Adirondack Sports September 2023

BICYCLING
SEPTEMBER 2023 11
Upstate
Mountain Bike
Boom
▶ WRITER JOSH
CLEVENSTINE AND
TRAVIS BARNES ON
NOOB(EE) TRAIL AT
DANIELS ROAD.
▼ MBA TRAIL
DIRECTOR DAVE
WALTERS, KIRBY
VAN VLEET AND
STEVE WINKLER
BENCH CUTTING
THE HORNET TRAIL
AT DANIELS ROAD.
JOSH CLEVENSTINE
▶ SMBA PRESIDENT ART PICARD
AND VOLUNTEERS MAKING A
MUCH-NEEDED ROCK BRIDGE ON
THE MAIN TRAIL AT DANIELS ROAD.
JOSH CLEVENSTINE
▲ SMBA DANIELS LADIES
RIDE WITH ASHLEY
CLEVENSTINE, ERIN LASKY,
JEN, MARY MARCINKO, AND
BECKY LUSIGNAN.
By Josh Clevenstine
Whether you’ve been pedaling in
the woods for decades, months, or
just started riding, there has never been
a better time to be a mountain biker in
upstate New York. There is quality riding
for ALL levels everywhere. I live across
the street from Round Lake and whether
I want to drive to the trailhead to be
five minutes, three hours, or anything
in between, a wealth of riding options is
waiting for me.
Twenty minutes north lies my personal
go to, Daniels Road State Forest.
The 523-acre area features designated
mountain bike trails under the volunteer
stewardship of Saratoga Mountain Bike
Association. Daniels Road info: dec.ny.gov/
lands/104708.html.
Under the leadership of president Art
Picard, SMBA has added over five miles
of sanctioned trail to Daniels as well as
addressed problematic spots with some
quality stone work. Art leads by example
and the club has seen tremendous turnouts
on trailwork days and outstanding
snow tracking efforts for winter fat biking,
which I’ve been involved with for two
years. SMBA continues to grow and attract
new riders and group members: saratogamtb.org.
A few minutes north of Daniels on US
Route 9 lies a plot of land that was once
a graphite mine, a driving range, and is
COMING SOON as a beauty of new intermediate
flow network, Graphite Range
Community Forest in Wilton – on trails
built by Steve and Sylvia Ovitt’s Wilderness
Property Management. It’s a multiuse,
community-managed forest which will
be owned by Saratoga County. Stretching
across 200 acres, this will be a recreational
hub for the surrounding communities and
a space for environmental education and
economic opportunity – all while helping
to protect the ecological value and resilience
in an area vital for regional natural
resource connectivity.
I got a chance to ask Ethan Winter, the
current land owner with the drive to make
this network happen, for his thoughts on
the project so far. “As this project has developed,
we focused on the concept of communities
building trails and trails building
communities. This project has been such
a fun experience for my family and me
because every time we take people out on
the land, we make new friends. I tell people,
it’s a community forest, and it’s also a
friend factory. This project has been a way to
engage the community in trail building and
hopefully create a model for the Adirondack
foothills, Saratoga and the Capital Region.”
More info: saratogaplan.org.
Just west of Graphite lies another
network featuring Wilderness Property
Management’s signature flow trails,
Tupelo Community Forest in Greenfield
Center. Tupelo opened briefly in 2022 but
is temporarily closed while they secure a
permit from the Town of Greenfield. Part
of growing a mountain biking region is
learning how to work well with local entities
and this has been a learning experience
for all, as the mission of Saratoga
PLAN continues to move toward the goal
of linking Daniels Road State Forest to
Moreau State Park.
“The team behind Tupelo is actively
in the process of getting the permit.” says
Will Aldrich, the current land owner of
Tupelo Community Forest – which will be
owned by Saratoga County, “Tupelo is a
much mellower ride than Daniels Road
and will be a great way for kids and families
to get started on adventures in the
woods on bikes.”
It’s a 145-acre forest with three miles of
narrow trails created to provide a welcoming
forest recreation experience to be fun
for beginner and intermediate mountain
bikers, as well as hikers, cross-country
skiers and snowshoers. It also has access
to a grove of 800-year-old tupelo trees in
adjacent Lincoln Mountain State Forest.
More info: tupelocf.org.
See BICYCLING 13 ▶