Road Trip Advice

VelocityBoy

VelocityBoy

"Sleeveless Joe"
Looking for a new locale for an extended weekend trip with my bike club for next Summer. After 5 consecutive years, the Kingdom Trails are beginning to lose some of their luster and novelty and am now considering:

a.) Raystown Lake

and

b.) White Clay

Admittedly, I know little about these parks and am open to suggestions and good advice regarding either destination. Only really two requirements, much like KT: relatively close non-franchised sleeping and dining spots (ie. - don't want to have to stay at a Holiday Inn Express and eat at an Appleby's 20 miles away from the trailhead. Not real big on camping either.) And the trail system should be suitable for a wide range of peeps of diverse biking skills; anyone from an expert to casual weekend warrior could have the time of their life there.

Any info on these two parks and any other place that might meet the criteria is much appreciated!
 
Both have similar terrain, Both are "beginner friendly (no crazy rock gardens or anything, but some climbing is involved)".

Raystown feels more "epic" and is much faster. You only really have the food you brought or pick up at the Walmart 20 minutes up the road. Enough trails for a weekend trip, but you will be doing a couple of the same trails over and over again, most likely because they are awesome.

You could do that IMBA Roth Rock epic for the non-noobs one of the days if you'd want to make the weekend even more epic. Don't have any details on that, except its the same area as the Stoopid 50, what some people coin as one of the harder races they have done.

White Clay is close enough for a day trip even if you live in North Jersey; cool local eats around in downtown Newark. Not enough trails for two days IMO, you can easily clock 30 miles in all 3 of the surrounding parks (Middle Run, Judge Morris, etc).

With that said, Raystown is the bet for a weekend trip. Cooler vibe when you aren't mountain biking. For the best bang for your buck, wake up super early, pack some food, and ride White Clay. You can park right in the middle of the park and use it as a pit stop to drop off dead riders and refuel. It's a tad hard to justify the trip to Raystown with the quality of trails at White Clay doe. Not saying Raystown isn't what everyone says it is, but even if WC is only 80% as rad as Raystown, the gas and the time spent driving easily make up for it.
 
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Fair Hill Md is right next door (nearly) to White Clay/Middle Run and has (I was told by locals) 80 miles of trails (trail map seems to confirm). Rode there 2 wk ago at the DE Trailspinners Jamboree. I was also told one can ride from one park to the next with just a small stretch of pavement in between. From our hotel room in Newark, White Clay was 15 minutes away, Fair Hill 20.

We went to Raystown Lake last weekend. What a park. More fun than a barrel of monkeys. We left with big broad smiles on our faces. It is out there though (4 1/4 hrs to Little Falls doing 75 - 80 all the way) Definitiely was worth the trip.
 
Mildly Wild said:
Fair Hill Md is right next door (nearly) to White Clay/Middle Run and has (I was told by locals) 80 miles of trails (trail map seems to confirm). Rode there 2 wk ago at the DE Trailspinners Jamboree. I was also told one can ride from one park to the next with just a small stretch of pavement in between. From our hotel room in Newark, White Clay was 15 minutes away, Fair Hill 20.

We went to Raystown Lake last weekend. What a park. More fun than a barrel of monkeys. We left with big broad smiles on our faces. It is out there though (4 1/4 hrs to Little Falls doing 75 - 80 all the way) Definitiely was worth the trip.
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You've been to all 3, Bruce...which didya like best? Accomodations?
 
White Clay/Middle Run is in Delaware and Fair Hill is just across the border in Maryland. They are very similar in terrain. Alot more horse shit at Fair Hill. There's a skills park at White Clay as well, with much better trail markings. Easy to get lost at Fair Hill if you don't know way.

Went to Raystown over the summer for a guys weekend and we camped right near the trails. Rode 3 days, doing the one side twice. Also took jet skis for some fun in the lake. Trails are well marked

For an extended trip, Raystown all the way. MD/De for a day trip.
 
JDurk nailed it, IMO, Fair Hill isn't worth the drive if you are passing White Clay.
 
White Clay is a definite possibility. Accomodations close by?

As usual, exquisite video Manny.
But what's with the sleeveless-ness? 😉
 
VelocityBoy said:
You've been to all 3, Bruce...which didya like best? Accomodations?
Click to expand...

Raystown was by far the most fun. White Clay 2nd and Fair Hill 3rd. The local bike club did a fantastic job with White Clay and Middle Run in terms of trail building, bridges, trail features, etc. Fair Hill has much more mileage and is a little rockier (nothing like North Jersey though). We stayed in Newark DE (very close to WC and FH) a nice college town/city where there are plenty of places to stay and things to do.

Raystown is sort of like a giant pump track/slalom through the trees course. We did not stay in or near Raystown as we were coming in from spending time in Gettysburg, then driving straight home after the ride. I know there are a lot of nice rental units (cabins, bungalows, etc.) near Raystown Lake, but other that there's not a lot that we saw there in Huntingdon, the closest town. Definitely, out in the sticks.
 
The Kalmyk said:
If your not dead set on those two maybe consider Rothrock???

Here is a cool link to free maps for both Rothrock and Raystown ...

http://www.purplelizard.com/
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I just went to Raystown a few weeks ago and we drove up to Rothrock for a change of pace (about 1 hour drive). It's like both ends of the spectrum, Raystown = 6 mile on steroids and Rothrock = Sourlands but 5x the trails. If you do Rothrock make sure to hit the Tussey Mountain Trail, great trail and amazing views. In all, a great long weekend.

Tim
 
white clay/middle run with fair hill so close is a two for one deal that makes for a great weekend.
 
Either White Clay or Raystown is a great weekend away. I personally prefer Raystown only because those trails are primarily mountain biking trails -- you don't get horses and a lot of hikers at Raystown. Also, the trails drain a whole lot better than White Clay.

We usually camp out when doing a riding weekend, so Raystown winds hands down on that front -- Seven Points campground at Raystown is great and also allows beer, while Lums Pond in DE is militant about their non-alchohol policy. Also, the last time we camped in DE, there was a massive infestation of stink bugs. I kid you not, there were HUNDREDS of them hidden in our pop-up trailer. Yuk!

Just a word of caution -- you end up flying on these trail systems because they are all buff and the flow is great. There are a lot of blind curves (especially at White Clay), so watch out for hikers and opposite traffic!
 
Anyone been to Raystown in winter? I am thinking of checking it out on the way out to Louisville in January. Was wondering how the conditions might be.
 
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