Southern Drift: A MTB Tour Down South

Get your season started right with a road trip down South.


Early season riding in the Northeastern U.S. can be a frustrating time to be a mountain biker. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, but unfortunately for you, the trails are a muddy mess. You want to ride, so where are you going to go? One solution for riders in the Northeast to get their early season shred on is to take a road trip down South. Heaps of high-quality spots are popping up in the South that are rideable all year round. To showcase the variety of riding south of the Mason-Dixon Line, the goal of this road trip was to hit a bike park, do some big mountain epic riding and check out a sampling of urban wilderness trails.

With that in mind, I made my plan to visit Seven Springs, Pennsylvania; Brevard, North Carolina; and Knoxville, Tennessee.

Seven Springs, Pennsylvania:


The Seven Springs Mountain Resort is located 75 miles south-east of Pittsburgh, and at 3,000' boasts one of the higher elevations of ski centers in Pennsylvania. Seven Springs is a four-season resort with tons of activities for the whole family. Besides the bike park, summer offerings include canopy tours, alpine slide, sporting clays and golfing, among many others.


We stayed at a very well-appointed condo that was a quick ride to the lifts. When we got to the bike rental shop, we linked up with bike park supervisor, Brandon Coulter. On the lift, Brandon gave us a rundown of the layout of the bike park. “Most of the trails are on the front face of the mountain, but I will show you some of the newer trails that are on the back side or north face first,” Brandon said as we got off the lift.


“My goal the last few seasons has been to develop and open up the trails on this side of the mountain,” Brandon related as he wiped off his goggles. “There are more vertical feet over here, and a ton of potential to construct both old school hand-built downhill trails as well as modern machine-made trails.”

We started out on Boy Scout, which is a fun enduro-style trail with a great mix of machine-built flow and natural terrain. It requires a bit more climbing than you would want to do on a downhill bike, but on my 160mm travel bike it was a blast. After Boy Scout, we hit up Lost Alley and KT7. Lost Alley is a purely machine-constructed trail that you can absolutely haul on. KT7 is a rad, old school downhill track that sends you straight down the fall line of the mountain through some serious rock gardens.

“We want to continue to develop the backside with consistent, progressive trails that are a great introduction to the sport of mountain biking,” Brandon said as we hopped on the lift again.

“Our goal is to create an environment where riders feel comfortable transitioning from cross-country riding to freeride trails,” Brandon said. “We aim to achieve this goal by building more green trails and offering top-notch rentals and lessons.”


Next on the agenda was to check out the front side of the resort. “There is something for every level of rider on this part of the mountain,” Brandon said as we set down the blue jump trail called 007. As we were floating over medium size tables and gaps, folks to our left were sending it in "The Arena" on big features like the boner log and moto jump. On our right, beginners were getting a feel for the sport on the green trail Rock and Roll.


“Now I’ll show you some of the black trails on this side of the mountain,” Brandon said as we started out on the Super Connector trail. This trail had a very freestyle feel to it with some big jumps, gaps and ladder drops. From Super Connector we checked out the technical Frankenstein trail that had some great natural rock features and steep rocky chutes.


“This is the tenth season of lift access mountain biking at Seven Springs,” Brandon said as we finished an awesome day of riding. “We will continue to grow the sport by providing a great program to beginner riders. We will also continue to build fun progressive trails to keep folks stoked no matter what level they ride at.”

Brevard, North Carolina:


After an awesome time at Seven Springs, it was time to point it south and head to Brevard, North Carolina. Brevard is located 35 miles south of Asheville, and is the perfect base when planning rides in the Pisgah National Forest and DuPont State Forest. There are plenty of great places to stay or camp in Brevard, as well as an abundance of amazing restaurants and breweries.


The Red House Inn & Brevard Vacation Houses offers some great hotel alternatives, including everything from their bed and breakfast to whole house rentals. We stayed in "The Barn," one of the many unique properties that owners Daniel and Tracie Trusler have converted into modern, comfortable accommodations. Tracie and Daniel are both riders and have a knack for providing exactly what you will need during your stay.


Another terrific rider-owned business in Brevard is The Bike Farm. The brainchild of Cashion Smith and Eva Surls, The Bike Farm is your one-stop resource for mountain biking in Western North Carolina. Literally get off a plane in Asheville or roll up in your vehicle to The Bike Farm, and they will take care of all of your lodgings, guiding and bike rentals.


The Bike Farm is located on 440 pristine acres adjacent to the Pisgah National Forest. Camp or "glamp" in one of their massive high-end, military-grade tents and ride to Pisgah from their property. “Between Pisgah and DuPont the quantity, quality and variety of riding rivals anywhere else in the country,” Cashion said. As we pulled our bikes from The Bike Farm Sprinter in the Corn Mill Shoals parking lot of DuPont, he continued, “We have trails that everyone from first day beginners to pros can have fun on.”

DuPont State Park covers a large area, and choosing the right ride is crucial. It is easy to take a wrong turn and end up on endless gravel roads instead of the sweet, flowy singletrack that the park is known for. “The great thing about using our guide service is that you waste no time,” Cashion said as we pedaled up to the top of Cedar Rock Mountain. “Tell us what kind of riding you want, and we will do our best to deliver it.”


After the quick climb to the top of the plateau, we were treated to a wicked ride down a massive formation of exposed granite. The slickrock trail winds through fields of moss and lichens and offers some stunning views of the surrounding mountains. “You can’t come to Brevard and not experience Cedar Rock,” Cashion said as we bombed down the backside of the mountain.


DuPont has a rare mix of super fun, flowy trails and amazing scenery. On our tour through the 10,000-acre park we saw some amazing waterfalls and rustic covered bridges. Make sure to check out Triple Falls, which was a filming location in The Hunger Games.


From Triple Falls we continued north to the Lake Imaging area and finished off the day with some loops of Hickory Mountain. It’s a quick pedal up the mellow Jim Branch Trail to the top, and then you have your choice of two amazing downhills. Both the Hooker and Ridgeline Trails have so much flow that they beg to be ridden again and again. The following day, the plan was to a ride in the Pisgah National Forest. “Pisgah is a vast national forest with endless riding options,” Cashion explained. “On the whole, it is much more technical than DuPont, but there are easier trails to be had there as well.”

The plan was to ride some of the more technical stuff in the morning, and then meet up with a youth team that Cashion coaches in the afternoon. We met up at The Hub and Pisgah Tavern, just a few miles from Davidson River Trailhead area where we would be riding. Cashion convinced Hub mechanic Mike Mahowald to join us for a lap of one of his favorite seasonal trails, Bennett Gap.

“This is a very popular hiking trail, and because of that it is only open for mountain biking from October 15th to April 15th,” Mike said as we geared up. “Luckily for us we were just inside of that time period, because the trail is absolutely phenomenal.” From the Hub, it was a 40-minute ride up an easy-grade gravel road to the Bennett Gap trailhead. Once on Bennett Gap, there is nothing to do but pin it on the blisteringly fast downhill trail. As you snake along the ridgeline of the mountain, you will be treated to amazing 360-degree views of the Blue Ridge Mountains. There are many double-black style features on this trail, including some very technical rock drops.


Once we got back to the bottom, we pedalled over to the Sycamore Cove area. There we met up with the Transylvania County Schools Cycling Club where Cashion volunteers his time. It was awesome to see how stoked these young kids were on the sport of mountain biking.

“The Sycamore Cove area is great for beginner riders because it’s easily accessible, the loops are short, and the terrain isn’t as steep and technical as other parts of Pisgah,” Cashion said as the kids pulled their bikes out of the trailer. “We will do a loop of Sycamore Cove and one on Lower Black.”

We rode up Thrift Cove to a double track called Grassy Road, and climbed up to the top of the Sycamore Cove Trail. The kids were having a blast weaving through the lush forest with small creek crossings. Coach Cashion gave great instructions to the club on how to hold their line on the many "root gardens" on the trail. Once we got back to the parking lot, some of the more advanced riders joined us for a second ride on the Lower Black Trail. We climbed the trails again to get to Sycamore, but this time turned left at the split and went up Lower Black instead of right towards Grassy Road. Lower Black is one of the best trails that I have ever ridden. It delivers hit after hit, and has a feel similar to the Sidewinder Trail of the Kingdom Trails network. The rock armoring of Lower Black makes you feel like you are in a luge sled at times, and there are tons of awesome extra credit features to hit on the wicked downhill.


After helping get the kids packed up, we headed back to the Hub for a well-deserved adult beverage. Not only does the Hub offer an amazing selection of high-end bikes, parts and gear, they also have an extraordinary selection of beers on tap. After a refreshing pint, Cashion recommended that we check out the Oscar Blues Brewery.


I am a huge fan of Oscar Blues beer, and it was great to experience their Brevard location. We linked up with Oscar Blues marketing manager, Aaron Baker for a tour of the facility. “We are expanding the facility here to provide more great beer to the East Coast,” Aaron said as we walked through a maze of massive silver silos.


After the tour we tasted some great new Oscar Blues beers like the Death by Coconut porter and Passion Fruit Pinner IPA. Over a bevy of tasty beverages, Aaron showed us his freshly built up REEB Dikylous. REEB (beer backwards) Cycles is owned by the same folks who own Oscar Blues. REEB Cycles are beautiful high-quality frames, hand-made near Oscar Blues original brewery in Longmont, Colorado.


No trip to Oscar Blues is complete without a stop by the CHUBwagon food truck. Oscar Blues is a terrific place to finish a day of outstanding mountain biking in Brevard.

Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness:


I had heard tons of buzz about Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness trails, and I was excited to check them out. Last summer in Vermont I had ridden with trail builder, Rich Kidd from Knoxville, who painted a vibrant picture of the urban riding in his hometown. Rich, better known as "Shaggy," explained how mountain biking was helping to revitalize South Knoxville.

“South Knoxville was a run-down part of town, but outdoor recreation has brought people back here,” Shaggy said as we geared up for our epic urban ride. “Folks are buying up homes and land in this area to be near the trails and to add more singletrack to the network. Home values are way up, and the vibe of this part of the city has changed drastically for the good.”


We started our ride at the newest addition to the Knoxville Urban Wilderness, the Baker Creek Preserve. “Legacy Parks is a non-profit that works with the county, city and private landowners to help make all of this happen,” Shaggy said as we rode up the Red Bud Crest climbing trail. When we got to the top Shaggy told us how the Baker Creek Preserve project got off the ground. He explained, “Legacy Parks acquired the land and got grants to build this park. They worked closely with the Appalachian Mountain Bike Club, IMBA Trail Solutions and many other talented trail builders to bring our collective vision to reality.”


We had a lot of ground to cover, so we decided to do just one run from the top of Baker Creek and session the area more after we completed the 12-mile Urban Wilderness Loop. We decided to check out Cruze Valley Run, which turned out to be a blast. This beginner-friendly jump trail has big, easy berms, as well as small tabletop jumps with nice faces and long, mellow landings. “If you have the right speed, you can double up this rhythm section,” Shaggy said as he sprinted into the pump track section of the course. From Baker Creek, we headed south and rode through Marie Myers Park to the William Hastie Natural Area. “A lot of this area is privately owned, but the landowners have an agreement with the city to allow folks to ride here.” From time to time we would pop out on the road for a few blocks through a neighborhood, then get right back on the trails.


We took the tight, windy Lost Chromosome trail to a private land easement area. There was a spaghetti bowl of wicked trails bunched up in a relatively small acreage. The AC/DC trail had tons of bridges, exposed limestone and a really nice wallride.


Next up was the Whaley Trail, a scenic stretch of singletrack overlooking the confluence of the Halston and French Broad Rivers. The two rivers come together to form the mighty Tennessee River, making for some amazing views. “The Forks of the River Wildlife Management area is a hunting zone, so we have to stay on the outskirts to be safe,” Shaggy said. After a quick pedal on the paved greenway around the river, we arrived at the Ijams Nature Center. Inside of Ijams is Mead’s Quarry, a popular place to kayak, swim or canoe in the summer. We took the Flow Trail to the Ross Marble Trail, which had some awesome rock outcroppings and nice bridgework.


We went back through Marie Myers Park to return to the Baker Creek Preserve. As we crossed the massive bike bridge over Red Bud Road, Shaggy explained how the project was a great example of synergy among landowners, Legacy Parks and the mountain bike club. “This is a heavily used bike crossing, and Red Bud Road can be very busy. The landowner wanted to build a bridge to more safely connect Baker Creek with the rest of the Urban Wilderness trail network. Legacy Parks helped to get a grant for the project from REI, and the local mountain bike club helped to build it.”


Once back in Baker Creek, Shaggy suggested that we finish the day with runs down the bigger jump trails, Barn Burner and Devil’s Racetrack. Barn Burner has great progression, starting off with small tables that get bigger as you go down. “They call this next berm 'Talladega' after the NASCAR race track,” Shaggy said as he leaned it over in the massive open berm. The trail finished with an awesome hip with a backside long enough to land an airplane. Our last run of the day was a lap down Devil’s Racetrack. This trail is a definite double-black with big wallrides, doubles with 25-30' gaps and slopestyle wood features. It was great to see Shaggy and other locals slay this pro-level track.


This was an amazing trip, and I’d like to thank all of the people who helped me have the best possible experience. Thanks to Brandon Coulter and Katie Buchan from Seven Springs. Thanks to Daniel and Tracie Trusler from Red House Inn for another wonderful stay, Cashion Smith from The Bike Farm, Mike Mahowald from the Hub and Aaron Baker from Oscar Blues. Thanks to Shaggy for a great tour around Knoxville, and Jason Kubik and Robyn Hunt for taking me on some great rides as well.

Thanks to Hans Heim and Scot Nicol at Ibis Cycles for the amazing bikes used on this trip. Thanks as well to Scott Boyd at Hayes, Jeff Clarkson at Schwalbe Tires, Logan Davies at Thomson, Blaike Hennessey at Thule, Dave Watson and Kristen Smart at Sombrio, John Hadfield at OneUp, Brendan Moore at Wolftooth, and Andrew Slowey at Cane Creek.

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