Ringwood State Park Conditions
- Thread starter pixychick
- Start date
gingertooth
Active Member
hate to be the bad guy here, but let the poor dirt dry out. We have all year
Just from riding by on my road bike today: snow is pretty much gone. I know people are riding and I am getting mixed reports. I'll give it a few days to dry out and try to check things before the weekend for you all. If you are out there, please avoid any wet areas. TOS tends to dry first.
gingertooth
Active Member
Hey pixychick. Would be great if u could send me a pm with your number so i could join u for some of ur road rides. I've been out as well.
gingertooth
Active Member
west milford got 4" right on the money
Steve B
Member
Rode today...everything is solid, frozen mud, really good riding condition including all singletrack, if you can take the cold (about 29 deg. and windy). Snowing outside right now, but only a dusting, so should be equally great tomorrow. Keep your eyes open for the frozen water flows, they are really slick! Also remember there are trail closures due to pipeline construction activity, look for signs.
gingertooth
Active Member
Probably not worth the ride unless ur using a fatbike
Dirt Dawg
Member
Thanks for feedback all -
So - I headed up to Ringwood for a 6:45 AM Start this morning. From Lot C - the normal start from the NorthEast Corner of the lot was barely rideable. From there i went out to the fire road, then headed south on White. BAD BAD BAD. I was going to give up, but once i got to where the washed out Fire Road that comes straight up out of lot C was, the snowmobiles had done a great job and i was riding on hardpack and some dirt ! Was able to pedal the entire thing all the way accross the 1st ridge and down to the main fire road (Skylands Road). There, the pipelline crew had it completely cleared, i headed north on ice/dirt, then headed west on the FireRoad by Glasmere Ponds. There i was able to climb on snowmobile groomed hardpack - the best part of the ride was here. At the top of the climb, by Weyble Pond was all dug up by Quads, and it was pretty tough riding - at times i was able to stay in the hardpack between the quad ruts, but from time to time got stuck in a rut and had to re-start. By the South End of Weyble i was able to get into a Truck Tire track that was nicely crusted over and rode pretty well down to about the Model Airplane Field, but then it was really a mess. Melt and refreeze cycles made the ruts into sheer ice. The downhill from there was pretty insane! I was able to ride the hard pack thought most of it, but towards the bottom, there were so many hiker footprints that were frozen that it was almost impossible to ride ( leave it to the hikers to ruin our trails
). On the way back to lot C, i did run into pipeline workers at the start of Skylands Road, they were at the gate letting some big trucks in. I talked to them a bit - they had no problem with me being out there, just said to watch out for trucks because there is no clearance on many of the roads, so if they are coming, you need to be out of the way. In Summary - if you subscribe to - "Any Ride is a good ride" then it was a good ride - but 5.5 miles of Fireroad took me close to 3 hours. Lets hope we get a good melt, then some frozen dirt to ride on for the weekend.
So - I headed up to Ringwood for a 6:45 AM Start this morning. From Lot C - the normal start from the NorthEast Corner of the lot was barely rideable. From there i went out to the fire road, then headed south on White. BAD BAD BAD. I was going to give up, but once i got to where the washed out Fire Road that comes straight up out of lot C was, the snowmobiles had done a great job and i was riding on hardpack and some dirt ! Was able to pedal the entire thing all the way accross the 1st ridge and down to the main fire road (Skylands Road). There, the pipelline crew had it completely cleared, i headed north on ice/dirt, then headed west on the FireRoad by Glasmere Ponds. There i was able to climb on snowmobile groomed hardpack - the best part of the ride was here. At the top of the climb, by Weyble Pond was all dug up by Quads, and it was pretty tough riding - at times i was able to stay in the hardpack between the quad ruts, but from time to time got stuck in a rut and had to re-start. By the South End of Weyble i was able to get into a Truck Tire track that was nicely crusted over and rode pretty well down to about the Model Airplane Field, but then it was really a mess. Melt and refreeze cycles made the ruts into sheer ice. The downhill from there was pretty insane! I was able to ride the hard pack thought most of it, but towards the bottom, there were so many hiker footprints that were frozen that it was almost impossible to ride ( leave it to the hikers to ruin our trails
). On the way back to lot C, i did run into pipeline workers at the start of Skylands Road, they were at the gate letting some big trucks in. I talked to them a bit - they had no problem with me being out there, just said to watch out for trucks because there is no clearance on many of the roads, so if they are coming, you need to be out of the way. In Summary - if you subscribe to - "Any Ride is a good ride" then it was a good ride - but 5.5 miles of Fireroad took me close to 3 hours. Lets hope we get a good melt, then some frozen dirt to ride on for the weekend.
Steve B
Member
Rode today from Ryerson. Due to below freezing temps, most fireroads are rideable with some scattered ruts but all in all, not too bad. Singltrack mostly has very few tracks and virgin snow (now frozen granular with a crunchy crust) is really hard work to get through, I would look for downhill routes if you want to try singletrack. The pipeline closures are more real now with construction traffic 7 days a week. White's Road from the park entrance up though Millies House on through to the pipeline is very worn in by the construction traffic, mud puddles, ruts etc. with sections filled in with large size gravel that is not bike freindly. They have done some widening and grading to make way for the trucks. I know the signs say closed, so now I see why. I hope they finish soon.
huffster
Well-Known Member
I got out early this morning. I was on the trails at 7:15. Things were frozen over good, so the mud factor was pretty low. I didn't even try to attempt R-R coming down from 'the knob' or Skylands Trail. Even the easier singletrack like "Black Bear" and "Cat's Nest" were sketchy with the ice layer. But, I did ride them. The fire roads varied from completely bare in some spots to sheets of ice in other spots. Its going to be raining the next couple days. So, its probably good to give it a couple more days after that. But, you can get a couple hours of riding in at Ringwood.
And yes, TN Gas is ripping the pipeline a new one. I can't wait until they stop destroying our trails. So far its been Wawayanda and Jungle Habitat and currently Ringwood.
And yes, TN Gas is ripping the pipeline a new one.
I can't wait until they stop destroying our trails. So far its been Wawayanda and Jungle Habitat and currently Ringwood.