New Pictures at Boyce Park and Roaring Run

Some new pictures i took today at boyce park. Finally the leaves are beginning to change...

Crossing a field between the half pipe area and the creek hollow area.

Just off of Pierson Run Rd next in the hollow below the archery range...

As promised back when my bastard camera broke, more pictures from Roaring Run in Apollo...

Roaring run creek off to the right of the rail trail...

The new suspension bridge off of the Rock Furnace rail trail spur...

Sign commemorating the new trail and Bridge. If you cross the bridge to the
right of this stone and make an immediate left thats where you find the mtb trail.

The money shot of my bike along the banks of the river...

The short but cool and desert looking copperhead trail. Its like a mini moab!

Not quite but it does kinda look similar...

Random rocky section of loop...

Trail maintence update

The story on the trail day mentioned ion the previous post finally ran in the post gazette. You can find it here... http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08244/908024-140.stm

Roaring Run, Apollo PA

What can i say. Roaring run is excellent. The trails are very rocky and technical with numerous ladder bridges. Everything is well marked with blue squares and easy to follow. Heres an example of the trail markers. Note the blue square on the tree.



You start out at the parking lot (you can get a map to the lot at www.roaringrun.org) and ride onto the rail trail. There are trails off to the left of it almost immediately, but these are generally not well marked. First timers should just stay on the rail trail for about a mile and a half until you come to the first bridge on the rail trail. Make a left into the grassy area immediately after the bridge and you will see two trail heads. Go to the one at the end of the field (its more to the left and there is a sign on the wrong one telling you to use the other entrance). The first part of the trail takes you on a climb of rocky switchbacks that is a rugged piece of trail. There is an area with a warning sign telling you of a cliff ahead about halfway up. Nice view from there. Once at the top you reach a bench on the mountain and the trail follows it to a nice log drop. The trail follows the bench to a series of rock gardens which have are fairly difficut to navigate.

Next up is a series of creek crossings and ladder bridges with some waterfalls running alongside the trail.



The waterfalls are and ladder bridges are in an area that was obviously damaged by mining, but they are still cool looking areas to ride and its nice to see an otherwise neglected piece of land being reclaimed and put to good use.


Soon after, there is a bailout point with a sign if your feeling whipped. I'd recommend continuing because you'd be missing the best part. It starts with the return of a more wild looking forest and large boulders.



The trail reaches a gorge with remnants of mine equipment in the area and snakes along the edge of a cliff until the creek crossing.





More rock gardens and large boulders await on cave bear trail. Its name seems fitting in that there have been several bear sightings in this area during the summer. Mostly a mom and cubs.



More of the boulders on cave bear...




After cave bear trail you are spit back out onto the rail trail, but fear not. Turn right on the trail and it will re-enter the woods and return to the rail trail througout the rest of the loop. Here's a little log skinny i saw along the way.




There is a lot left to see that i didn't get usable pictures from. I REALLY NEED A NEW CAMERA! A bunch of pictures i took in the middle of the trail were unusable. Hopefully I'll be able to take some more shots and post soon. In the meantime, go see it for youself.

Boyce Park Work Day 8/3/08

Participated on a trail workday at boyce park on sunday August 3. It was put together by PTAG and P.O.R.C. with sponsorship by Dirty Harry's bike shop and Dirt Rag. Everyone met up at one of the pavilions and had some breakfast and then headed out about a mile into the park at around 10am. The day's objectives were to close off several spur trails and reroute a main trail that was perpetually swampy and had drainage issues.

After closing the entrance to the two spurs that were running along a muddy fall line we re-routed the trail and added some rock armoring to sure it up and allow water to drain from low lying areas instead of laying on the trail.





Then a boardwalk bridge about 20 ft long was installed to span the mud pit. We had to clean out the ravine that was clogged with sticks, vines, silt, mud, leaves, etc. to allow the water a clear path under the bridge. The bridge was laid out while some tunes blared over a portable ipod. Then we laid the decking and built up the ramps for an easy transition area.




The final project was to clear out a small streambed of debris and fix up a crossing. The area was a mess with many years worth of logs that had been thrown into the stream to make it easier to cross needing to be dug out of the mud before we could start. We dug down about two feet deep and eight feet long to bury a pipe to allow the creek to flow freely. the entrance was rock armored then a bridge of dirt and logs used to mike a wide path and a mudless crossing. Finally a person can ride this loop without riding through a mud swamp!




All in all, over 50 people showed up and worked for about three hours and rode for two more. Follow it up with a cookout and some beverages and i can't wait for the next one. The post-gazette was there doing interviews and taking pictures, so im hoping to see the story soon.

Another new blog...

This is the beginning of a log of my mountain biking activities. I'll be posting rides i've done throughout the Pittsburgh area along with anywhere else i happen to go. I will also include ride reviews and pictures.