Upstate Rides for ALL

By Josh Clevenstine

Whether you’ve been pedaling in the woods for decades, months, or just started riding, there has never been a better time to be a mountain biker in northeastern New York. There is quality riding for ALL levels everywhere. I live across the street from Round Lake in Saratoga County and whether I want to drive to the trailhead to be five minutes, two hours, or anything in between, a wealth of riding options is waiting for me.

Twenty minutes north lies my favorite go to, Daniels Road State Forest in Saratoga Springs. The 523-acre area features designated mountain bike trails under the volunteer stewardship of Saratoga Mountain Bike Association. Daniels Road info: dec.ny.gov/lands/104708.html.

SMBA has added over five miles of sanctioned trail to Daniels as well as addressed problematic spots with some quality stone work. The club has seen tremendous turnouts on trailwork days and outstanding snow tracking efforts for winter fat biking, which I’ve been involved with for four years. SMBA continues to grow and attract new riders and group members. Visit: saratogamtb.org.

A few minutes north of Daniels on US Route 9 lies a plot of land that was once a graphite mine, a driving range, and is a beauty of new intermediate flow network, Graphite Range Community Forest in Wilton – on trails built by Steve and Sylvia Ovitt’s Wilderness Property Management. It’s a multiuse, community-managed forest that opened in December 2023, which is now owned by Saratoga County. Stretching across 200 acres, this is already a recreational hub for the surrounding communities and a space for environmental education and economic opportunity – all while helping to protect the ecological value and resilience in an area vital for regional natural resource connectivity.

I got a chance to ask Ethan Winter, the past land owner with the drive to make this network happen, for his thoughts on the project so far. “As this project developed, we focused on the concept of communities building trails and trails building communities. This project has been such a fun experience for my family and me because every time we take people out on the land, we make new friends. I tell people, it’s a community forest, and it’s also a friend factory. This project has been a way to engage the community in trail building and hopefully create a model for the Adirondack foothills, Saratoga and the Capital Region.” More info: saratogaplan.org.

Sitting off Northway Exit 20 is Gurney Lane Recreation Area and Rush Pond Trail System in Queensbury. Gurney is 150 acres with 13 miles of trails for year-round enjoyment; seven miles of singletrack and six miles of doubletrack. In 2022, work was completed on Rush Pond after nearly ten years of work. The intermediate flow trails offer crafted bridges and views of the pond wetlands in the woods between Queensbury Schools and Gurney Lane.

I remember when Gurney itself flowed like Rush Pond. Now I hear riders refer to Gurney as ‘North Gurney’ and say how it’s ‘way more rugged’ than Rush Pond. The reality is, they’re not wrong as years of use have made it more challenging. Riders looking for a bridge between the relentless tech of Daniels or Moreau, and the intermediate flow of Rush or Graphite can now find it on many of the trails at “North” Gurney – this natural aging process has been so cool to watch.

I spoke with one of the stewards at Gurney/Rush, my pal and fellow winter rider, Scott Wheeler. “Nearly a decade ago Gurney Lane was just getting its feet wet with new construction of a few miles of singletrack,” recalls Scott, “…Queensbury Parks & Recreation’s continued investment into mountain biking has paid dividends, with nearly 20 miles of singletrack spanning Gurney Lane and Rush Pond. We aren’t done growing either! Rick’s Bike Shop’s ‘Outpost’ at Gurney, provides the area’s first on-trail mountain bike rentals, service, and retail shop. Future trails are planned to be built by Wilderness Property Management and additional investments are being made by the town, local businesses, and community leaders – we are extremely fortunate to live in an area where mountain biking is thriving!” More info: recreation.queensbury.net.

Staying on I-87 and crossing into North Warren County, we’re under the volunteer stewardship of Upper Hudson Trails Alliance: upperhudsontrails.org. UHTA is led by Drew Cappabianca, owner of The Hub and Brant Lake Bike Park (Bartonville Mountain) in Brant Lake, and they’ve been on a tear.

“We’ve been busy writing grants, building trails, and building UHTA to be the primary trail organization for Warren County,” Drew said. “We’ve been building beginner and intermediate flow terrain at Dynamite Hill in Chestertown. We have a two-mile loop completed, with a total of five miles in the coming years. We have a powered wheelbarrow to help move material on this project and others. In North Creek, we’ve hired professional trail builders to make mountain bike specific trail improvements to the Rabbit Pond Trail, which will effectively extend the top of the Long Trail at the North Creek Ski Bowl into a seven-mile loop through the Vanderwhacker Wild Forest. We’re working with the DEC to finalize this plan.”  

If UHTA gets the green light, they will build it. I can’t wait to see the Long Trail become a loop. The other networks they take care of have also seen noticeable steady maintenance and improvement under their guidance. More info: upperhudsontrails.org.

About an hour west of our immediate region sits an explosion on the scene that is now in its fifth year, Wheelerville Trails. The network is made possible through collaboration with the Adirondack Foothills Trails Alliance and the Town of Caroga. It’s the brainchild of trail steward, Jeremy Manning, and trail builders Eli Glesmann and Justin Vesp.

Reflecting on how Wheelerville went from nothing to a destination riding location in less than three seasons, Jeremy said, “Wheelerville started out as an idea that was hatched at a town board meeting back in 2016. The Town of Caroga was trying to decide what to do with a 118-acre parcel of land it has owned since the early 1960s. We applied for and received some DEC funding for a feasibility study and received another DEC grant in 2019 which we used to start construction.”

Jeremy and his crew knew our region was lacking high speed gravity trails loaded with big jumps, drops and berms. Wanting his trails to be fast, aggressive and gravity oriented he looked northwest to the trails in Old Forge where he connected with trail builders Eli and Justin.

“We partnered with AFTA and hired many of the builders from Old Forge. At this point,” Jeremy continued, “we have about nine miles of trails which are mostly downhill focused. Honestly, I really can’t believe how successful it’s been and the support we’ve received from the mountain bike community. The next phase we are working on is the connection of Wheelerville to the downtown area of Caroga, and the addition of more beginner and intermediate terrain. We have plans for about eight more miles of trails over the next two years.”

Last summer saw Eli and his crew back at Wheelerville cutting the miles Jeremy mentioned above – the trails have an aggressive feel that rewards the bold. The faster you ride and the bigger you jump, the more the trails make sense. Getting to know a little more about Eli, he shared some of his story and what he loves about building in the Adirondacks. “I always try to incorporate the natural features the land has to offer,” said Eli, “which is a big part of the reason Old Forge and Wheelerville are so appealing. There’s no lack of exciting terrain! I started building trails in 2018. I knew there was demand for trails in the Adirondacks. I’ve been lucky to work with Old Forge and Wheelerville to create successful trail systems.” More info: wheelervilletrails.com.

In the greater High Peaks Region, Barkeater Trails Alliance builds, maintains, and advocates for a system of community and backcountry trails for mountain biking and cross-country ski touring. BETA has been connecting and nurturing community-based trail systems for 35 years, covering 125 miles. In 2011, they began building mountain biking trails in Wilmington, Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Elizabethtown and Keene.

The last couple of years, BETA has partnered with professional trail builders to open three new machine-built gravity trails in Wilmington, Keene/Jay and Lake Placid. This spring, at the East Branch Community Trails in Keene, they unveiled and named their new descent, flow and enduro trails with fun for riders of all levels. More info: betatrails.org.

It’s a great time to be a mountain biker in Upstate New York. Thanks to many people, we are blessed to have such a wide variety of riding in our backyard. My call to you, riding reader: give back. Reach out to your local trail organization. Get involved with SMBA, UHTA, AFTA, BETA or whatever outfit stewards your region. I promise you it’s worth it.

Josh Clevenstine is a truck driving Adirondack folk musician and trail/comm director for SMBA. When not ripping around on his bike, you may find him strumming his guitar at venues in the Capital Region and Adirondacks. For gig and streaming info, visit: joshclevenstine.com.