'n 'n turn'n, and landing on a large, inflated, air bag. This ski jump is about 100-yards in length, running down a steep slope, next to under the old chair lift, and not designed for bicycles, only for ski jumpers.