With a break in the humidity for a day, a gravel grinder through the Delaware State Forest seemed like a good idea. I’ve written a few posts about different areas of the forest (Five Mile Meadow Road, Standing Tall Trail, Flat Ridge Road area, Whittaker Road and the High Knob Road, High Line Road area), but this time, the idea was to come up with a way to connect them and extend the ride.

I made plans to ride with Will and Kyle at 9am on Sunday. Will mapped out a route that would connect all of the aforementioned areas into a nice loop. I rode from home and met up with Will and Kyle at the Rt. 739 Parking area.

We headed north on Rt. 739 and made a left on an undisclosed road. To connect the loop, we would have to pedal on a jeep trail and gravel road through private property for about 2.5 miles. Back on the pave, we made a left on Rt. 402 for about a half mile, then onto the High Knob Road. Electing not to climb up to the fire tower, we connected the High Knob Road (a relatively flat, hard packed gravel road) with High Line Road and descended for a few miles down to Hay Road and into the woods.

The old jeep trail was overgrown. We pedaled through the area that was engulfed with the early spring forest fires. You could see some burnt trees on the ground, but the growth was overtaking the black ash. However, a few hunting cabins were not able to survive the fires. We crossed an old wooden plank foot bridge and continued on the trail.

One of the hunting cabins that did not survive the forest fire

Hay Road is closer to a backwoods trail then it is to a road. We came out of the woods and made a left hand turn on Snow Hill Road, a quiet country road that is roughly paved in sections and gravel in others. A left on Resica Falls Road put us back on pavement for  about a quarter mile, before hanging a right on Whittaker Road. After a mile of gravel, Whittaker turned into another jeep trail that was a little less over grown and a little less rocky, which made the descents a lot of fun.

As we came out of the woods again, we rode around the back end of Minisink Lake and onto Flat Ridge Road. For 3.5 miles, the gravel on Flat Ridge is small and hard packed, which provides a really nice surface. Another left put us on Silver Lake Road for a mile and a right put us on Standing Tall Trail. This is a neat gravel road that winds through a deer management section that is fenced off on the left hand side of the road. After 2 miles, a creek comes right through the road. Kyle rode through as Will and I walked through, carrying our bikes. Another mile and our paths went different ways. Will and Kyle made a left on Five Mile Meadow Road for a 2 mile ride to the parking area and I headed in the other direction to a deer trail in the woods that leads to my community.

What a nice ride through a really quiet section. If you slow it down a little, there is plenty to see. Kyle rode up on a black bear on Whittaker Road (A little noise and it walked away). There are some quaint little cabins and plenty of places to camp. The loop was just about 45 miles with some good climbs (nothing too hard). This ride is doable on a cyclocross, mountain or hybrid bike. Though, it would be a little too tough for a road bike.

What’s Playing: (What am I’m listening to while writing or what’s dancing around in my head while riding) Today – Creedence Clearwater Revival – “Have you ever seen the rain”