Leominster and Lynn Woods help

[idbrian]

Hello,

My girlfriend and i will be touring MA next week and plan on checking out Leominster and Lynn Woods while we are there. We are from Northern NJ and enjoy technical cross country. I've always wished that we could ride trails that have the technical NJ stuff only without the soul burning hills. So i think MA is going to be right up my alley.

I was hoping to get some help with a description of a good approx 10 mile loops that we could put together at both parks. If there are other forums or websites that could be of help i would head there too. If this info is out there, or just a good list of the must do trails, please just point me towards it.

We are interested in hitting good techy XC and avoid a ton of climbing if possible.

We ride with other people back home a lot but we are having a couples vacation of sorts and don't really want to ride with other people.

Any help will be appreciated and if anyone is ever in need of NJ info over on any of our forums i'd be the first to help. Thanks.

[edge]

Hello,

My girlfriend and i will be touring MA next week and plan on checking out Leominster and Lynn Woods while we are there. We are from Northern NJ and enjoy technical cross country. I've always wished that we could ride trails that have the technical NJ stuff only without the soul burning hills. So i think MA is going to be right up my alley.

I was hoping to get some help with a description of a good approx 10 mile loops that we could put together at both parks. If there are other forums or websites that could be of help i would head there too. If this info is out there, or just a good list of the must do trails, please just point me towards it.

We are interested in hitting good techy XC and avoid a ton of climbing if possible.

We ride with other people back home a lot but we are having a couples vacation of sorts and don't really want to ride with other people.

Any help will be appreciated and if anyone is ever in need of NJ info over on any of our forums i'd be the first to help. Thanks.

Do you have gps?

[idbrian]

I do have a GPS, i'm just not very good at using it. Is there website that describes how to use them? GPS for dummies? I have a Garmin Trek Legend i believe. Thing isn't very user friendly.

[leebo]

Try Harold Parker State Forest in North Andover MA. Find the NS chapter in the main page to NEMBA and look at trails. LOTS of rocks and roots.

[digger]

See dieselbikes.com, get his map. The north side for which Lynn Woods is most known is perhaps a step beyond tech xc in many places. Not many ride south of Walden Pond these days, but there are some nice trails there still technical but not abusive. If you have the map, people could suggest good routes that I think you could follow.

[idbrian]

I do have the maps from dieselbikes. I'm starting to think that maybe i should choose an alternative to Lynn Woods, that is more along the lines of techy XC. I'm reading into Dogtown too. I will be staying in Salem Ma for two nights so anything nice in the area is up for consideration. Easy to navigate with a map and no guide is pretty important. I'll read about Harold Parker SF too. Thanks for the suggestions.

[OldSloDoggie]

Hi,
Since easy map navigation and no guide are important, I'd choose Harold Parker over Dogtown. Dogtown is confusing to navigate and biking maps are incomplete/overlook a lot of the better riding trails.

[idbrian]

Are the Harold Parker trails marked out? I saw a route on NS NEMBA but i can't tell if there is permanent marked out route.

[leebo]

There is one marked yellow diamond trail, the salem pond loop. Park in the dirt lot @ the end of harold parker rd.Once you cross the small sandy area next to the lot, go through the gate on the left. Look for the trail on right , 20 ft?. Just follow it apx. 5 miles.When are you going to be in the area?

[Springer]

what does the "bowl " mean when refering to Leo

[idbrian]

I will be riding HP or Lynn Woods Thursday around noon with my GF. We can ride some techy XC but we stop for rests and playing often. I especially wouldn't want her to feel rushed as she gets moody. I have no idea how well our stamina will be because there is a lot more climbing here, and we have to rest accordingly. For this reason and that i will be away from the internet that i haven't been linking up with other riders for tours.

[The_Squid]

Just figure I'd tag onto this old thread as I'm looking to ride in LSF for the first time tomorrow. From what I gather here the trails are really well marked. Anything I should definitely check out in there.

[The_Squid]

in there? Sorry couldn't just leave it like that.

[fohodude]

although the trails at Leominster are a blast to ride, I don't think "well-marked" is part of the picture yet.

if no one in your group has good knowledge of the area, I would caution you to either take a gps with you or stay on short trails close to fire roads.

[toddslacks]

I would not say that the LSF Trails are well marked. The fire roads are marked pretty well for whatever that's worth. If you want a hillier, more technical ride i would you could do something like this: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1037626. Or for a nice well rounded ride, I really like this: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/5241035. Or you could do both. They are both pretty quick.

[The_Squid]

Ha that's funny, I did pretty much exactly your second link as a loop. Spent a lot of time at the paradise alley bmx/free ride area. Nice place to tool around in for awhile. Trails were nice too. Technical, but not pukey, super eroded technical. I found it very easy to find my way around that area using the state forest map even though not everything was on it. Didn't ever get or even feel lost. I'll be back at some point to check out the north side. Nice place.