Topic: Hard/Easy option on South Yellow

[StonePony]

For the Croom experts;  A 100 yards or so into south yellow, where the trail curves down to the left fairly sharply, there is a sign (that keeps falling over) that seems to indicate an easy/hard choice, with hard being to the right.  I rode a ways down this trail today, but it looks like it doesn't get much traffic (at all), and is littered with fallen trees -- some very large.  I turned back as it looked like maybe I was heading down an old/closed trail.  So, after all that rambling finally comes the question -- is this a legit part of the s. yellow trail at this point, or is that a *legacy* sign that should be disregarded?

[Harvey]

Short answer: It's not a legit trail.

Long answer: About 5 years ago a trail started there and came out just south of the old cemetary. It was a ~ 1 mile very technical loop (for Croom). Forestry started getting more active with what's going on around that time and said "no more new trails", and that trail had to be abandoned.

[StonePony]

Short answer: It's not a legit trail.

Long answer: About 5 years ago a trail started there and came out just south of the old cemetary. It was a ~ 1 mile very technical loop (for Croom). Forestry started getting more active with what's going on around that time and said "no more new trails", and that trail had to be abandoned.

Ok, got it -- thanks Harvey.  Too bad....I generally ride Croom a couple times a week and would love to find some more technical stuff there a little closer to the Tucker Hill parking lot.

[Paintboy]

stone
 That's very interesting I just assumed that could ride where ever as long your not hacking trees down..

[Garry]

stone
 That's very interesting I just assumed that could ride where ever as long your not hacking trees down..

With all of the hoopla about conflicting use of the trail systems at Croom and the Motocross damage - some years back it was established that horses, hikers, and mountain bikes would stay off of each others trails.  Like Harvey said, 5 years back that trail was cut in and started to get a fair amount of use to the point that it was becoming established - but forestry (DOF) said no new trails and that qualified for a new trail, so it was out.  It also goes a little too close to the cemetery and they wanted the trail to not skirt up to that sensitive area. We're still in the long process of working out a solution to the bikes/motor cycles conflict, so avoiding any more conflicts is a good thing.   

[Paintboy]

Again did not know.
Thanks for the input Garry..

[SandPine]

...would love to find some more technical stuff there a little closer to the Tucker Hill parking lot.

What is "closer" to you?  You can hit the Blue pits from THill in about 20 or less minutes.  The one "legal" way I know is to take north yellow.  Jump on green 8mile bail out, more north yellow.  Red bail out to blue.  North blue bypassing Sugar Falls to FR2.  Take FR2 east to blue pits.  Do blue pits and even go down to Drunken Monkey.  Then return the same way. 

[StonePony]

...would love to find some more technical stuff there a little closer to the Tucker Hill parking lot.

What is "closer" to you?  You can hit the Blue pits from THill in about 20 or less minutes.  The one "legal" way I know is to take north yellow.  Jump on green 8mile bail out, more north yellow.  Red bail out to blue.  North blue bypassing Sugar Falls to FR2.  Take FR2 east to blue pits.  Do blue pits and even go down to Drunken Monkey.  Then return the same way.

Very good idea, thanks -- will do that route maybe tomorrow.  For some reason it never dawned on me to use any of the FR's.  Doh!

[Harvey]

There's also some old pits just north of Tucker Hill. If you ride north from Tucker Hill, go past the green shortcut and after that is an "intersection" where the trail goes right, but there's an old trail that crosses a forest road and heads into a set of pits. We used to ride that trail all the time, but I think it went away with the "no new trails" mandate. I haven't been in there in a few years, but I think equestrians still go in there. There was some really fun stuff in there.

[StonePony]

There's also some old pits just north of Tucker Hill. If you ride north from Tucker Hill, go past the green shortcut and after that is an "intersection" where the trail goes right, but there's an old trail that crosses a forest road and heads into a set of pits. We used to ride that trail all the time, but I think it went away with the "no new trails" mandate. I haven't been in there in a few years, but I think equestrians still go in there. There was some really fun stuff in there.

You've got me curious now -- I'm going to have to see if I can find this trail.  I generally am going in the opposite direction on that part of yellow, so it's not ringing a bell, but I'll see if I can put my Tom Brown tracker skills to use and find it.   

[Harvey]

If you're going in the opposite direction it's in the area where the trail's heading generally south, paralleling FR3, after crossing FR4. You'll get to an area that looks like an intersection with signs having you turn left to stay on the trail. Turn right and you'll cross FR3 and head into those pits.

[StonePony]

If you're going in the opposite direction it's in the area where the trail's heading generally south, paralleling FR3, after crossing FR4. You'll get to an area that looks like an intersection with signs having you turn left to stay on the trail. Turn right and you'll cross FR3 and head into those pits.

If the gold and bond markets allow me today, as well as my wife, I'm going to try and get over there for a ride today...love this kind of outdoor detective work..lol.  Thanks Harvey.

[Paintboy]

Have fun with that Stone.Its a blast over there.. Just don't go crazy by yourself.

[StonePony]

Have fun with that Stone.Its a blast over there.. Just don't go crazy by yourself.

Thanks paintboy, will do.  We'll have to get together for a Croom-fest sometime soon as well.   

[StonePony]

Ok, I just got back from taking a *walk*  over to the pits area Harvey mentioned, and all I can say is "wow".  There is some seriously premium mountain biking terrain back there.  I saw where a lot of the trails previously ran -- even though there is a lot of debris and downed trees, you can really get a feel for how good some of that stuff was.  Seems to have had all kinds of stuff, from intermediate on the technical difficulty scale, all the way up to double diamond pucker-fest downhill stuff.

Garry:  just a thought here, and it's probably a dumb one, but what are the chances of bartering with the DOF and giving up some of the already-shredded red/blue trails to the enduro boys in exchange for being allowed to build out this pits area into a mtb only area?  Croom could use a few more technical areas, and there are probably spots on the reds/blues (south side maybe?) that are close to the sanctioned ATV areas that might be an attractive trade-off.

Sorry in advance for the probably excessive and un-warranted enthusiasm, but after seeing the possibilities in that pits area I figured I'd at least throw out the idea...