gingertooth
Active Member
I'll send u my number to work it out for a meet up
North Jersey Dirt Epics
- Thread starter JimN
- Start date
What time you rolling out? I could be interested in heading towards JH. Probably bail after cross Rt23 somewhere.
I would need to leave by 7ish probably. It's now looking hotter, humider, and possibly more thunderstormy though, so I might bail on the original plan. I'd still be down for something though.
Exploring the Ringwood/Jungle dirt connector:
https://www.strava.com/activities/658822489
So yesterday I met @soundz at some dirt lot off East Shore Rd in Awosting. We took the yellow blazed Jennings Hollow trail up toward NY, and crossed the river just south of the border. There are some ropes there to help you cross, but with the lack of rain this summer, crossing was easy. We then briefly took the Sterling Ridge/Highlands trail, which got us over to the Patterson Mine trail and over to the yellow blazed Hasenclever trail.
We took that over through Peter's Mine, which is a superfund site, and the trail is officially closed there. You can get around it to the north, but it didn't seem like cutting through was a big deal. Coming out of there, we screwed up and got off the Hasenclever trail and ended up on the powerlines heading north. This is probably not a bad option, except there were spots that were heavily overgrown, so maybe not so great in the summer.
From the powerlines we ended up on the white/crossover trail, which was the highlight of the ride for me. I remember working on this trail when IMBA came to Ringwood (back in 2011 I think?), but I've never actually gone over there to ride the section we worked on. It was a really nice descent into Ringwood.
From Ringwood, we took the road and started heading back toward Jungle. We went in behind Long Pond Ironworks, and then came back out and onto a long and grueling singletrack climb up into Jungle. Lots of hike a bike for us, though it might be at least a little better in the other direction, coming out of Jungle. We got into Jungle right by the tanks, and then just hit Otter Slide and Animal Shute before taking the road back out.
Heading down Greenwood Lake Turnpike, Jimmy was coasting and looking at the map on his phone. Some dude in the garden center parking lot saw this and asked me if he was texting while riding. We were coasting downhill at a good pace, and I wasn't quick enough to retort with "No, he's hunting Pokemon."
It looks like there is trail heading back to our cars from Greenwood Lake Turnpike, but there wasn't anything on the NYNJTC map down where we were. So we took Awosting Rd up to a trail head and then cut through by Green Turtle Pond. It looks like the trail went right back to our car, but we missed a turn and ended up at the wrong lot. Then we just took the road back to the right lot.
This is definitely a viable (mostly) dirt connector from Jungle to Ringwood. It's pretty much all old/busted woods roads and fire roads though, so not super exciting riding. It would probably also be a lot wetter if we weren't having such a dry summer, which could pose some problems here and there. In addition, Jimmy and I had to take turns eating spiderwebs. This is a downside to riding in areas that see very little use. When I eventually do the Splitrock/Jungle/Ringwood epic, I will likely do a combination of this ride and some road to make it a bit easier.
https://www.strava.com/activities/658822489
So yesterday I met @soundz at some dirt lot off East Shore Rd in Awosting. We took the yellow blazed Jennings Hollow trail up toward NY, and crossed the river just south of the border. There are some ropes there to help you cross, but with the lack of rain this summer, crossing was easy. We then briefly took the Sterling Ridge/Highlands trail, which got us over to the Patterson Mine trail and over to the yellow blazed Hasenclever trail.
We took that over through Peter's Mine, which is a superfund site, and the trail is officially closed there. You can get around it to the north, but it didn't seem like cutting through was a big deal. Coming out of there, we screwed up and got off the Hasenclever trail and ended up on the powerlines heading north. This is probably not a bad option, except there were spots that were heavily overgrown, so maybe not so great in the summer.
From the powerlines we ended up on the white/crossover trail, which was the highlight of the ride for me. I remember working on this trail when IMBA came to Ringwood (back in 2011 I think?), but I've never actually gone over there to ride the section we worked on. It was a really nice descent into Ringwood.
From Ringwood, we took the road and started heading back toward Jungle. We went in behind Long Pond Ironworks, and then came back out and onto a long and grueling singletrack climb up into Jungle. Lots of hike a bike for us, though it might be at least a little better in the other direction, coming out of Jungle. We got into Jungle right by the tanks, and then just hit Otter Slide and Animal Shute before taking the road back out.
Heading down Greenwood Lake Turnpike, Jimmy was coasting and looking at the map on his phone. Some dude in the garden center parking lot saw this and asked me if he was texting while riding. We were coasting downhill at a good pace, and I wasn't quick enough to retort with "No, he's hunting Pokemon."
It looks like there is trail heading back to our cars from Greenwood Lake Turnpike, but there wasn't anything on the NYNJTC map down where we were. So we took Awosting Rd up to a trail head and then cut through by Green Turtle Pond. It looks like the trail went right back to our car, but we missed a turn and ended up at the wrong lot. Then we just took the road back to the right lot.
This is definitely a viable (mostly) dirt connector from Jungle to Ringwood. It's pretty much all old/busted woods roads and fire roads though, so not super exciting riding. It would probably also be a lot wetter if we weren't having such a dry summer, which could pose some problems here and there. In addition, Jimmy and I had to take turns eating spiderwebs. This is a downside to riding in areas that see very little use. When I eventually do the Splitrock/Jungle/Ringwood epic, I will likely do a combination of this ride and some road to make it a bit easier.
Thin Diesel
Well-Known Member
Are you planning something????
Thin Diesel
Well-Known Member
I'm available Saturday. Wanted to do a big ride. Hope I don't end up eating those words.
OK cool. I have a day pass, but apparently we have dinner plans. I'm thinking High Mountain to Ramapo to Ringwood and back. I'm figuring on 10ish hours, starting at High Mountain around 7am. You (or anyone else that's interested) could meet me at TOS, but I'm not sure what time that'll be.
Thin Diesel
Well-Known Member
I'm in. Will try to do the whole thing with you. I've never ridden that long though. Do you pack food and drink for the whole trip or stop somewhere?
Also - meet at the lot by the school entrance?
Also - meet at the lot by the school entrance?
It's gonna be cool in the morning, and shouldn't get too hot in the afternoon. I'll bring 100oz of water in the Camelbak, and two bottles with Gatorade on the bike. We can presumably refill with water up at Shepard's Lake. There's also that deli over near the Ryerson School if we need it. I'll probably bring 7-8 Clif Bars. Starting at the red trail lot on WPU campus.
Thin Diesel
Well-Known Member
Alright see you there 7am start
My current plan is to start at WPU and take unmarked singletrack out toward Reservoir Dr, then take yellow to blue out the far side of High Mountain. I have never done this, but some HM locals did it this week and said it was doable. Then it's a short road ride into Pompton Lakes to jump on the bottom of the Cannonball Trail and ride up to the top of Skyline. Then I'm thinking red down into Ringwood toward the Ryerson School, and then probably take the fireroad out to Shepard's Lake. Then take Race, Skylands, red, and down Warm Puppy. Double back a little bit on the fireroad to go all the way up white to Pierson's Ridge, and then take yellow back to TOS. We'll head down cannonball and hit orange if we still have the time/legs. Out the bottom of cannonball, it's a short road ride back to High Mountain. There are some road options to shorten up the return a bit depending again on time and legs.
I have no idea how many miles this is, maybe something in the 40-60 range? My rough estimate is that it'll take about ten hours, depending on some of the optional stuff. I'm figuring five hours for the TOS to Ringwood and back portion, an hour each way for Ramapo, and three hours total for the HM and road stuff. I would like to hit all of the tech in Ringwood, because I haven't been there recently, but we can always pull the plug on some of that.
We could do yellow from Pierson's Ridge downhill to blue and then take red back, but it's gonna be pretty tough either way.
Thin Diesel
Well-Known Member
Thx Jim. Great ride. You're no slouch yourself - on that Fatboy you really kill the climbs! The real monster and King of the Trails had to be the rattler we saw on the ramapo/ringwood trail. Magnificent specimen!
