Revisiting Mahlon

[SmooveP]

Used to race here back in the early 90's. Was feeling nostalgic, and have been hitting different parks in NJ pretty much every weekend and decided on Mahlon for yesterday's ride. Rode Yellow, then crossed the street to Green, Orange, White, Anrothar's, and some of Teal.

Granted, it's been almost 20 years, but a lot of the trails seemed unfamiliar. The races I did were in the Saffin area, but I remember much less of the wide, smooth gravel stuff. Maybe the old course used more of the Teal trail? Didn't get a chance to check it out. Is the part of the Teal trail that winds through the Yellow area more interesting? (i.e., singletrack, rocks, hills, etc.)

Saw 3 ATV's on either Orange or White. Are they allowed in there? They were respectful, even stopped as soon as they saw us, but still...

Didn't get to check out the Beaver Brook trail. What's that like?

Had a blast riding there on the fatbike. Perfect weather, spent a good chunk of the day out there, but didn't see any other bikes on the trails. What gives? BTW, kudos to trail maintainers. Everything was in good shape.

 

[goldsbar]

ATVs should absolutely not be there.

Best singletrack IMO is on the Saffin Pond side. Parts of the yellow - Stonegate - are singletrack or at least ride like singletrack (it's NJ, most singletrack isn't really singletrack). White is (awesome) singletrack. There's an unmarked but very maintained singletrack about 5 minutes from the pond lot that's some of the best singletrack in NJ. On the other side of the road, if you make the first right from the rail bed (a few minutes ride) and climb to the top, there's some shortish but nice singletrack loops to the right.

I know your feeling. When I first started riding Mahlon (again) a few years ago, I thought it was all boring gravel roads. It's not. Some of the best riding around IMO. Allamuchy North is tied or in second depending on my mood. Wildcat has great singletrack but can sometimes feel like a lot of work. Haven't been to Ringwood in ages.

 

[SmooveP]

Thanks, goldsbar. We found lots of good stuff, but I plan to go back and explore some more. Where's the unmarked singletrack you mentioned?