Review on Brown County, Indiana trail system -- all I can say is WOW!

[Bexter]

I have heard such great things about Brown County, Indiana trails for several years but just was not inclined to make the 6 hour drive down. Well.... all I can say is OH MY GOSH -- WOW!!!!!! it is my understanding that the trails were professionally built thanks to a quarter million dollar grant, and the builders definitely knew what they were doing. There is one section that honestly I did not have to pedal for probably 3/4, maybe a whole mile! Fast, flowy, amazing. Did you hear -- AMAAAAAZING! THEN, let's talk about the rocks. Anyone who knows me knows that I love to ride rocks! That's why I love Landahl and Blue Mound so much. There was a intermediate trail called Walnut that was SO MUCH FUN! Rocks strewn here and there for little treats of goodness along what was already an awesome trail. The builders also threw in a tootsie roll treat inside the sucker every now and then with rock ledges to test skinny skills. And, the rock armoring was what legends are made of! Just beautiful!

THEN, Schooner. This is the behemoth of trails that is the end-all beat-all of mother trails. Double black diamond and for good reason. The qualifier was so amazingly wicked that not everyone was able to accomplish it. Yup, I'm not ashamed to tell you that in the interest of keeping my teeth and sparing bone breakage, I walked it. BUT! I HAD to see what people were talking about. I was able to ride about 60% of the obstacles and those were gnarly. The boys probably got through 80/85% of the obstacles. No one cleared everything. And, the tread was so narrow that you had to really pay attention, and the penalty for failure was extremely high. Did I mention the loose limestone and the slippery mossy rocks on the NARROW tread? Yup. I walked away with an assortment of bruises and scrapes and a dislodged hip from one too many splats on the rocks. But, I am still smiling!

When I think of Indiana, I think of the Midwest scenery... boring. Brown County seems like it was plucked out of the middle of Wisconsin. Hills, tons of trees and beauty that was unending. The group campgrounds were very nice (FORC, are you hearing this???). Let's get back to the trails... OMG! This is a MUST-DO destination for anyone who likes to mtn bike! Granted, you have to suck it up and drive 6 hours to get there but I promise you, THE DRIVE IS WORTH IT!

That's all I got. Do it!

Here's a shot from the Schooner entrance:
SchoonerEntrance..jpg

Stauby, Ray, Paul, Bex, Tony, Tim, Krud

[iLuvTechnical]

Great write-up Bexter!

[Vibrato]

Knowing we were gonna be there for less than 24 hours, K-rud and I rode 30 miles Friday- everything (except schooner) and back. The trail is an out and back with a couple of loops off of it. Yeah theres some climbing both ways, but Hesitation coming back is the only hard climb, and it's not as bad as a lot of'em we've done. (We did Schooner as part of a 10 mile loop Saturday- Bex's right on about the double black designation, some very respectable stuff in there. The mossy rocks were stOOpid slippery, as my bruised left leg and ribs can attest to!!)

Trail description- when doing sunder counter clockwise, imagine going down kettle trail for miles and miles- That's about as close as I can describe it. Really fun and when I go back with poofy, there is the option of leaving a van at the bottom.

The 20 miles down was absolutely great with some climbing but not a rediculous amount. The 10 miles back up was a lot of fun, (we skipped the extra loops coming back) but it was a killer on the legs for the 1st long ride this year!!!

Lots of clubs represented this weekend, very good group to ride with. Thanks to everyone who made it great!

[tjuillerat]

So glad to hear you were finally able to make it to Brown County!

If you love the trails (and want a great excuse to come back) join us for the Breakdown in October.

www.browncountybreakdown.com

The funds raised from the event go back to HMBA to build more trail. We've pretty much maxed out our grant opportunities for the time being and we still have at least 20 more miles of trail planned for Brown County! We need money to do it and the Breakdown helps to make this happen. The new Green Valley Loop (not yet listed on maps, but opened days before the Midwest Women's MTB Clinic) is just a taste of the new trails in store.

We hope to see more FORC folks on the BC trails this summer!

[gt ss]

I live 55 minutes door to trail of BCSP! I love Walnut and still have three northbound obstacles to clear. When I get those figured out, it'll be time to check out some Schooner.

There are actually 4 loops along the way to enjoy. Aynes Loop, North Tower Loop, Pine Loop and the new Green Valley Loop. Some say GV is their fav but I make Walnut my #1 must ride every trip down.

Part of the planned new trails are to make Hesitation Point a loop.

[Bexter]

Sweet! Walnut was MY FAV! Green Valley was amazing, though. Fast and flowy! Can't tell you how many times I got air which of course resulted in major hoops and hollars! I am SO hoping this will motivate FORCers to make time to get down there. I KNOW you guys would just love the trails!!!