Growing Trail Networks

By Josh Clevenstine

I think it was about 2015 when I noticed that mountain biking seemed to be really growing in our pocket of the Northeast. That was the year someone first showed me Gurney Lane. Every year I wonder, “Is this the year we may see things slow down or plateau some?” Well, so far, the answer to this question every year has been a resounding, “no,” and 2025 looks to be no different. While having this train of thought bounce around in my head about the immediate Capital-Saratoga Region, I started thinking of our area on a larger scale in terms of the various groups who steward the mountain biking networks in Northeastern NY

I volunteer with Saratoga Mountain Bike Association, as the communications director, and a trail director for Daniels Road State Forest. For SMBA, it’s been a year of upkeep and tending to all of the physical growth over the last few years. Graphite Range Community Forest is up and running as a year-round riding spot just north of Daniels Road State Park. We have a great main trail director at Graphite, Thomas Khairallah, who reflects SMBA’s work ethic: rock work is the answer to a mud puddle, clear any tree or branch if you’re able to, and if not, come back with a saw. Thomas has been a great bridge between the trails themselves, Saratoga PLAN (land management) and Saratoga County (land ownership). 

SMBA spearheaded many trail volunteer initiatives and tracked every hour: 60 hours of volunteer work from May-December 2024 and 40 hours through the end of July 2025. With the long anticipated connection to Daniels Road State Forest waiting in the wings, new trails within the Graphite network on deck, and community relationships being solidified between Saratoga Shredders, Saratoga PLAN, Saratoga County and trail user groups, Graphite continues to grow and thrive.

Continuing with SMBA, 2025 has been a year of upkeep and trail maintenance at Daniels Road State Forest. The new trailhead behind Artisanal Brew Works helped alleviate the congestion we were seeing at the DEC parking lot. A very wet spring season gave us a great opportunity to address problem areas with combination of rock work and drainage. Currently we are in the process overhauling some of our wooden bridges. Daniels Road now boasts over 30 miles of singletrack that rides great in both directions, and the new trails are ‘riding in’ nicely. Our winter riding continues to thrive. This past winter saw heavy snowfall and our growing tracking crew answered the bell every time – even when we had to use snowshoes! SMBA in general has fantastic people in its organization leading with Art Picard back at president, Dave Walters as VP, and Erin Lasky as secretary – it’s a great group.

Working north into southern Warren County, let’s stop at Gurney Lane Recreation Area. A conversation with steward, Scott Wheeler, pointed out that there have been some retirements that call for a tip of the cap. Steve Ovitt, owner of Wilderness Property Management for 17 years has sold his business to Zach Rabeler, who worked there for the last 10 years. Steve’s work at Gurney and all through the region has been enjoyed by countless riders. His trails that famously were a good time for riders of all skill levels landed at the same time that bike geometry and technology took off, and we’ve seen the boom that these two factors led to. 

Also, retired as of June 2025 is Steve Lovering, the director of parks and recreation for the Town of Queensbury, who held his position for 35 years and was instrumental to the MTB park builds at Gurney Lane and Rush Pond. Jennifer France has stepped into the parks and rec role and brings 24 years of experience to it. In Gurney, they’ve been resurfacing Surf and Rogue Extension trails. Zack stated, “To have the opportunity to revisit trails that we built nearly 10 years ago and put a facelift on it has been a very full circle experience. We’ll always be grateful for how much love the public shows for those trails.”

Further into Warren Country we step into Upper Hudson Trail Alliance territory. UHTA continues to do well under the leadership of Drew Cappabianca, who owns/operates The Hub in Brant Lake. The North Creek Ski Bowl has had resurfacing work done on the sandy leg of the Ski Bowl Loop climb under the village chair as well as on some of the trails in the loops underneath the Long Trail. There is still construction running through The Long Trail as Gore is installing their new mountain coaster. The Long Trail is rideable as the water pipes now have gravel hills going up and over them in both directions. However, I’d recommend using The Long Trail to climb up and then going down the new Rabbit Pond trail. This trail goes from backwoods rugged Adirondack loam into full speed flow and runs for forever. Once you finish going down Rabbit Pond, bank right and then pedal right back to the top of the village chair area – you’ll already be halfway up – and enjoy the loops! Once construction is done on The Long Trail, Gore and North Creek will fix up The Long Trail.

Dynamite Hill Recreation Area in Chestertown now has a few miles of flowing single track and is a great new addition to the region, near Gore and Brant Lake. 

Over at the Brant Lake Bike Park, there are two new downhill trails off the second summit of Bartonville Mountain – where Rebound currently takes you. Both trails are a tall glass of whiskey and will keep the rider on edge the whole way down. I love them. WPM’s Zach Rabeler and team were builders for these trails, and that makes me excited about what else they will be doing as time goes on!

Farther north in Essex County, we step into the territory of Barkeater Trail Alliance. I had a chance to visit with BETA’s outreach coordinator, Megan Gorss about what she is particularly excited about. “So far, 2025 has been a great year for biking and skiing in BETA’s neck of the woods. Our trail crew, contractors, and volunteers have done an amazing job with building three new community trails – found at Blueberry in Elizabethtown and East Branch in Keene – in our network. These trails are such a triumph because they expand our network by offering a wider variety of technical difficulty and route options for trail users. This is in addition to our ongoing efforts to maintain and restore trails where erosion and use have negatively impacted the user experience.”

Megan continued, “Whether it’s through adding more miles or improving the miles we already have, every BETA trail network keeps getting better thanks to our community’s hard work. Building that community and sense of connection through in-person events is also an important part of what we do. Lately my favorite events have been our new Slow Your Roll rides, but the social hours we hosted last winter, our annual Wilmington Mountain Bike Festival, and our volunteer work parties get honorable mentions. The Mountain Bike Fest is Friday-Sunday, August 29-31 in Wilmington. It’s a three-day event featuring group rides, live music, food and beer, a large bonfire, and more: bikereg.com. Speaking of volunteers, their dedication is inspiring. Support for BETA’s work by community members grows each year and makes what we do possible. We’re bringing that momentum into preparing for the next ski season and planning for the long-term future of trails in our region.”

Shifting over to the western and southern Adirondacks, we check in on Adirondack Foothills Trail Alliance and the town of Caroga. Old Forge’s McCauley Mountain and Caroga’s Wheelerville Trails have both had Eli Glesmann’s crew, Blue Line Trail Design, busily adding trails and refreshing well-loved ones as well. At McCauley, Blue Line has been adding a handful of new trails off the summit, with two specifically in 2025. The new trails cover all ranges of difficulty and are worth the climb. The Adirondack Mountain Bike Festival, brought to you by AFTA and Central Adirondack Association, is back in Old Forge on Saturday-Sunday, Sept 19-20, with 40 miles of machine- and hand-built trails for all abilities, with stunning fall foliage: adkmtbfestival.com.

At Wheelerville, riders will find a completely revamped Forever Wild that truly upped the stakes from the prior build. Live Free and Fly has some new sections that jump and land a bit better than they did prior. Wheelerville has some big plans in the works for running it’s trails right into the hamlet of Caroga Lake. With Jeremy Manning’s trail management at the town of Caroga, they’ll accomplish this goal. Jeremy has also been visibly stoked about his goal to make the fourth annual Wheelerville Bike Festival on Saturday-Sunday, August 23-24, “bigger and weirder.” Look for music in and around the mountain, contests for creative tent displays and cash prizes in the jump jam for both men’s and women’s categories, and of course, the return of the Live Free and Fly downhill race: wheelervilletrails.com.

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.