Usually, in the winter, I ride up above the tree line on Skyline Drive and Foster Hill, overlooking Milford and the surrounding area. But, I wanted to go higher. So, this morning, I hooked up with Bodhi at Action Bikes and Outdoor on Broad Street on what was a chilly but beautiful start to the day.

We pedaled out of town and up Rt. 6.. We made a right hand turn on Schocopee Road and continued upwards. The first 4.5 miles resulted in over 1,000 feet of elevation. Schocopee is a narrow and winding hill that turns to gravel mid way up and becomes Fire Tower Road, leading to the Buckhorn Fire Tower.

At the top, we found a gate leading to Lost Camp Trail, an old Jeep trail that sits high up on the ridge and becomes a narrow path after about a half mile. Most of the trail was super technical and overgrown. We came across a few sections that were under water and hike a biked through a couple of creek crossings. Although we both rode gravel bikes, this trail is definitely more suited for a mountain bike or fat bike.

We came across two well maintained hunting cabins, neatly tucked along the trail. Another mile and we were out on Cummins Hill Road. This alpine type road winds up from the Delaware River to the Lost Camp parking lot and drops sharply down to Rt. 209/6. The bottom of the descent is extremely chopped up pavement, requiring your utmost attention. Another right and we soft pedaled our way back to the shop.

This was a challenging route. It took nearly 4 hours to go 15 miles. It might be fun to connect Lost Camp to the Fire Tower Trail out to Shohola. We’ll see.

What’s playing (what am I listening to while writing or what’s dancing around in my head while riding) today – Soundgarden – Burden in my Hand