Burlingame, Rhode Island

The main NEMBA website gave erroneous directions to the starting point. I drove as indicated to the campsite but was told to go to the picnic area instead if I was there to mountain bike. Fortunately it was a short drive to the picnic area and the lady at the gate even gave me a couple of trail maps to assist in my ride.

I opted to take the yellow loop clockwise. Some of this yellow loop trail is blazed blue as well. Its a little strange as the loop consists of  a dirt road, single track, paved roads thru the campsite and riding on the street.

The Loop (Yellow and Blue Blazed)

The tougher rocky and rooty section is in the north and there are lot of other trails up in that section as well. (see Open Street Map link at the end of this post)

Section (Type of trail)

1 - Dirt Road out of Parking lot
2 - Single track (easy but nice and narrow)
Cut thru Campsite (paved)
3 - Flat with occasional rock but lots of boardwalks)
4 - Very Rocky
5 - Good Flow
You have to ride on the road for a bit
6 - This is the toughest section Watch Out!
7- Climbing but great stretches to bomb, etc.
8 - Yep its downhill but this is the road - Not single track :-(

The Ride

On the dirt road by the lake 

Singletrack finally (section 2)

Thru the marsh...

Lots of boardwalks on section 3

Turning north...

This stretch was very rocky (section 4)

Fun stretch

"section 5" was fun - much of it you could bomb fast

This was the turn off at the road that begins section 6. Parts of this trail was pretty gnarly. Rock gardens, unexpected sudden descents and ascents, mucho granite outcroppings all around. Tough going for sure...

Right at the turn off the road 

It's starting to get a lot tougher 

The next section (#7) gets a little easier. Although there is a lot of steady climbing, there is more flow and you are often rewarded with slick rock areas.

Ah... about 2/3rds of the way on section #7 there's the perfect natural rock berm. Sweet! 

Slick rock - nice!

There are more trails to explore  - not only in the north but in the south as well. If time permits while I am here this week. I will try to return and check out the other trails...

Further Info

• Burlingame Trails (open street map)
• Rhode Island NEMBA - Burlingame 

Big River Park - a hot but fun ride!

I arrived here around 10 am and it was already freakin' hot and humid. Despite the brutal weather I enjoyed the ride and hope to return to check out more of the park.  The trails are great - fast and flowy and there is a lot of twists and turns and ups and downs (but no extreme climbing) that keep it interesting.

As you can see from the maps, I only did a small section of the park. There are a myriad of trails - all great but not really blazed and there is no signage. I used MapMyRide to try and  keep track of where I was. I got a little nervous of getting lost plus the heat and humidity were not making it easy so I turned around after 75 minutes and made it out in 45 minutes. Two hours was not enough time to really explore the vast network.

My ride (I went in and out the same way...)

Elevation changes

At the Start 

Great trail flow

This is fun riding!

Boardwalk

A few glacial erratics

Hot, sweaty and ready to head home
(it was like a hot sauna!)

Further Info

Maps

• Open Street Map
• MTB Project

Other Big River Rides (and Ride Maps)

• Big River - Tarbox Pond
• Return to Big River 

History

• New London Turnpike - In 1821, the New London Turnpike toll road opened shortening the trip from Providence to New York by taking passengers on a more diagonal overland route connecting with the New York steamships at New London, Connecticut. Developed late in the turnpike era, the introduction of railroad and steamboat service soon rendered the Turnpike obsolete and its owners were forced to abandon it.  More Info >
• Hell's Acre - Along the New London Turnpike, small village and taverns sprung up to cater to travelers.  One particularly notorious area was known Hell's Half Acre, a place where murder, gambling, and prostitution were rampant. More Info >
• Big River Reservoir - The Big River Reservoir was acquired by Water Resources Board to build a reservoir many years ago. Through eminent domain 8,600 acres of land was condemned by the state and 351 owners evicted. In 1990, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded that the land was too sandy and porous to support a reservoir and during the same year the project was blocked by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. More Info >

The Desert of Rhode Island

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dVWKKBRVnQ
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COu40RujgSc
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTnOkkmVPvU

 ^ Yep this is Big River! Glacial silt accumulation...

Pequnonnock Valley - Sunday AM

It was a beautiful day to ride in the Valley. The brutal humidity from yesterday was finally gone and the morning sunlight was perfect for a few photos and a video!

Off the Blue Trail

Tall Pines Area

The "Green Monster"
Tallest Roller in Connecticut
(30ft +)

360 Video of the Tall Pines Area "(very short)

The "Canyon"

Waldo (finally!) and Upper Gussy

Waldo

I finally made it up to Waldo -- it's great place to ride! Bikers in the parking lot told me where the trail started otherwise, I might have missed it.

Trail heads are here...

I rode down Where's Waldo--the Red Trail---and at times I thought I was at Kingdom Trails--the flow was so good... A nice mix of up and downs and lots of smooth (and sharp) curves and switchbacks on the climbs made it a pleasure to ride. Thank you Paula Burton - this place is a work of art! :-)

Where's Waldo Trail Descent

Photos don't really capture the flow of fun....

Of course, once by the Lake -- the peaceful beauty is overwhelming.

Lake Lillinonah

I mistakenly started back up on a bootleg trail heading north right along the shore (red dashes on the map) but realized this wasn't correct and found my way back to the Purple Trails (Extra Credit, etc.) and rode back up that way. Once again, 95% of the trails had doable climbs and there where plenty of terrain challenges along the way.

A nice rocky section

I did get a bit confused at this section (panorama below - it is the roller #6 on the map) but realized "Thing 2" lead around back of this (on the left) and made my way back to the parking lot  -- a little winded but glad to have ridden here for sure. Just gotta come back and ride the Yellow and White next time!

Sandy Hook

Surprisingly there is very little commercial activity for a wide swath in the area (especially being a holiday nothing was open!) but I found a Subway open right in the adorable town of Sandy Hook and sat at a shady park bench next to the rocky stream right nearby. One cannot be in this area and NOT think about the terrible shooting tragedy the Town's name is now synonymous with. It was an absolutely horrible event - such a charming, quaint peaceful little village scarred forever by senseless gun violence....

Downtown SandyHook
The stream runs right through here and all the stores have decks overlooking the rocky streamed 

Upper Gussy

Well since I was in the area, I thought I'd go and ride Upper Gussy. as it has been years since I rode here. My very first trail maintenance session was here with Mark Lurie and Paula Burton.

You drive in on Sanford Road and it is a skinny bumpy potholed dirt road -- kinda rough on the car but thankfully the parking lot was not too far.

I remembered the loop: ride up the Poly Brody Fire Road until you see the turn for Upper Gussy and ride all the back on Gussy.

But it is confusing now as there are a lot more trails in the network and blazes do NOT exist at intersections. Thank God I ran into a biker who straightened me out twice as to where to go.

The trail itself is nice but not as well traversed as Waldo and as mentioned: confusing as there are quite a few connecting trails and skimpy and/or nonexistent blazes at all the interactions. Most of the time I relied upon gut instinct and a vague memory to continue on the main trail.

I even missed the turn off on the Blue back to the parking lot and rode on the brown trail (as indicated on the map) for quite a way until I felt it was wrong.

The descent into the parking lot is quite steep and I was exhausted (it was hot and I was bummed about being confused much of the time).

Summary

Waldo is phenomenal. Upper Gussy needs blazes and both my map and DEEP's are equally inadequate...

From the Serengeti to the Huntington Mica Mines

Saturday at Trumbull - Pequonnock Valley

White Trail in the Serengeti

Sunday at Huntington

I parked in the Upper Dodgingtown parking lot and zoomed on down to the lower lot before hitting the Burn Loops. I then decided to venture up north and check out the mica mine. I was only here once before - literally ages ago with my son. It was kinda cool checking it out knowing that ages ago, mica was actively mined here.

I guess the sign was for the mica mine when it was active

One of the pits

Mica was scattered everywhere - glistening in the sunlight

Hard to tell from the photo but this is pretty big...

Oo yeah - nice trail - part of the mica mines rim loop

There are trails that encircle all around the mica pits... 

Couldn't resist snapping this shot from my handlebars...

This is the trail out of the area (heading northeast)

The next section of riding had some really nice flowing trails but then on the circle back... a huge climb. Ouch!

Then I headed further north and explored the northern-most white trails(s). Although I was trying to find the old chimney, I ended up at the extreme north off the park near a farmhouse. Yikes!! I had no idea how I got there! This detour wasn't in my plans! NOTE: Even the trail itself shows up on a Google Map aerial.

End of the line!

It was a long slog back up going southward but I eventually found my way back to the Blue Trail and headed back across the Pipeline trail past the parking lot and back to more familiar territory. 

I stopped to chow down on an apple at this scenic spot overlooking the lake and snapped a photo of the little lighthouse.

The mini lighthouse on the lake

After riding both the South Pond and South Park trails, I headed on north on Rock and Roll to check on the new boardwalks and armoring by FCNEMBA. It was great!

Finally along a really scenic stretch of Rock and Roll that's right at the lake edge - I reluctantly stopped (the flow was nice) because the lighthouse looked great in the sun and I wanted a photo.

Huntington is really a great spot and certain trails and section really kick my butt. It's a bit of a longer haul to get up here but I really should do it more often!

Further Historical Info

Not too much is found online about the Mica Mine but it was known as Biermann's Quarry.

Article >