Peck Hill State Forest

A Little Known Trail System 

By Christian Sandel

At the western fringes of the Capital-Saratoga Region, there is an overlooked mountain bike trail system with a brewery smack dab in the middle. The Peck Hill State Forest and Farm have about 20 miles of singletrack and multiuse trails near the hamlet of Meco. Both are located in Fulton County, two miles west of downtown Gloversville, and just a few miles south of the Adirondack Blue Line.

Most riders who head up to the Wheelerville Trails for machine-built enduro style riding in Caroga, unknowingly pass by the Peck Hill State Forest. Mountain biking “Pecks” is a different experience from its more popular gravity-focused neighbor 10 miles to the north. The trails in the Pecks forest are a smorgasbord of hand-cut singletrack, logging roads, and multiuse trails. Pecks is a cross-country rider’s delight of flowy singletrack and rolling hills. It doesn’t have any mountains, but you won’t find any flats either. Despite not being far from Wheelerville, Pecks soil is more sandy and has less rocks, so it drains snowmelt and rain runoff faster than its northerly neighbor.

Parking – To access the Peck Hill State Forest mountain bike trails, most locals park at the signed NYSDEC Bicycle Trail Parking Area (43°03’13.5”N 74°24’06.9”W) at 347 County Rd 101 (CR 101) in Gloversville. The state forest is 2,868 acres of mostly undeveloped pine and hardwood forests. (If you enter Peck Hill State Forest into your phone navigation app, you’ll end up further west at the Willie Marsh hiking trail, which isn’t connected to the MTB trail network.) Cell phone coverage is spotty which can make it challenging to find the mountain bike trailhead. 

A popular place to park for the ride, whether or not you enjoy refueling post-ride with carbohydrates in a fluid form, is Stump City Brewing at 521 West Fulton St, Gloversville. Stump City is open Wednesday-Sunday and offers a variety of beer styles. In the summer, every 

Wednesday there’s a 6pm group ride from the brewery that attracts riders of all skill levels, and newcomers are welcome. After the ride, mountain bikers socialize with drinks of their choice. The brewery is near the equator between the northern Pecks and the southern Farm, so it is a convenient place to park to check out both systems: stumpcitybrewery.com.

The Farm – The Farm trails were built over 15 years ago on private land by members of the Adirondack Velo Club. At the time, some of the only singletrack trails in the Capital Region were the Stables (now Daniels Road State Forest (523 acres), managed by Saratoga Mountain Bike Association) and Spier Falls at Moreau Lake State Park. Velo club members wanted to create technical trails that were closer to home. With rakes and loopers, the “rake and ride” trails of the Farm were created. If there was a steep hill, put the trail straight up it. A rock wall, go over the wall, not around it. An off-cambered section, bench cutting wasn’t invented yet so brush up on your skills. The Farm trails were designed to be a physical and technical challenge that were in the similar style of the Saratoga County area systems. These trails were unapologetic, old-school rocky, and rooty singletrack.

Today, the Farm network is best suited for intermediate and advanced riders. Due to the trails being mostly located on private property, there are few signs or navigational aids. Most riders access them by taking the Farm Trail Connector off of West Fulton Street. Currently, it is not recommended to access the Farm by the trails behind Stump City Brewing because of heavy erosion caused by ATV traffic. 

The Farm Trail Connector connects Pecks to the Farm, and vice versa. From West Fulton Street, the Farm Trail Connector is a gentle twisty climb through a pine forest. At the top of the climb, take a left at the doubletrack called the Elm Road Extension on Trailforks trail and map database system: trailforks.com. Continue riding until you cross underneath the powerlines. After the powerlines, you have left the state forest. If you continue riding away from the Farm Trail Connector, most of the Farm trails can be found on your right. There are trail signs, but they are small and inconspicuous. The sole beginner trail of the Farm is Pines and can be found on the left side of the Elm Road Extension doubletrack.

If you are in an Enduro mood: 8-Bee, Northway, and Ravine are steep twisty downhills from the Elm Road extension. Ravine is the most popular with the locals because it twists and turns over a series of old rock walls. To climb back up the ridge from any of these trails, continue down the lower doubletrack until you see the last singletrack trail on your left at the bottom of the hill. This is the entrance to Buster, it is best used as a climbing trail because it meanders across the steep grades of the ridge.

If cross-country is more your thing, try the short challenging loops on Prestone, Framed, or Between trails. These loops are located near the lower doubletrack trail. It is a true challenge to ride the Framed loop without “dabbing” (putting your foot down). The climbs on Framed are short, but almost impossibly steep in sections. The most direct route to climb out of the Farm network is the gravel road under the powerlines. Use the Power Line climb to return to the Farm Trail Connector and towards the Pecks forest if you’ve lost your bearings.

Peck Forest – In 2017, the Adirondack Velo Club became trail stewards of the Peck Hill State Forest. Members of the club and volunteers began planning and cutting trails with the permission of DEC. The trails at Pecks are hand cut, but many visitors think machines were used in bench-cut areas. Extensive amounts of earth has been removed in some of the more sloped areas, but it was created by countless hours of handiwork by the local trail builders. The mix of modern trail building techniques and swooping singletrack turns, creates an Adirondack flow style of trail riding. Local trail builders were inspired by the modern “flow” trail style of Gurney Lane Recreation Area in Queensbury and the Kalabus-Perry County Forest trails on the Wilton-Northumberland town line. When the trails were first cut they were smooth and had no rocks or roots. As Pecks “matured” over the years, more rocks and roots have emerged making the riding experience more technical.

The wider rolling trails of Pecks are more suited to beginners and intermediate riders than the Farm trails. However, expert riders enjoy riding Pecks tight turns at speed. Since Pecks is a state forest, the trails are marked with colored DEC trail markers. When riding Pecks from the state parking lot, check out the Perimeter (red) loop first. The Perimeter trail is five miles of rolling singletrack that encircles most of the other trails. Unlike the Farm, there are climbing turns and switchbacks on the Perimeter trail to take the sting out of some of Pecks steeper pitches. As mentioned earlier, there aren’t any mountains to climb, but you will be climbing or descending hills for the entire Perimeter loop. Think of the Perimeter loop as being like a human-powered roller coaster, if you brought the legs – or have an e-bike! 

All the trails at Pecks allow for two-way traffic, but Middle Earth (yellow) rides best from the upper elevation where it intersects with the B-Line trail. If ridden in this direction, Middle Earth has a net descent for its two miles of length. The first half-mile will remind you of choosing your line down a ski slope with perfect conditions. After the wide swooping slalom turns, there’s a twisty two-minute climb. After your effort, you will be rewarded with another mile of gentle downhill that again resembles carving on your skis. Middle Earth is my favorite trail!

One of the newer trails at Pecks, is called Rooticus (blue). It has the least amount of climbing, but the most turning. The mile-long trail is squeezed into a handful of acres surrounded by other trails. Due to its forgiving gradients, Rooticus has become a favorite of beginner riders who visit Pecks.

Future of Pecks and the Farm – There are currently 20 local trail stewards who build and maintain trails in Fulton County. What sets the Pecks system apart from other Capital-Saratoga Region systems is there haven’t been state grants or fundraising that supports its development and maintenance. It is a labor of love for the community of mountain bikers who live in the surrounding area. At 2,868 acres, every trail system in the Capital Region could fit into the undeveloped portions of the Pecks Forest. With a coherent vision of what could be and funding, Pecks forest has a bright future.

For more information on the trails, on Facebook check the Peck Hill State Forest Trail News group. If Wheelerville is too wet, don’t drive home frustrated, stop at Pecks and enjoy a relaxing or challenging ride! Like Wheelerville, Pecks is open to hunters in the fall. If you are riding be sure to wear universal orange between September 27 and December 7, 2025.  Avoid riding at dusk or dawn, because that is when hunters are most likely to be out. 

Christian Sandel (csandel1000@gmail.com) is part of the community of mountain bikers and volunteers who built and maintains the trails of Pecks and the Farm. He is an elementary school teacher who enjoys riding, skiing, and hiking in the Adirondacks.