Hagerstown/Martinsburg - Sun Oct 22nd - Sleepy Creek...

[killerclam]

My first post here. ;-)

Sunday around 10am or so in Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area. It's about a 20 or 30 minutes drive southwest from Hagerstown.

Sleepy Creek is 23,000+ acres of protected wilderness with about 70-100 miles of trails. The trails are mostly older washed-out logging and mining trails. It's pretty similar to Frederick Watershed but a little less pure singletrack, it's a good bit steeper and about as rocky. If you like the Shed and like to climb a little more you'll like Sleepy Creek. If Greenbrier or the Green Ridge loop is more your style, it's possible you might not enjoy it so much.

I actually live only 1/2mi from a nice 3-way trailhead into Sleepy Creek and I ride there 300+ days per year. Rain doesn't hurt the place much and night rides are no problem. Even during hunting season the place is nearly deserted. (but you still need to be careful) It's awesome!

I'm always surprised when I'm at HubCity in Hagerstown or riding at the Shed and I run into Hagerstown area riders that don't know about this place.

I was preparing for a few guys to come out and do this ride but most pulled out... I still plan to ride. Anyone who reads this is welcome to come out. It will be a good opportunity to learn about a bunch of new trails.

I plan to do a reasonably long ride... I'm lookin to do 5 or 6+ hours with about 3,000ft of climbing, but not at a super fast pace. But I'm totally flexible on this... if 2 hours is what you'd prefer we can do that. (and I'll just head back out solo later. Hehehehhe)

Shoot me a PM if you interested in coming out.

Like I mentioned above, I'm riding most every day... if you're interested in checking this place out but can't make it on the 22nd still feel free to PM me. Whenever you have the chance to come out... it's hard to catch me on a day when I'm NOT riding!
:-D

http://noze.com/sleepycreek/sleepycreek.jpg

[bikerRob]

10/21/06 >> Reading your post brought back the memory of the only time I ever rode at Sleepy Creek. I rode there once many years ago. During the summer of 96' or 97' I think around the Memorial Day holiday. I choose the wrong time to go. Daytime temps were in the 90's. The place ( campgrounds/ lake area) was packed. I had no knowledge of the area and was armed only with a topo map I had picked up from the LBS in Martinsburg. I think I was the only person there riding a bike and the only one that didn't speak with a WVa. accent. To those who don't know the area I would describe the Topo. to be similar to the area surrounding Douthat St. Park in as much as there is a lake between two mountain ridges. That is where the comparison ends however as Douthat is a park with well groomed trails and S.C. is more like the shed' only with bigger hills. I just now dug out my old map out that is yellowed and torn in two. The weekend I rode there I started out north from the lake and bore left on a rocky trail ( think Gambrill ), crossed over a power line and headed diagonally up the westward Ridge ( Sleeply creek Mountain ? ) towards Whites gap. From there I rode south along the ridgeline ( old jeep road ) carefully watching the mileage on my computer so I could find the right trail on which to turn back down the mountain. Lucky for me I found the right one. This is definately not an area that has well marked trails and you wouldn't want to get lost and get stuck out there at night. I found my way down the mountain and around the other side of the lake. It was here that I had my first encounter with a rattle snake, something I will never quite forget. I'm surprised that you said the place doesn't see a lot of hunters. When I was there I figured the place seemed groomed mostly for hunters and Anglers but It was summer and not hunting season. If I ever went there again I think I would really like to have a GPS, that's how remote the area felt to me. Navagating by a 10 yr. old Topo map and compass could be dangerous. It would be great if you could post some maps (or descriptions) of some of your favorite loops. If you do this try to show some easier climbs up to the ridges ( from the lake/camping area ). I really wanted to find an easier climb up to (Third Hill Mountain?) ( the east ridge ). The only one I saw was the power line and it was straight up...not my cup of tea. Can you recommend what Topo map to get, mine was just a cheap zerox copy. Now that I think about it I bet some of those downhills would be great on a F/S rig. Ha! the down hill I took I did using an old Judy fork (75mm travel) and cantilever brakes! Talk about scary! Ahh..those were the days. :D Rob

[treeskier]

Just released this past summer (2006) is a great mtb resource. Written by Robin Boyd, Mountain Biker's Guide to West Virginia and published by Quarrier Press, it has some terrific rides and info.

Sleepy Creek Wildlife Management Area is described as well as Cacapon State Park. I had suspected there would be some great riding there and now that I have this book, I'm looking forward to exploring more of WV.

Regards,
Dave