I’m driving to Charleston next Sunday from Nj. Anybody know of any trails within a few hours of chareston, that would be on the way. Even 4 hours away is ok, because I would just get a hotel after the ride and finish up the trip the next day. Maybe someplace with some good riding and a decent restaurant nearby? Looks like Richmond is a little too far away, although, if you‘ve got suggestions, I’m all ears.
Anyone have any advice on trails in South Carolina.
- Thread starter roc
- Start date
AL.
Does more trail maintenance than you, without a he
FATS(fork area trail system) is a large park,i think close to 30 miles of trails.Located about 2 hrs from Charleston..North Augusta,South carolina.
Wannamaker county park is a small trail system 5-8 miles in North Charleston.
Marrington Plantation in Goose Creek.SC.
Wannamaker county park is a small trail system 5-8 miles in North Charleston.
Marrington Plantation in Goose Creek.SC.
Thanks, that's a little off course. I'll be bringing a road bike as well. I am going to try to get some rides in.
I am trying to avoid the Washington area at all costs on my way home from SC. I may even be leaving from charlotte. Where would you go on the way back to jersey from charlotte.
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
Whitewater Center - food, beer, 50 miles of trails. Other stuff to do as well. Pretty easy to navigate. I can give ya a idea on a loop I’d do to do what I prefer and think is the fun stuff.
Lake Norman State Park - 30-35 miles, very flowy, more on the way home than Charlotte proper. @jShort rode them with me but it was a long time ago and I’m sure he forgot.
Uwharrie - if all others are rained out, this always drains well, has some of the more rocky stuff in the area, pretty remote. @xc62701 raced those trails last year or two years ago?
Rocky River Trail - the closest to me and my favorite. Hand cut trails on private property. Some fun technical bits.
Everything else is not really a destination type park, and if you had one day, those would be on my list!
From Charlotte, no matter where in NJ I was going (except maybe south south jersey) id take 77/81/78 every time. It’s almost always 9 hours of driving for me, while if I left in the middle of the night and tried to take the 30-40 minute shorter drive using 95, I’d hit traffic. Charleston is obviously completely different to travel from, but if you want to burn a day and travel west 3 hours and ride some cool stuff, it may be less stressful/more fun overall lol
Thanks, I’ll check out that whitewater center on the day I get to charlotte. I’ve wanted to check that out since they had the Olympics? Am I remembering that right?
on the way home from charlotte to northern Nj, any place along the way closer to the end of the trip worth stopping at?
Pretty sure the only Olympic trail was in Athens, Georgia. I did a race there when I was like 14.
Definitely take 77/81 back to NJ no matter where you leave from. Less traffic, great scenery, endless riding possibilities.
I just moved back to Columbia, SC after 12 years in North Jerz and I immediately miss rocks (and bike parks). I was digging around on the webs earlier today trying to find anything new and interesting to ride and ended up talking to a dude in the Charleston area. His group digs at merrington, biggin, and sawmill. I haven’t ridden any of these but I plan on checking out Merrington soon. Saw some clips on Insta with wooden shark fin type features, some jumps and small drops.
If you pass through the Columbia area at all, Harbison state forest has some good flowy fun.
There’s much better stuff Northwest of here but out of the way from Charleston. Someone above mentioned FATS which is supposed to be dope. 30 miles of mtb trails and supposedly a lot of it was designed on computer and machine cut.
johnbryanpeters
Well-Known Member
Elizabeth Furnace Recreational Area
Rocks & Water
Active Member
My family is in Greenville S.C. area and 81 to me is the least white knuckle drive. If you can the riding out this way is very good. Yea I know it's not that close from where you are asking but it might be worth it.
I think this is why I tend to not end up riding in VA often. While it seems appealing to breakup the trip with a ride, driving to NC or SC is such a long drive that adding in a bike ride is a lot of time and mental energy. And it's close enough that a drive + bike + hotel doesn't seem like it's not just worth driving for a few hours more to get closer to a destination.
That's also I guess based on my final destination being typically a biking destination with great riding. If I was driving to NC or SC for a week of office life or a family wedding that above calculation could change.
And I was going to say a positive about going down 95 through the DC area...but there really isn't one. It's pretty crappy far south from DC into Fredericksburg. In fact I think it always gets worse in that area when you think it should get better. You realistically would have to leave around midnight to skip on most traffic and even then you can hit night construction.
1~2 hours, at Lewis morris that would be 15 miles or more, at ringwood, maybe 11? I like to ride, but I rarely ride more than 2-21/2 hours, but that’s plenty for me. Harrisburg would be fine, I don’t need to race home, so if there is decent spot around there, I would ride and then head back to Motown. If I get tired, I can stop at a hotel and relax. i will be leaving from Raleigh, I‘ll have flown in from Miami the night before, it looks like Harrisburg is about 6 hours from Raleigh. I’ve been to Harrisonburg a long time ago, and was really good, I rode near massanutten, but it was also a little more technical than I like to ride by myself. If I rode there, I would definitely try to make some more miles towards home. something similar to the ride below would be fine.
I’ll be away for work, so on the way to Charleston on Sunday, i can stop anywhere, I really only need to be in Charleston by 3pm on Monday. I’m leaving from Philly on Sunday am. I’ll be down there for a wedding. So I’ve got the wedding and work covered.
Easy lunch in Harrisonburg, just to break up your drive. We found this a month ago on our way down:
Grilled Cheese Mania | Restaurant | Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Grilled Cheese Mania offers a variety of grilled cheese sandwiches, dipping sauces, drinks and sweets for whatever you're craving!
grilledcheesemania.com
If you want a post lunch coffee, Black Sheep is awesome:
Black Sheep Coffee
www.blacksheepcoffeehburg.com
Then roll on towards Harrisburg and you can find a bigger ride at Michaux:
Michaux State Forest, Gettysburg on Trailforks
Michaux State Forest encompasses more than 85,500 acres in the South Mountain area of Cumberland, Franklin and Adams counties. Considered Pennsylvania's
Honestly I have no idea how to navigate that mess.
Smaller place is Swatara. Simple to navigate,
Swatara State Park on Trailforks
Swatara State Park Mountain Bike, Hike, Trail Running trails near Lickdale, Pennsylvania. 14 trails with 22 photos
The trails are literally named A-B-C-D with a few new ones in there, A1 and A2, etc. This is about an hour, I guess 2 if you do everything in both directions. This is a good break but I would not expect an amazing trail system. It's a stop along the way.
While you're in Raleigh take a drive up to Durham and grab lunch here 1 day:
This place has good Korean food and good coffee.