Wildcat Ridge WMA Conditions

ebarker9

Well-Known Member
Rode here really for the first time yesterday. These trails are...hard. Rode out of the Lower Hibernia rd parking lot and was trying to follow a random TrailForks route on my Garmin. That resulted in stopping every 20 or so feet to debate where I was supposed to be going. I climbed a fairly long, miserable section of rocky, washed out doubletrack more or less right out of the gate. That sucked. Once I got on orange singletrack things got better but there was one section of climb that I was nowhere near making (looks like it has a little alternate section right at the crux of it). I'd need to try that one a few times but doubt that I'd make it. Then down Meriden Trail. Found a few sections of that extremely hard, especially with a partially working front brake. Rode out on Beach Glen East to Beach Glen West. Great trail, still screwed up a lot but really enjoyed it. I'll be back for sure.
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I climbed a fairly long, miserable section of rocky, washed out doubletrack more or less right out of the gate. That sucked.

Next time make a left where you made a right ten seconds into the ride. Climb that orange trail instead of the old gravel road.

but there was one section of climb that I was nowhere near making (looks like it has a little alternate section right at the crux of it). I'd need to try that one a few times but doubt that I'd make it.

Yeah, there is an impromptu re-route to avoid that impossible spot, though the re-route is also still quite challenging.

Then down Meriden Trail. Found a few sections of that extremely hard, especially with a partially working front brake.

We call this "New Way Down" and it's awesome, but that one long rock garden is pretty tough!

Rode out on Beach Glen East to Beach Glen West. Great trail, still screwed up a lot but really enjoyed it.

This is generally the preferred direction as you get to ride all the awesome rocky stuff in the more downhill direction, though there are two steep and difficult spots.

Next time hit me up for a tour or check out Oreland and Old Koehler Road. They are on Trailforks and are more flowy and generally less rocky.
 

ebarker9

Well-Known Member
Next time hit me up for a tour or check out Oreland and Old Koehler Road. They are on Trailforks and are more flowy and generally less rocky.

Thanks for the offer. I'll check out those trails and would certainly be up for a tour. Trying to get back to riding some of the tech-ier trails after spending most of my time at Dickerson Mine just out of convenience.
 

JimN

Captain Wildcat
Team MTBNJ Halter's
I'm pretty sure all of the trees and big branches have been taken care of, thanks to everyone that helped! Please post up here if anything was missed.

And if you lost some elbow pads on Four Birds yesterday or over the weekend, hit me up.
 

goldsbar

Well-Known Member
Rode here really for the first time yesterday. These trails are...hard.

The trails are hard. That won't change. The hills and rocks don't go away. However, once you know the place, you can put together a bunch of nice tech singletrack and avoid a lot of that crappy washed out fire road you described. Agree with the Oreland suggestion. It still has plenty of tech challenges, but not constantly and parts are quite fast. Both directions are fun, though it's more downhill and hence more fun to most going away from the park and towards the road.

If you want to learn the park, I suggest the perimeter of the "main" part, but it's hard to explain. Basically 2/3rds of orange to yellow to across the dam on the road to Old Koehler to right on the road to blue/Beach Glen. Easy to say, but they don't necessarily all connect so obviously.
 

ebarker9

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the suggestions. I wanted to ride there for the challenge, just wasn't feeling my best and the trails definitely defeated me. But I'll definitely be back and will check out Oreland and generally do more exploring.

That kind of tech riding, kind of like Black Magic or Tigers Blood in Mahlon is something that I find either takes just full commitment to plow over things with enough speed that your chances of getting hung up and having an awkward crash are reduced, a more careful, trials-like approach, or maybe some combination of the two. I can do a little bit of an imitation of both of these when I'm riding well, but it doesn't take much to get out of that rhythm, not look far enough ahead, get hung up on every square edge, and generally winding up riding slowly and awkwardly, while still putting in a lot of effort. I used to sometimes ride with a guy, Jason Grossi, who some people on this site might know or have raced against. He's smooth and skilled, but also hits everything with an incredible level of aggression and commitment. One of the best tech riders and descenders I've ever seen. So for me, that's the benchmark.

Anyway, I digress. Rocks and hills are good. Wildcat is good.
 

goldsbar

Well-Known Member
That kind of tech riding, kind of like Black Magic or Tigers Blood in Mahlon

Same ballpark, but different IMO. With those trails it was like somebody went out and said, "let's build a bunch of cool features and link them together." Wildcat is more, "there's a whole bunch of jagged rocks and really steep hills, let's try to somehow build a trail through all of this."
 

xc62701

Well-Known Member
Just an FYI there’s a tree down on orange above the Batcave. I moved what I could but it’ll need a handsaw.
 

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