Allaire State Park vs. Hartshorne Woods

B

bydabeach

Member
I currently live close to Hartshorne Woods. As many know, it is a great ride, and I have been riding most Saturdays and Sundays.

We are thinking about moving to Wall, and we would be within 2 miles of Allaire State Park. I have not ridden the trails there, and may give them a try this weekend. Anybody who has ridden both trails, have any thoughts on pluses and minuses of both trails?

I love the hills and the cardio workout on the Hartshorne trails, and it seems I may lose that at Allaire.

Thanks in advance.
 
allaire is a pedaller's park, much flatter than hartshorne so its a different kind of workout, but if you really want to you can put together some loops that will give you a good cardio. just hammer and dont stop pedalling.

push hard up glass, up serpentine, and of course up tiger. this will get your heart going.

btw you can ride both, they are not that far apart. riding different types of parks will benefit you in the long run by making you a more complete rider.
 
Allaire is flatter then Harshorne but the singletrack is tighter, with more twisty's. Don't be afraid to throw the bike on your car and go explore other trails in NJ.
 
live near hartshorne and huber as well and do most of my riding there. but Allaire is a quick drive down the GSP and I try to get there as often as I can.

Allaire is a great place to ride. fast and very flowy. its bigger too (miles of trails). I love going to Allaire and just pedaling for a few hours. sure it might not have the hills of hartshorne but, as others have said, there is no reason you cant get a good workout there.

living near Allaire would be great - I suggest you ride there often (a GREAT park to have as your home base), but make sure to make the trip up to Hartshorne every few weeks to mix it up
 
There is a lot of variety at Allaire. While the elevation is not there, you can splice some trails together to get some decent climbing in. As others have said, constant pedaling is the key here. Overall the park drains well. and is a great place for year round riding.

Plus there aren't nearly as many dog walkers on the weekend;).

Get out and ride some other parks, variety is the spice of life, er the ride.:D
 
No, no, no !!!! If u ride Hartshorne, you'll probably hate Allaire. It just works that way. :) People often love "their" home parks. I love Allaire, hate Hartshorne. See, there's ur proof. LOL. I don't care for Clayton. Once u get to the bottom of that "soup bowl" all ur doing is climbing! I like a mix of everything. And IMHO, Allaire has it all. P.S. I love Six Mile Run also.
 
I'll pick parks based on what I feel like riding.. If I want short steep techy hills climbs and technical descents, I'll pick Harts.

if I want speed and flow, I'll pick 6 mile and Allaire... In this category and I'm lazy and don't want to drive too far, I go to Mercer.

If I want speed, flow with a little more elevation and less mileage - Clayton

If its winter and the only place with dirt is Wharton, I'll go there. I go there if I need to get a long MTB ride in... 2 laps is a good base workout but will drive you batty.
 
Allaire is our "go to" spot, a bit of everything. We generally combine Huber and Hartshorne , parking at Huber, Clayton we normally bring both tandems and start with a road ride and then several laps of the park on the Ventana and Six Mile when we are tired of all of the above and want to take a drive. Lewis Morris is also like that for us. There are plenty of more challenging spots to add when the mood strikes us.
Ed and Pat
the Snot Rocket tandem
 
Mountain Bike Mike said:
I'll pick parks based on what I feel like riding.. If I want short steep techy hills climbs and technical descents, I'll pick Harts.

if I want speed and flow, I'll pick 6 mile and Allaire... In this category and I'm lazy and don't want to drive too far, I go to Mercer.

If I want speed, flow with a little more elevation and less mileage - Clayton

If its winter and the only place with dirt is Wharton, I'll go there. I go there if I need to get a long MTB ride in... 2 laps is a good base workout but will drive you batty.
Click to expand...

that nails it for me. your mercer is my tatum or holmdel park (south part where mtb'ing is allowed) - go there when want to get a ride in but too lazy or tired for hills at hartshorne and too lazy to drive to allaire. ;)
 
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