I am planning a trip in a couple weeks to Pisgah National Forest. I am wondering where I should stay to best access the key mountain biking routes, trail runs, and (hopefully) a great place to open water swim. Where is the best location? What are the best routes to ride? Best routes to run? I’m also considering bringing a gravel bike so that I can see more of it, but would love to hear whether that makes sense (or just stick to trails).
There are a bunch of Airbnb spots but the park /trails seem to stretch about 50 miles from southernmost to northernmost. Proximity to Brevard/a brewery seems like a nice touch, not that I’m going there for that.
I am planning a trip in a couple weeks to Pisgah National Forest. I am wondering where I should stay to best access the key mountain biking routes, trail runs, and (hopefully) a great place to open water swim. Where is the best location? What are the best routes to ride? Best routes to run? I’m also considering bringing a gravel bike so that I can see more of it, but would love to hear whether that makes sense (or just stick to trails).
There are a bunch of Airbnb spots but the park /trails seem to stretch about 50 miles from southernmost to northernmost. Proximity to Brevard/a brewery seems like a nice touch, not that I’m going there for that.
Definitely stay in Brevard. Awesome town. About 2-3 miles from the main city center, there is a Holiday Inn. If you are OK with a hotel, stay there. Theres a paved path right next to the hotel that you can run directly over to Pisgah National (it turns into a gravel/dirt path fairly quickly once you cross the road. I did a lot of trail running just running from there. For mountain biking (and/or trail running), another good area is DuPont. You’ll have to drive there but it is well worth it. Smooth flowing singletrack (Pisgah is a bit more technical).
A great resource is The Hub which is a large biking/outdoor shop on the road leading to the entrance to PNF
Davews09, I live in Brevard and I think this is an ideal point from which to attack your activities. Lots of places to stay, if you are looking for a B+B, I would recommend Red House. Daniel and his wife are great people and he does a lot of gravel and road riding (more gravel than road). He could set you in the right direction on rides. You can access the Pisgah trails from the Red House or drive a few miles to trailhead. The Hub and Sycamore Cycles are right at Pisgah Forest entrance. Great bike shops with lots of trail info. http://www.brevardbedandbreakfast.com/
A friend and I are training for SwimRunNC and we are doing some trail running and open water swimming for the next few weeks. There are several places to trail run (Pisgah National Forest and DuPont State Forest to name 2). We do some of our weekend training at DuPont where we trail/gravel road run and swim in Lake Julia…it will be in the lower 60s in 2 weeks (currently about 68-70), so you will want your wet suit. You can hike/gravel ride/run to Lake Julia, about 1.5 miles from parking lot. http://www.dupontforest.com/explore/lakes/
If you’re looking to do the trip on the cheap, we’ve enjoyed staying at the Powhatan Campground that is literally right next to a huge network of MTB trails on the outskirts of Asheville (seems to be the place where the locals like to ride which says something about the trails I guess).
Camp sites are large and there’s decent space between sites. Shower facilities were brand new on our 1st trip down there 5-6 years ago. Facilities still much better than average the last time I stayed there in May of this year.
There is a small lake that is clean and clear that you can swim in but it won’t give you the epic open water swim that other larger lakes have (Nantahala or Santeelah).
Bonus: Campground is 3 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway via paved road. You can also take a fire road (good for gravel riding) up to the BRP…sustained climb, steep at times, not sure of the distance.
I’m interested to see what others respond with because I’m always looking for more insights for swimming and riding in this area.
TMT, that sounds like a good option too. I am not familiar with that campground. In our area, there is the Davidson River Campground, about 5 minutes from Brevard, just inside the entrance to Pisgah National Forest. Clean campground with good facilities, tent or trailers. I run through there often and see lots of mountain bikers camping. You can access trails right from the campground:
I camp often at Davidson river campground and love its proximity to the Pisgah trails and the Hub and Sycamore Bike shops. I cant speak to gravel rides, but definitely check out the mountain bike trails at Pisgah and Dupont. Quite a bit of difference between the two areas even though they’re only about fifteen minutes apart.
We have a second house in Brevard and I try to run in DuPont state forest every time I’m there. You can start at the Visitor Center and have your choice of trails off the main Buck Forest road/trail. Our house is in Connestee Falls, right off 276, and the development has 4 beautiful lakes with no power boats allowed. Great OWS practice. Although it’s a private development, you can buy visitor passes cheaply. I’d even consider seeing if you can rent a house in the development. It’s about 10 mins to DuPont and 20-25 to Pisgah trails.