Family Mountain Biking in New England

[LKLA]

Hi -

Looking to go mountain biking for a long weekend somewhere <4 hour drive from NYC.

I'm an intermediate/advanced rider, but my wife and 8 year old son are beginners.

I was thinking of heading up to Lake Placid as it seems to have a fair number of trails and mountain biking guides. I would be interested in getting some instruction for my son or a half day guide.

I'd love any recommendations.

Thnx -

 

[Josh Matta]

Luther State Forest small as it might be, is probably the best beginner single track in all of new england, its in malta, New york, so not far from the city. Its tons of fun even if your a good rider...

Pine Bush in Albany is slightly harder and has nearly 25 mile of my trails.

Lake Placid trails on the easier end would be fun for an intermediate, but there is nothing for a true beginner in the Bark eater trails around lake placid.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

My suggestion to you is to try the Thunder Mountain Bike Park at Berkshire East. When I was getting my kid started on bikes, putting her on a lift made a huge difference. Instead of being worn out in a half hour she could ride all day.

 

[LKLA]

Luther State Forest small as it might be, is probably the best beginner single track in all of new england, its in malta, New york, so not far from the city. Its tons of fun even if your a good rider...

Pine Bush in Albany is slightly harder and has nearly 25 mile of my trails.

Lake Placid trails on the easier end would be fun for an intermediate, but there is nothing for a true beginner in the Bark eater trails around lake placid.

Thank you! I will check out Luther State even if its for a day trip.

 

[Crank]

Little bit farther but Kingdom Trails is awesome for less experienced mountain bikers. Thunder Mountain at Berkshire East ski area in MA is also a lot of fun and there are a few miles of XC there as well as the lift served trails.

 

[Josh Matta]

yea the issue Kingdom doesnt really have beginner singletrack........they have tons of intermediate single track....and lots of beginner doubletrack, but no beginner singletrack.

more place need to actual beginner level singletrack trails IMO......very few places actually have it.

 

[at_nyc]

The mother lode of beginner single track is actually in your backyard!

Long Island has tons of easy single track: Greenbelt, Rocky Point, Cathedral Pines, Hither Hill Woods...And surprise, Cunningham Park in Queens!

Another big pod of beginner single track trail network is the Stewart Buffer Land next to Stewert airport near Newburgh! Easily 30+ mile of it!

Do all of you have your own bike (wife, son)? If not, it's a different situation. You need a location that rent bikes AND offer instructions. I think downhill area (lift served) are better set up for that. My favorite is Mt Snow. I did my first mtb clinic there. Learned a great deal. I went in as a beginner, came out as an intermediate.

 

[Crank]

yea the issue Kingdom doesnt really have beginner singletrack........they have tons of intermediate single track....and lots of beginner doubletrack, but no beginner singletrack.

more place need to actual beginner level singletrack trails IMO......very few places actually have it.

Most of KT is pretty easy I would classify a lot of their singletrack as novice if not beginner. I think after an hour or so of riding on the doubletrack there would be miles and miles of trails to enjoy...especially if their were instructors/guides involved. Terrain is up and down with twisty turny trails available, and not a lot of real technical riding.

 

[Crank]

The mother lode of beginner single track is actually in your backyard!

Long Island has tons of easy single track: Greenbelt, Rocky Point, Cathedral Pines, Hither Hill Woods...And surprise, Cunningham Park in Queens!

Another big pod of beginner single track trail network is the Stewart Buffer Land next to Stewert airport near Newburgh! Easily 30+ mile of it!

Do all of you have your own bike (wife, son)? If not, it's a different situation. You need a location that rent bikes AND offer instructions. I think downhill area (lift served) are better set up for that. My favorite is Mt Snow. I did my first mtb clinic there. Learned a great deal. I went in as a beginner, came out as an intermediate.

I was going to mention Stewart earlier. We love that park!

 

[Tony S]

Okay, someone has to say this: New York is not in New England. Maybe we can change the thread title?

 

[LKLA]

Okay, someone has to say this: New York is not in New England. Maybe we can change the thread title?

Who said New York was in New England?!

What the thread is about - and what is reflected in the title - is asking about mountain bike locations in New England, which you can get to in 4-5 hours from NYC (that basically covers most of New England except Maine).

 

[Tony S]

Who said New York was in New England?!

Lots of people have posted suggesting locations in New York. I don't think you ever responded saying - essentially - "Stop. Read the title. I'm only interested in New England." Therefore I speculated that you WERE interested in NY locations, and that therefore the title was off. Guess I was wrong about that.

What the thread is about - and what is reflected in the title - is asking about mountain bike locations in New England

Okay, so all the folks who have been recommending rides in New York state: Read the title; the OP is only interested in New England.


EDIT: Re-reading I see that you said:

I was thinking of heading up to Lake Placid

So you opened the door to NY yourself in your first post.

 

[Josh Matta]

The mother lode of beginner single track is actually in your backyard!

Long Island has tons of easy single track: Greenbelt, Rocky Point, Cathedral Pines, Hither Hill Woods...And surprise, Cunningham Park in Queens!

Another big pod of beginner single track trail network is the Stewart Buffer Land next to Stewert airport near Newburgh! Easily 30+ mile of it!

Do all of you have your own bike (wife, son)? If not, it's a different situation. You need a location that rent bikes AND offer instructions. I think downhill area (lift served) are better set up for that. My favorite is Mt Snow. I did my first mtb clinic there. Learned a great deal. I went in as a beginner, came out as an intermediate.

good advice here^^^

Stewarts wasnt super easy when I rode it, but I may not have rode the easy parts. Cathedral Pines is a great and fun singletrack, did a 6 hour lap race there once.

The thing is KTA doesnt seem that technical if your pretty good. If trails were say based on riding level with a 1-9 rating, Id give the blue single track on darling hill a 4-5 rating, but I give places like Luther State forest and Cathedral pines a 2-3. It kinda of same principle that yeah the bunny hill is easy for me....but is it easy for some on the bunny hill for the first time. what great about MTBing is that easier trail do not mean less fun, if the flow is good. I would rather have newbs ride easy singletrack which is typically flowier and more mentally stimulating then have them ride wide double track which typically has steep inclines, is looseer, less fun, and not always "easier"

 

[Tony S]

I would rather have newbs ride easy singletrack which is typically flowier and more mentally stimulating then have them ride wide double track which typically has steep inclines, is looseer, less fun, and not always "easier"

+1. Quoted for truth.

 

[at_nyc]

good advice here^^^

Stewarts wasnt super easy when I rode it, but I may not have rode the easy parts. Cathedral Pines is a great and fun singletrack, did a 6 hour lap race there once.

The thing is KTA doesnt seem that technical if your pretty good. If trails were say based on riding level with a 1-9 rating, Id give the blue single track on darling hill a 4-5 rating, but I give places like Luther State forest and Cathedral pines a 2-3. It kinda of same principle that yeah the bunny hill is easy for me....but is it easy for some on the bunny hill for the first time. what great about MTBing is that easier trail do not mean less fun, if the flow is good. I would rather have newbs ride easy singletrack which is typically flowier and more mentally stimulating then have them ride wide double track which typically has steep inclines, is looseer, less fun, and not always "easier"

I would put Cathedral Pines 2-3 and Stewart 3+. I rode Cathedral Pines using my cyclecross bike and was able to enjoy it ("flow"). I don't think I would take my cx bike to Stewart. It's just too rough.

There're quite a few other pods in Long Island that's just like CP. And a few others outside of LI.

To Tony, Whiteface isn't New England technically. But for people in NYC area, anywhere north is mistakenly label as New England. That includes all of Connecticut, all the rest of New York. Even where I live, which is only 50 mile outside of NYC, people keep referring it as "upstate"!

Anyway, to the OP. What's your priority? Do you wants to get away from NYC and also fit in a bit of mtn biking? Or do you want to get your wife & kid started on mtn bike at the best location?

 

[LKLA]

Lots of people have posted suggesting locations in New York. I don't think you ever responded saying - essentially - "Stop. Read the title. I'm only interested in New England." Therefore I speculated that you WERE interested in NY locations, and that therefore the title was off. Guess I was wrong about that.



Okay, so all the folks who have been recommending rides in New York state: Read the title; the OP is only interested in New England.


EDIT: Re-reading I see that you said:

So you opened the door to NY yourself in your first post.

Thanks for being constructive. I am sure others feel the same way. Come on, life is too short to be wasted on trolling posts.

 

[Tony S]

Thanks for being constructive. I am sure others feel the same way. Come on, life is too short to be wasted on trolling posts.

Not trolling. Trying to understand what you're really looking for. Hundreds or thousands of people read this stuff. It helps them a lot if you say what you mean and mean what you say. Your title does not align with your own posts. It's confusing.

 

[Erik Timmerman]

Seriously think about how much skill and stamina your child and your wife have. If you choose someplace that is hilly (and hilly to them might not be very hilly at all to us) they could be done biking in a half hour. If you choose a lift-served place like Thunder Mountain (Berkshire East) you can potentially have them riding all day and learning skills the whole time. Hopefully you get them hooked and after that they will be willing to learn to "earn it". Worked for me anyway.

 

[LKLA]

Not trolling. Trying to understand what you're really looking for. Hundreds or thousands of people read this stuff. It helps them a lot if you say what you mean and mean what you say. Your title does not align with your own posts. It's confusing.

Pretty simple - and from the helpful responses from other posters, it seems to reflect the fact that there is little to be confused about here - other than why you seem to be fixated on an irrelevant and nonconstructive discussion.

As the title and my post state, I am looking for a place that is family friendly to mountain bike around NE that is not much further than 4 hours or so from NYC.

Not sure what else there is to make of this - what lines there are to read between.

If its in northern NY state, which is technically not NE, then that is fine. If it's a 4.6 hour drive, that is fine as well. I am thankful for all the suggestions.