Am planning on throwing the Top Fuel and the tent in the truck for an out west trip focused on MTB. Late April departure from Michigan, headed in SW direction. Destination and return trip from Santa Fe. No rush out or back.
I have a friend in Missouri that I will ride with, and my buddy in NM will enjoy destroying me for a few days. Salida, CO, and Moab are circled on my map already.
Asking for your favorite rides in S.Ohio, IN, IL, AR, OK. Favorite camp spots too, if ya don’t mind.
Bentonville is a worth the stop and I believe would basically be directly along your route.
What kind of riding you into?
Blowing Springs has a campground which backs up to 50+ XC miles. This is technically in the neighboring city of Bella Vista. You have Tunnel Vision and the Back 40 which are each 20+ mile XC loops. Quite a few trails shoot off of those systems as well.
Coler MTB Park also has a campground and with really nice facilities. Awesome trails as well and plenty of them (20+ miles, I think) but less XC oriented. However you can ride just a few miles down the road from there to the XC focused trails. Also a shorter ride into town from here if you wanted to check out Slaughter Pen or even just ride into town for whatever reason.
Reservations required at both, btw. Campsites can and do often fill up.
Thanks.
I’ve enjoyed mtb on/off for years, but has always been a cool training change of pace. I’ve done mtb tris in MI,PN,NM, and HI. Qualified for EXT. Maui, and competed as a team member in Tucson (24hrs.IOP). Ridden in Sedona (don’t remember trail names) but was out there for 5hrs. The only time I’ve ever emptied my 70oz. Cb throughout a ride, followed immediately with 3qts. Gatorade in 107’ I can do technical now/again, but prefer XC. I’ll get slaughtered by a technical buddy (and his girlfriend) in NM… Probably one of the only areas in my life where I still give in to peer pressure.
A lot of the lower west is still covered in snow in late April / May in the higher elevations. That does eliminate a lot of the trail systems in CO and UT (Moab especially), except for place like Slickrock.
A great alternative would be Fruita, CO. It’s 1.5 hours away and is more XC oriented, especially 18 miles road stuff. There is free, BLM style camping just south of the trailhead, and completely bikable from there. If you prefer spicier trails, on the other side of the highway is the Kokopelli Trail system which is your more average desert riding - technical, loose, rocky.
Like Ham_Sandwich said, Bentonville AK is the place to go for machined trails. Tulsa OK also has a decent trail system just south of the city called Turkey Mountain. Worth a bike there, but not to stay.
As for the midwest, Brown County Indiana (Brown County State Park) is the place to go. It has about ~200 miles of single track, and has some great elevation for the midwest. There’s also a few campgrounds in the State Park that range from $20-50 per night.
I assume there is a good mix of green/blue type trails? Similar to the Phoenix trail system. My brother convinced us to rent a house with his family over spring break. My son rides some and my wife used to like easier trails, so could see renting an e-bike.
Somewhat similar I’d say, except there is more wooden features than rock, and loamy/hardpack over sand over hard. They’re very e-bike friendly, and a majority of the trails allow ebikes.
With that said, the trail systems are much smaller than ones out west and south. Their trail systems are 40-50 miles total, and individual trails are only a few miles themselves. Still worth a visit, and great atmosphere to be around.
Somebody posted that Moab will not be rideable in late April/May.
Having been in Moab in March, I can tell you that’s not the case. We did White Rim as well as Upper and Lower Porcupine Rim. Hazard County may have been too damp, but the rest of Enchilada was fine. And that’s among the higher elevation of riding around Moab.
You might look into Phil’s World in Cortez or Kokopelli Trail in Fruita as well.
I can do technical now/again, but prefer XC. I’ll get slaughtered by a technical buddy (and his girlfriend) in NM… Probably one of the only areas in my life where I still give in to peer pressure.