I will be in town this Friday with a little time and plan to bring my bike.  We're staying near Salisbury and I'm dropping the family off in Huntersville for the day; any suggestions near there?  It looks like LNSP & USNWC are the longest trails close by.

I'm an intermediate rider and will probably bring my single speed.  I would love to get in a 2-3 hours somewhere.  Also, what's the elevation like?  Should I add another tooth or two cog to what I'm used to riding in Raleigh?


Also, I thought I might take the family to Salisbury Community Park MTB Trails on Saturday; are they beginner friendly?  My kids love Lake Crabtree Park in Raleigh if anyone is familiar with those.

I appreciate any suggestions you might have...
-Pick

Agree but make sure to study the latest map as it can be confusing for someone who is new to it and riding alone.  You won't get lost, but you may miss some things.  I ride the trail in this order.  East main. North trail connector, figure eight, thread trail, north trail, south trail, carpet trail, tower 93, wedge, goat hill, power line climb, continue on south trail, weigh station, toilet bowl,  lake loop, done. Goat hill and power line climb will be the most difficult on a 32x18, but still easily doable.  Almost 2k elevation.  Most smiles per mile in the area.

Thanks for all the feedback...  I'm a wimp so I ride 32x21 on my 29er; sounds like I should be ok in that gear then.

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I'm torn between LNSP & WWC; I'll probably just call an audible on Friday morning depending on weather, traffic, etc.

If you are close to Salisbury, I suggest trying Salisbury Community Park first especially considering the 2 hour round trip to WWC.   Great for single speed. 6.2 miles of good singletrack trail. It is not heavily discussed due to the location, but You (and others) may be quite surprised at how good it is....well signed also. You can ride both directions for 12-13 miles. There is a trail map on the 2 kiosks.  Normally, you can ride there when all others are closed..... drains great, good soil and dries quickly.

Thanks for the offer traildog.  We were running short on time so we went ahead.  We skipped a couple of the really short internal loops (Goat Hill, Toliet & Weigh Station) and we never saw the Thread trail but otherwise got everything I think.

Man, what an incredible place.  The trails are very diverse and all the other activities looked stellar.  I will definitely be coming back.

32x21 was a little low for gearing but it was nice on a couple of those real steep climbs.  My buddy was running 32x18 and he had to walk them.  The bermed downhill sections were killer; definitely the highlight of the trip for us!!

Thanks again for all the suggestions.  I need to get to LNSP soon too.