Nockamixon, PA
- Thread starter solorider
- Start date
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
i feel like 1speed and capedoc have been to these trails, i'm too busy messing up matty's for sale thread to look though. i remember it being sorta short mileage wise.
Any reason you are heading out that way? Plenty of good trails in the Princeton area.
EDIT: okay i took a break: http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22897
Any reason you are heading out that way? Plenty of good trails in the Princeton area.
EDIT: okay i took a break: http://www.mtbnj.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22897
Last edited:
solorider
Active Member
had my fill of Baldpate, Chimney Rock. Sourlands not my thing and i stay away from Grand Central Station, aka 6 mile run... Typically travel up North to Allamuchy, but i hear they extended the trail system at Nockamixon, so i figured i would take a gamble... To much information!!
1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
Yeah, I've been here. I wrote it up a while back here with some photos. The official site for it is here. (VMB built it all.) It's a fun ride, and they're adding mileage all the time, apparently. Last I heard, the 7 mile loop was up to 9 miles, and the ultimate goal is to stretch it all the way up to Route 563 along the lake, which would mean if they loop that in, it'd probably net out at about 15 miles total. It's a fun trail, with one very cool section where you can swoop in and out of a bunch of trees. It's well built, but don't go if it's rained recently -- that lake-shore mud will throw you all over the place. For real -- it's like axle grease onthe trail when it's wet there.
I was there Saturday. Great place. Definitely go and check it out. It's like 6 mile with a little bit if rocks thrown in. The ride is short so I usually do 2 or 3 loops in alternating directions.
The trailhead is at the end of Tower Rd. In Ottsville PA. It is not in the main park.
1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
Park at the Inn when you go to Wissahickon if you can. You won't ever get broken into at the Inn. Of course, don't leave credit cards in plain sight anywhere you park, but you're pretty safe parking right down at the Inn anytime. The problem is, on weekends, they often block the access to that lot for anyone but patrons of the restaurant. The one way around that is to go early -- if you get there before 8 in the morning, you can always find a spot down at the Inn, and they don't make you move. Never, never, never (and I mean NEVER) park in the upper lot on Valley Green Road. That place is the wild west. In fact, I'd say if you have to do that, you're better off parking a mile up the road in town and riding in. I had a cop drive up to me there one day when I was getting ready to ride she told me that I shoudl hide everything in my hatchback just to "make it harder for them". I asked her if she didn't think that maybe making it harder for them was kind of part of her job, too. She just laughed and said, "I couldn't'stop them if I had a full force out here." Then she just drove off. So, the upper lot has been a no-fly zone for ol' 1speed ever since. And parking at Rittenhouse Town off of Lincoln Drive isn't much better. But if you can find a spot to park down by the Inn or even have to ride in from town, it's worth it -- Wiss might be one of the best inner-city mountainbiking spots in the country: 17-20 miles of challenging singletrack and technical climbing.
liong71er
Well-Known Member
i rode here regularly every week from mid 2006-2008
love this park a lot esp the 4 switchback...lots of cool jump feature did they still have those jump park that kinda hide up on the hill? and also the devil pond to cool off in summer.
and after every rides your tires will look so sparkling.
i park at the hill in manayunk no problemo at all...no thief will like a 16ton truck with asian caligraphi on it body
love this park a lot esp the 4 switchback...lots of cool jump feature did they still have those jump park that kinda hide up on the hill? and also the devil pond to cool off in summer.
and after every rides your tires will look so sparkling.
i park at the hill in manayunk no problemo at all...no thief will like a 16ton truck with asian caligraphi on it body
My two cents:
I've always had success parking further west at W. Bells Mills Road entrance. There's 2 lots there. The one higher up on the Andorra side is the preferred lot, so getting a spot may be tough. That road connects the Chesnut Hill section to Andorra; both are pretty upscale communities. Criminals would have to go out of their way to get there and any theft simply would not be tolerated by the "upper crust" folks living around those areas. I imagine they'd demand a permanent police presence there, and probably would get it!
Even with stuff poking out the back of the rear privacy cover or lying on the front/back seat, I've never had any problems there;. Full disclosure though, I've only ridden there during the weekends and in daylight hours.
Never park at Rittenhouse! I've passed there so many times and have seen numerous cars with the windows busted out! Think about it...with constant Lincoln Drive traffic, there's no way the police can provide coverage at that spot unless they post a permanent cop there. I hate to knock that entrance though. I actually grew up in the Germantown section of Philly back in the day. It was a very nice area from 70-81 when I was around there. Nowadays, it's a whole new ball game post CRACK 80's America!
Last edited:
and after every rides your tires will look so sparkling.
No kidding! Flakes of mica all over the tires look like glitter.
1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
i rode here regularly every week from mid 2006-2008
love this park a lot esp the 4 switchback...lots of cool jump feature did they still have those jump park that kinda hide up on the hill? and also the devil pond to cool off in summer.
and after every rides your tires will look so sparkling.
i park at the hill in manayunk no problemo at all...no thief will like a 16ton truck with asian caligraphi on it body
They don't actually steal the cars themselves. The thieves that work Wiss are opportunistic for the most part.
True story: the first time I was ever broken into there, I got a notice in my mailbox about a week later that there was a postage due package for me at the post office. When I went to get it, it turns out it was an envelope stuffed with the contents of my wallet -- credit cards, license, pictures, etc. It had been sent general delivery. There was also a very poorly handwritten note that said, "Sorry for the trouble."
The point of that to me was that the thief only wanted the cash. He or she was probably a junkie looking for whatever they could find to get them their next fix. The cards and everything else wouldn't get the thief his or her fix.
That's not to say these are all tragic cases who are basically honest (another time I had my cell phone stolen and by the time I got back to my car, it had already been used to call two different countries.) But they aren't looking for big ticket items like cars. They'll tear your car apart looking for the bits and pieces that are valuable enough to take but not worth the cops time to pursue. I actually would almost prefer to just leave the car open -- at least then the window wouldn't get broken.
But for fair balance, even though there are problems there, I've been riding in Wiss for 12 years and have only been broken into 3 times. I've been there probably a thousand times or more, so that's not too bad of a percentage. As long as you're careful and don't take unnecessary risks with your stuff (and Odiggy is right about Bells Mill -- for me its too far out of the way, but it seems pretty safe) riding at Wiss is all good.
I agree with Odiggy, Been going to wiss for along time and never had a problem with bells mills lot. Maybe i am just lucky but when i go always car pool and pretty much always go in pretty niece car. Never had car broken into. This lot always has alot of people around.
1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
Nocamixon at night
Got out to Nocamixon for a night ride tonight. Turns out I was lucky in the night I chose: apparently, riding after dark there is forbidden except for every other Wednesday, when you can join the VMB ride (you actually have to sign up -- I did it on site, but you can sign op in advance on the VMB website.) But you have to ride in a group (and currently that group has to be led by one of the VMB guys.) At first, I thought it was kind of lame (and the fact that it's only "allowed" bi-weekly and then only with an "escort" is really lame), but the guys I ended up riding with were pretty cool and the lead wanted to hammer, so that was pretty cool. But the coolest part of the whole night was when we hit the section that winds through the pine trees -- every tree we passed was filled with bats and they all started flapping around as we passed. The sound was surreal and actually really cool. There were hundreds of them.
Got out to Nocamixon for a night ride tonight. Turns out I was lucky in the night I chose: apparently, riding after dark there is forbidden except for every other Wednesday, when you can join the VMB ride (you actually have to sign up -- I did it on site, but you can sign op in advance on the VMB website.) But you have to ride in a group (and currently that group has to be led by one of the VMB guys.) At first, I thought it was kind of lame (and the fact that it's only "allowed" bi-weekly and then only with an "escort" is really lame), but the guys I ended up riding with were pretty cool and the lead wanted to hammer, so that was pretty cool. But the coolest part of the whole night was when we hit the section that winds through the pine trees -- every tree we passed was filled with bats and they all started flapping around as we passed. The sound was surreal and actually really cool. There were hundreds of them.
Dusty the Whale
Mr.Chainsaw
I was just here Monday with a friend. He was saying how they are supposed to get approval for a trail to go all the way around the lake. Fun place to ride and I'd suggest going to Ralph Stover before or after for extra miles. 2 totally different trails in one day is always a plus
DRIFT-BUSTER
New Member
Love this place...especially when its a little wet...uke:
uke:
euphoria
Member
http://vimeo.com/32764604
mostly fun and flowy when dry, but it takes a while to dry out. im jsut doin my part to keep the single track single at the end of the clip
mostly fun and flowy when dry, but it takes a while to dry out. im jsut doin my part to keep the single track single at the end of the clip