If you only have one day to ride, go to Hardy Road. "That's basically the safest place to send somebody to for a good time," said Carey.
That "good time" comes down to a few different factors. First, the quality of the trails at Hardy Road is top-notch. My personal favorite trail from my trip to the Adirondacks was at Hardy Road: the descent off the top of the mountain on All-In, which was filled with high-speed sections, chunky rocks, flowy berms, and optional features.
Second, Hardy Road is the most reliably dry trail system, thanks to its sandy, gravelly soil. We rode Hardy the day after a severe downpour, and if anything, "it rides even better after a rain," said Carey.
The trails at Hardy Road are quite diverse, although they trend toward the rugged end. Some of the lower trails are easy and approachable for beginners, whereas my favorite — All In — gets a black diamond rating. Like Craig Wood, Hardy also has some alt lines hidden back in the woods, with a few massive rock drops pushing into the double black range.
 | Ante |  | 1 mi |
A lot has changed at Hardy Road since I first reviewed it years back. A number of new trails have been added (including Ante UP - not just ante, lots of trails are named after poker terms). A couple new ones are Ante -up and side-pot. Both of these are on the east side, going to the top for a choice of incredible rugged downhills. There is also the only somewhat lesser than intermediate trail, Coniferous on the east side, which is still quite fun. On the West are great expert trails like Good Luck and Safe Bet. Not for a beginner. But, the sum of all of these trails (With All-In the most ridden trail - incredible uphill- downhill) is a 5 star rating. Its unbelievable this isn't ranked in the top 3 in NYS, let alone not having the highest ranking here in the Lake Placid/Saranac Lake/Wilmington area. BTW - you can make it all the way to the top of ALL -in using new trails that are very , not easy, but not terribly technical on the east side. On the southwest, these are true - and extremely fun - expert trails, that are sometimes rocky, but great. This coming from someone who hates the super rocky trails like Ringwood in NJ, Allamuchy in Maryland or Pittstown
| ThankWithout a doubt some of the most well-designed and well-constructed Trails in New York State. Well done to BETA and all the volunteers. Finally got up there to ride these trails today and was extremely impressed with the quality of what has been built at Hardy. Moderate climbs, fun descents and very well thought out lines that are not overly technical but not too thinned out either. Very fun to ride! Thank you BETA!
| ThankDid a quick ride there after riding at the Flume System. Trails are great and well maintained. Fun optional features. The climbing is not bad and the decent's are great.
| ThankCheck out the video link to get an idea of the trails.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ceYibBLSjI
The trail on the east side is 2 miles up - about 700 feet of climbing, for about 2 miles. Then 2 miles down. Not too technical, but not easy. On the West side is awesome singletrack. Some of it is easy, but mostly intermediate, with some great technical stuff up at the top of "Good Luck" trail 5.
| Thank