We are visiting brown county

[Serengeti]

My husband and I will be in brown county for only 4 days. We are bringing our mountain bikes. We both ride double black diamond trails. Which trails would be the best to go to, and any help with fair lodging would be great! Thanks

[mtbikernate]

double black diamond doesn't mean much to us here if you don't tell us where those double black diamond trails are.  Ratings tend to vary locally and regionally somewhat.


Walnut and Schooner are black diamond and double black diamond rated trails in BCSP, but it's not much of a ride if that's all you ride.


Check out our Trail Guide for BCSP and craft a route.  Also, you can stop at Hesitation Point Bikes and Backcountry in Nashville and get tips on some other trails in the area.  The Hoosier National Forest nearby has a lot of miles of trails you can ride.  They are less groomed than the park trails, but kinda top out at intermediate difficulty, and mostly because of the climbing.


Gnaw Bone Camp and Valley Branch Retreat are two private properties in the area with mtb trail networks, too.  On your trip, you could easily ride a different trail system every day if you wanted.

[Raleighguy29]

You should also call Indy cycle specialist bike shop in Indy. The owner Scott irons lives to ride stuff like that and could point you in the best direction for rides like that.

[zzSQL]

You can stay on Brown County park in either the main lodge or in "Rustic Cabins" which are only a minute or two from the trail heads:

Reservations here:
http://www.browncountystatepark.net/cabins/

At the gate they hand out park maps which have maps of the bike trails which will show you around.
Or:
If you have a bike navigation device you could import this GPX as a route to your device and follow it:
http://madlinux.com/DINO/BCSP-DINO-circuit-2014.gpx
It's the circuit we did for Brown County races this year.

Greg

[Serengeti]

Thanks for the tips. We just didn't want to spin our wheels looking for a good mtn bike park, I heard grown county state park had a nice one but I saw on the internet there were a few trails near by the park. I didn't know which one riders prefer. We were just looking for good trails, and not the touristy bunny trails, that's why I said double black diamond.

[Raleighguy29]

Said racer boy doesn't understand what you mean. Vbr is definitely not the touristy trails. Hell most won't ride it any more sine the park opened cause they're worried about loosening their derailer more then having a great ride on some awesome ungroomed trails. Best bet would be call Scott at ICS and he will be the best help for you.

[mtbikernate]

You still haven't given us enough information to know what you mean by double black diamond.

Are you talking about double black diamond in Iowa or Idaho?

[Serengeti]

Our trails in Florida, yes there are good mountain biking parks in Florida, are cat agonized by their difficulty. Bunny trails are beginning trail, then there are intermediate, then black diamond are hardest, double black diamond are for experts. Hopefully, this clears that up!  I called hesitation bike shop and the guy told us brown county state park is where all the mtn bikers go. Now we just need to find dog friendly lodging. Seriously folks, haven't been bake to this area since college days at Indiana university! I'm stoked.

[Dave Tozer]

I'll say welcome in advance! Report back on how your trip went. Happy trails to you!

[mtbikernate]

Our trails in Florida, yes there are good mountain biking parks in Florida, are cat agonized by their difficulty. Bunny trails are beginning trail, then there are intermediate, then black diamond are hardest, double black diamond are for experts. Hopefully, this clears that up!  I called hesitation bike shop and the guy told us brown county state park is where all the mtn bikers go. Now we just need to find dog friendly lodging. Seriously folks, haven't been bake to this area since college days at Indiana university! I'm stoked.

Keep in mind that those ratings are not necessarily going to be consistent from state to state or region to region.  At BCSP, they also do not really correspond to the "fun" factor of the trails.  Some of the most fun ones are some of the easier ones.  Limekiln is very well regarded, and is rated as a beginner trail.  Green Valley is another, and is an intermediate trail.  Many riders find ways to work these trails into their rides no matter what else their goals are for the day.


I think Schooner is going to offer you some new stuff that you haven't seen in FL.