Trail Conditions

[gnawbonelefty]

With how mushy the gnawbone trails are now,  and they are the lightest used in the county, and a persistant pattern of freeze thaw forecast,  please do not plan an off road excursion, unless it's starts between 3:00am and 5:00am

..r

[mrbiggerstaff]

Is there a good backroads route beginning and ending at the nebo trailhead by Story to do instead?

[Bigdaddy]

Gravel Grovel route or variations of it can be done from there. Combs road is a mudfest, so would recommend going over to Maumee to start(southern Nebo trailhead). The gravel roads are most likely a soupy mess as the heavy freeze thaw and snow/ rain effects those old roads just like the singletrack.

[gnawbonelefty]

Gravel Grovel route or variations of it can be done from there. Combs road is a mudfest, so would recommend going over to Maumee to start(southern Nebo trailhead). The gravel roads are most likely a soupy mess as the heavy freeze thaw and snow/ rain effects those old roads just like the singletrack.

Or from Story take 135 south to mt nebo road,  on nebo at the top of the hill take berry ridge rd to the right.
berry ridge will take you by the mid section of the nebo trail all the way to 1000n in Houston,jackson county,  2 miles east of the southern nebo trailhead.  a right on 1000n will take you to the maumee bridge and into the hickory roads.  Or go through houston and take the first right out of town for a killer climb.

[chuckdlou]

parked at crooked creek boat ramp yesterday and looped over to blue creek road and came back through elkinsville...the actual gravel road parts of blue creek and elkinsville road weren't bad, though a fender is helpful...the old "road" from the boat ramp to the old bridge in elkinsville was an interesting combo of snow, ice, mud and water and by no means easy, yet strangely fun...that's cabin fever for you...i would agree with the assessment of combs road, but the other gravel roads in the HNF should be good...i like parking at the lookout tower, heading west on tower ridge road, then heading south in to the deam wilderness...take a national geographic map with you and you're golden...enjoy

[fullenchilada]

Gravel Grovel route or variations of it can be done from there. Combs road is a mudfest, so would recommend going over to Maumee to start(southern Nebo trailhead). The gravel roads are most likely a soupy mess as the heavy freeze thaw and snow/ rain effects those old roads just like the singletrack.

Or from Story take 135 south to mt nebo road,  on nebo at the top of the hill take berry ridge rd to the right.
berry ridge will take you by the mid section of the nebo trail all the way to 1000n in Houston,jackson county,  2 miles east of the southern nebo trailhead.  a right on 1000n will take you to the maumee bridge and into the hickory roads.  Or go through houston and take the first right out of town for a killer climb.

Agreed.
The Berry ridge parking and riding out to Maumee and back is the standard course of action for early spring riding in HNF. Its a good ride and an old favorite.
I would say its still a little too soft at this point, but it wont be too long before ill be doing that myself.
ride on

[Shark]

Rode nebo today, it was surprisingly in very good condition.  Only thing we didn't ride was the "climb" from the parking lot as we parked at the top.
There were a couple small mud holes but those spots don't get much better even in the summer.

[fullenchilada]

Im there...soon i hope

[indywriter]

Assuming it doesn't rain too much over the next few days, do you think Nebo will be rideable Saturday?

[fullenchilada]

Not from the bottom , thats for sure, whether or not you could park at Berry ridge and ride out from there is still questionable.

i would say probably not
 gnawbonelefty has other posts up in other threads  stating more time is needed. like another week or 10 days from now depending on the level of precip.

maybe we will get lucky and he will speak concerning Nebo specifically

saturdays are good for maintenance this time of year, clearing down trees is always a good saturday

however thats unofficial and not endorsed by HMBA on Nebo or HNF
 

[gnawbonelefty]

Not from the bottom , thats for sure, whether or not you could park at Berry ridge and ride out from there is still questionable.

i would say probably not
 gnawbonelefty has other posts up in other threads  stating more time is needed. like another week or 10 days from now depending on the level of precip.

maybe we will get lucky and he will speak concerning Nebo specifically

saturdays are good for maintenance this time of year, clearing down trees is always a good saturday

however thats unofficial and not endorsed by HMBA on Nebo or HNF
 

Honestly,  it's too hard to predict,  Sunday's rain did much to thaw the trail and the 60+ degree and litle precip,  has gone a long way toward drying.  I you could get out the afternoon before the rains,  you'd have a sweet ride,  except for the double track section I'm guessing.   If we get ran and go back to freeze thaw,  all bets are off.

[indywriter]

Thanks. I'm hopeful the big rain is going to hold off. I'll check in Saturday (or Sunday) morning before heading down.

[Bigdaddy]

Thanks to Shark and TMack's trail report,I hit up Nebo Mon and Tues. Berry Ridge area and of course the singletrack/double up are quagmires. Fixed a couple drains and picked up limbs and tree removal for trail maint.. Parked at Berry Ridge one day and southern end the other. Rode on over to Hickory , but only hit up 19(ok) and Combs Road(pretty muddy).Most of the trail has heavy leaf cover so the trails were pretty firm,I'd give it a 6.5-7. Still slow rollin, but rideable.I wish they could monitor the quads and keep the hoofs off till later this spring. It was raining when I left,don't know what the accums were, but it's pretty sweet out now.After it does rain, I'd guess 2-3 days of sunshine and the top will be rideable.Please park at southern end or Berry Ridge and don't even try the Elkinsville parking lot for 2-4 weeks.Ride On

[fullenchilada]

Thanks for update Bigdaddy !
missin ya. hope to see ya soon

[mhhigain]

Thanks for update Bigdaddy !
missin ya. hope to see ya soon

Ah!