I have been to this park numerous times now and I am impressed with how fun it can be. The park crew is awesome and work very hard to maintain the park and the trails. Some trails started getting over grown and they took care of it. The trails are very fun to ride and can be challenging to ride for all levels of riders. I still can't climb all the trails but I have gotten close on most of them. They are building a new trail currently and I can't wait to try it out. I think it's supposed to be a green trail but it looks like it's going to have a decent climb to it and some fast down hill sections. I do want to give a massive thank you to those that have worked so hard to give riders something to enjoy. I've been to several other trail systems like Stonewall Jackson Resort, Cooper's Rock, Valley Falls, Mount Wood, and White Park in Morgantown. I gotta say I have more fun here and it's closer to where I live. Thank you to those who built and maintain this park. PS They also have a bike wash station which is really nice.
I've been to this trail system three times and still haven't covered every trail. The trails I've been on (Fawn, Black Cherry, Hershey, Rachel, High Wall, and White Oak) are pretty well maintained. Fawn is the easiest trail I've seen so far. White Oak is very challenging with its steep climbs, tons of roots both big and small, and several chunk sections. There are several switchbacks to navigate as well. I haven't found any man made jumps, berms, gaps, or other features (not counting bridges) as of yet. I hope to ride the other trails that I haven't gotten to very soon to see what they offer. There are several wooden bridges which are well maintained and some more basic wood crossings which are in good shape. They do have signage at the trailheads and signs at most intersections. It is a little difficult at times to comprehend which trail you're on. Not all the signs have arrows and they aren't facing the proper direction at times. The biggest gripe I have is the spiders. There are a bunch of them. I'm normally starting the trails around 9:30 in the morning and unfortunately I'm the one finding them all with my face. I don't think there's anything the park can do about it, it's Mother Nature and this is what she does. Hopefully the spiders will go away as the temps drop and then I can enjoy the trails more. I'd still recommend checking these trails out, come early, say 8am and clear the spiders before I get there for a change. Haha. Just kidding. I may start tying a stick to the front of the bike and clear the webs that way. There are some interesting trees here as well which have an interesting history about them. There is a placard that explains how and why they're there. I have seen hikers and joggers here. I haven't found any trash on the trails or at the main park which also has very clean restrooms and I think there is a club house (I haven't seen inside it yet). This is a pretty nice park.
Black Cherry and Fawn Trail are the best trails here. Short punchy climbs and fun downhill. Trick Track Trek is a slow crawling technical rock garden. Trail needs more like the ones previously mentioned and could use small jumps, log overs, and some berms to help with cornering. Place has potential.
There are some really fun, fast, flowy trail sections at Watters Smith, but unfortunately the spiders have taken over. I typically go riding first thing in the morning and being the first person on the trail, I can typically expect to clear out 4-7 webs (typically with my face). But my ride yesterday was borderline obnoxious. I'd say at least 40-50 webs across the trail. It was really hard to get into a good rhythm when you're getting a face full of webs and spiders. It was the entire park too, not just sections of trail. It's really unfortunate because I would have really had a blast here.
I know this wasn't a single incident either. The guy who recommended me here warned me about the webs across the trail saying they were bad there, but I didn't think they would be this bad. I don't have a fear of spiders, but after blasting through my 30th web of the day, if I had the option I would have dropped napalm on the entire forest. I would have killed for a closed face helmet.
I have been to this park numerous times now and I am impressed with how fun it can be. The park crew is awesome and work very hard to maintain the park and the trails. Some trails started getting over grown and they took care of it. The trails are very fun to ride and can be challenging to ride for all levels of riders. I still can't climb all the trails but I have gotten close on most of them. They are building a new trail currently and I can't wait to try it out. I think it's supposed to be a green trail but it looks like it's going to have a decent climb to it and some fast down hill sections. I do want to give a massive thank you to those that have worked so hard to give riders something to enjoy. I've been to several other trail systems like Stonewall Jackson Resort, Cooper's Rock, Valley Falls, Mount Wood, and White Park in Morgantown. I gotta say I have more fun here and it's closer to where I live. Thank you to those who built and maintain this park. PS They also have a bike wash station which is really nice.
| ThankI've been to this trail system three times and still haven't covered every trail. The trails I've been on (Fawn, Black Cherry, Hershey, Rachel, High Wall, and White Oak) are pretty well maintained. Fawn is the easiest trail I've seen so far. White Oak is very challenging with its steep climbs, tons of roots both big and small, and several chunk sections. There are several switchbacks to navigate as well. I haven't found any man made jumps, berms, gaps, or other features (not counting bridges) as of yet. I hope to ride the other trails that I haven't gotten to very soon to see what they offer. There are several wooden bridges which are well maintained and some more basic wood crossings which are in good shape. They do have signage at the trailheads and signs at most intersections. It is a little difficult at times to comprehend which trail you're on. Not all the signs have arrows and they aren't facing the proper direction at times. The biggest gripe I have is the spiders. There are a bunch of them. I'm normally starting the trails around 9:30 in the morning and unfortunately I'm the one finding them all with my face. I don't think there's anything the park can do about it, it's Mother Nature and this is what she does. Hopefully the spiders will go away as the temps drop and then I can enjoy the trails more. I'd still recommend checking these trails out, come early, say 8am and clear the spiders before I get there for a change. Haha. Just kidding. I may start tying a stick to the front of the bike and clear the webs that way. There are some interesting trees here as well which have an interesting history about them. There is a placard that explains how and why they're there. I have seen hikers and joggers here. I haven't found any trash on the trails or at the main park which also has very clean restrooms and I think there is a club house (I haven't seen inside it yet). This is a pretty nice park.
| ThankTrails in good condition and marked !
| ThankBlack Cherry and Fawn Trail are the best trails here. Short punchy climbs and fun downhill. Trick Track Trek is a slow crawling technical rock garden. Trail needs more like the ones previously mentioned and could use small jumps, log overs, and some berms to help with cornering. Place has potential.
| ThankCleared and well marked! Many different trails make for great combinations...will be on my trail list.
| ThankThere are some really fun, fast, flowy trail sections at Watters Smith, but unfortunately the spiders have taken over. I typically go riding first thing in the morning and being the first person on the trail, I can typically expect to clear out 4-7 webs (typically with my face). But my ride yesterday was borderline obnoxious. I'd say at least 40-50 webs across the trail. It was really hard to get into a good rhythm when you're getting a face full of webs and spiders. It was the entire park too, not just sections of trail. It's really unfortunate because I would have really had a blast here.
I know this wasn't a single incident either. The guy who recommended me here warned me about the webs across the trail saying they were bad there, but I didn't think they would be this bad. I don't have a fear of spiders, but after blasting through my 30th web of the day, if I had the option I would have dropped napalm on the entire forest. I would have killed for a closed face helmet.
Ride with caution.
| Thank