Great Brook suggested trails

[ArmOnFire]

Alright.
Which trails at Great Brook are "open" to Mountain bikes?
I'm planning on riding here at least once a week, since it is minutes from my work.
I rode Heartbreak ridge,Tophet, and some of the dirt roads, but looking at the map, I'm not sure if I was supposed to be on Tophet.
Any frequenters of GB out there willing to spill the beans?
Saw NEMBA on the start of one of the bridges, very cool!

[pk]

Hi ArmsOnFire,

Every trail at Great Brook is open by mountain biking. My favorites include Toffet, Stone Row.... and some other trail I forget the name of.

The key thing to know at Great Brook (which applies all over) is to be really nice to everyone you meet. Say hi a bunch, make nice remarks about peoples dogs, and slow way down for horses and ask them if you should dismount.

The park is a really good model of harmonious relations, and we'd like to keep it that way.

Have fun!
pk

[ArmOnFire]

Thanks PK

I just read that article on how a trail care event was going on and 3 rogue riders showed no regard for their prescence, in front of the land manager. Wow!

I always treat non-bikers on the trail with a very high regard.
But you can thank my mom for that....

Just last week at Ft Rock, I came up on a guy walking along, said Hello, nice day, blah, blah, turns out he was mapping the trails for the Exeter Conservation Commission. So you never know who is out there.

Hoping to make Exeter as harmonious as GB!!!
We got some bad press lately.....

Interested in riding early weekdays?

[pk]

Agreed! If most people took note of what their moms taught them and applied it to interacting with folks on the trail, I don't think we'd have nearly as many problems. It ain't deep pyschology--just basic courtesy! That's why I rank it number one on the top ten ways to save riding in your area;

http://www.dirtragmag.com/articles/article.php?ID=629&category=departments

I actually don't go to Great Brook much to ride. We tend to start in Bedford and head offroad through Concord and Carlisle before riding Great Brook. This way we can get in a few more miles. Next time we do it, you're welcome to join us. It's about a 35-mile ride.

Oh, forgot to mention, I'll also be riding Great Brook after we finish up a really nice new section of singletrack we're building on May 29th.

pk

[llibtsuj]

Interested in riding early weekdays?



How early?

bill

[ArmOnFire]

before work, around 6am, for an hour or so

[ArmOnFire]

PK
That sounds good, I would love to do a long ride like that.
I'll look for it on the Ride Posts.
Thanks,
AOF

[llibtsuj]

before work, around 6am, for an hour or so


Way to early. Have fun with PK.
bill

[TheHeckler]

We have a crew that rides every Thursday night (5pm). We know a nice loop and hit just about all the trails. PK is being modest the trail he forgets the name of is KEYS LOOP and it kicks. You are welocome to join us.

[ArmOnFire]

Thanks Heckler
I have to pick up the offspring after work, but on the off chance I don't have too (their mom quits her job, etc.)
I'll be there, I work about 10 min from there, but live an hour away.

Stone Row and Heartbreak Ridge / Tophet loop are fun.
The singletrack around the fields have a special quality as well.
I'll have to check out the "some other trail I forgot the name of..."

The skeeters were vicious this morning, WOW!!!!

[TheHeckler]

Ride Keys loop then beaver loop go across the street, ride garrison, deer run, indian hill then stone row. There are some trails without names to get off the dirt road. try them all. Keys loop is past the entrance to heartbreak. just follow the dirt road.

[ArmOnFire]

Thanks again Heckler

I also noticed that there is a newer trail map on the Mass Parks and rec. website. The resolution seems better on this one.

http://www.mass.gov/dem/parks/trails/great-brook600.gif

[pk]

Deep in the woods.... unseen by prodding eyes, is the birth of a new trail at Great Brook Farm. Phase I is about 1/2 complete, and we'll finish it off and RIDE in on May 29th.

Here's a pic!

pk

[TheHeckler]

I hadn't looked at the trail map in a while. I didn't know that heartbreak ridge tophet could link to the road and then back in to trail loop by Keys loop. I am going to link that in and expand my ride. The stuff across the street is nice also. Fern loop is a sweet techincal ride.

[pk]

You'll get extra credit if you know how to say and spell my name! hehehehe ;D

pk

[ArmOnFire]

Nice Benching, but I bet that isn't the name of the trail.

:-X

So what did you name it?

[TheHeckler]

Oh yeah I left an "e" out.

It's Keyes Loop.

Sorry Phil.

[BigRipper]

Does anybody know the name of the trail just off the pine point double track loop right around the same area the keys loop is in? (not beaver) It's a rolling singletrack OUT AND BACK that has a couple of really well made bridges. It's not very technical but, it is one of my favorite short trails at GB. Really nice flow...

Don't know if it has an official name yet. It can be made into a loop with about 3/4 mi of road connecting to Tophet Loop/Heartbreak Ridge trail. Follow the trail from Pine Point out over the bridges to the end where you come out to the road, go left up the street about 1/4 mi. Looking into the woods on the right you will see a blue marker on a tree and a single track follow it for about 1/3 mi and you will come out to East St. Go right on East for another 1/3 mi or so. Take a right onto Woodbine, follow to the end. At the back end of the circle there is an entrance that gets you to Tophet Loop/Heartbreak Ridge bringing you back to Pine Point

[pk]

Informally, we call this the "Five Boardwalk Trail" because we put in all five boardwalks in one day -- working well into the night. As we drove our trailer out of Pine Point, we found ourselves locked in the park and had to take apart the gate!

Then, on the way to deposit the trailer, we were stopped by Carlisle police because the blinkers weren't working!

It was a memorable day! The trail is awesome too.

In this pic, you can see Couch, AA, and Mr. PInchy trying not to hit their fingers doing some of the final nailing!

pk

[Prefect]

So I went in search of Fern Loop on Friday, which is probably the last large piece of trail I haven't ridden at GBF... Unfortunately, I couldn't find it! I rode Acorn South and popped out onto Curve Street. Right across the road from the Acorn trail exit is a driveway/road marked "Private Way." By the looks of the map, there is supposedly a trail easement that you can ride to get to Fern Loop - is this the Private Way?

I didn't go looking for it, but the map shows an entrance to Fern Loop right off of Lowell Road.. is this what most people use instead of the entrance that uses the easement? I'm surprised there isn't a less circuitous route to Fern Loop, since it looks like GBF property on each side of Curve Street where the Acorn South trail exits.

I think with the addition of Fern Loop to my ride I'll have strung together about 15 miles of riding at GBF with a decent technical mix. I repeat the most technical trails in the park when possible (riding Keyes, Beaver, and Stone Row both directions). Generally I hate repeating, but I can't complain much for a ride that's so close to work.

[Prefect]

Also, regarding the five-boardwalks trail.. Did I correctly read somewhere that in September there will be a project that links that trail together with Tophet without having to hit pavement?

... or is that what we're going to be finishing up on the 29th? From the map it certainly seems possible...

-Steve

[TheHeckler]

Fern loop is across the street and to the left if you are at the main entrance road. The trailhead is a bit hidden, look for a small sign that says no motorized vehicles. The trail wraps around and ends up where you started so you can't get lost.

[pk]

Did I correctly read somewhere that in September there will be a project that links that trail together with Tophet without having to hit pavement?



I wish this was true but I don't think it can be done. The current singletrack project will create a full loop trail from the Toffet Loop bakc to Pine Point w/o coming back on the Heartbreak Ridge Trail.

pk