Patapsco - McKelden/Woodstock - Conditions

[pmweller]

7/20/03
Rode Patapsco McKelden and Woodstock areas. Nearly all in excellent shape. Here and there on the Woodstock side there are some muddy spots, but everything is draining and drying quite nicely. Fair amount of horse damage, especially the horse popular areas down by the river. Many of the open trails in fields are even dusty! It's a bit tough to cross the river to get to Woodstock from McKelden and back. (The last couple of years has been low due to drought conditions - not this year!). I tried to ride accross, fell, got wet, etc. On the way back, decided to wade accross holding bike. It is about 2-3 feet at most crossings. Kind of refreshing on hot day actually. I recommend riding McKelden and Woodstock this week if the rain holds out.:D

[Jeff_S]

Haven't seen any updates since mid-July so............

I've been off the mtb for a few weeks, waiting for a tow hitch to come in for my Murano. Couldn't take it anymore so I stuffed the bike in the back and went to Mckeldin yesterday. Parked at the tracks and rode counter- clockwise (along river and then up). The trail was in fairly good condition initially. Some spots prior to the climb up the hill prior to the access road to the falls had short sections of medium-hard mud. The sides were fairly hard. The first water crossing area at the bottom of the short rocky descent (where races normally cross over initially) was deep mud. Water level looked high. Continued on along bend following the river. The bottom area on the back side of the park had numerous long stretches of medium-soft/wet mud. Many have blazed around these spots. I continued along the river to investigate the water crossing where races normally return from the other side. Pretty dry getting to the river but you're not riding across unless you have a snorkel! You'll be soaked up to and probably beyond your chamois. Water level is pushing 3' deep, depending on your line. With careful planning, I'm sure you can walk across in the vicinity. Turned around and rode up the singletrack hill towards the basketball courts - switchback trail? Some of the exposed root areas were a good bit more exposed than last Fall/Winter. The only environmentally friendly riding at the moment is probably going to be the shorter inner loops.

I guess I'm in no real hurry for my tow hitch and bike rack to come in. :(