Pisgah MTB Trip Report - 1 of 5

In a last minute kind of way Ryan and I made plans for Labor Day weekend road trip to mountain bike and camp.  We had been considering a trip all year but never put a date on the calendar.  Thankfully our family and work schedules cooperated to make a trip come together... but where to go?

The Pisgah National Forest area has been on our radar for some time.  I did some riding in this area of western North Carolina several years ago and have wanted to go back ever since.  With the ability to get away for multiple days we decided to go for it and head ~8.5 hours south.

Riding at Bent Creek!

Saturday morning and time to head out!  We loaded up the CX9 and left Ryan's house at 06:30.  With the rear seats down there was plenty of space for all our camping gear.  The bikes followed along on the hitch rack.  Thankfully, the weather forecast looked good for the next five days, and we made good time driving beneath sunny skies.

A couple days prior to leaving I checked the public campgrounds in the Pisgah area and found they were all booked full, certainly due to Labor Day weekend.  Fortunately I had heard about Bike Farm Pisgah and their web site indicated they had open car camping sites.  Perfect!  I booked a site online.

We made it to Asheville about 15:00 and decided to stop at Bent Creek Experimental Forest for an afternoon ride before heading to camp.  The Rice Pinnaccle parking lot was nearly full as we geared up and rolled out.  I wanted to ride the Green's Lick downhill again, so we worked our way up Wolf Branch and Ledford trails to the ridge on the northern side of the area.  Sustained climbing and warm temperatures tested our legs that had been sitting in a car all day.

Look out below!

Before long we were at the top of Green's Lick and ready for the downhill.  Just as I rememberd, it was fast and fun!  Lots of twists, curves, and jumps came at high speed.  We ripped it as best we could and reached the bottom with big grins.

Knowing there was still camp to find and setup, we headed back to the car but were lured off the road for more singletrack.  We rode service road 479E, blew past the turn onto Deer Lake Lodge, and ended up coming back down Wolf Branch.  Somewhere along the way a trail runner told us of a bear she had just seen.  We rode along scanning the woods but didn't see any bear, not today.

Back at the car we talked to a couple locals who seemed surprised to hear we woke up this morning in Ohio.  They asked about our plans for the rest of our trip and gave us strong recommendations to rent a couple "dual squish" bikes for Pisgah.  "Those hard tails are weapons here, but you are gonna need some 6-6 dual squish in Pisgah."

It was only about 30 minutes to drive from Bent Creek to Bike Farm Pisgah.  We spotted the sign on the west side of 280 and slowly drove up the private drive.  After filling out a waiver at the gate, we drove up and up a steep gravel road and were delivered to a clearing where a guide greeted us.

Brian from the Bike Farm explained the setup, pointing out the outdoor shower stall, water spigot, and directed us further up the hill to our car camping site.  He was very friendly and said to let him know if we had any questions about where to ride.

Car camping site #4.

Upon reaching our camp area, literally right next to the gravel drive, we were initially unsure about the not-so-level area.  Turns out my blindly picking car camping site 4 on the web site resulted in the least flat of the six sites.  They also had deck camping sites, for sure flat, but it would have been a little more work hauling our stuff down a sorta steep trail from where the car would be parked.  We settled in to our site and found it to be fine.

There was a likelihood of rain overnight.  Better at night than during the day, and the forecast for the next several days was clear.  We brought the canopy on this trip, it had been left behind on previous trips due to not enough vehicle room to haul it, and decided to set the tent under the canopy.

After dinner we studied our maps and guidebook for the area, making plans for our first Pisgah NF ride tomorrow.  The sun began to set and it was dark in a hurry.  Katydids, crickets, and I don't know what other kinds of insects were in full swing as we crashed for the night.  I didn't hear them for long.

Ryan fights KT's camping can opener...
eventually we ate some beans with our beef and rice.