Lake James State Park

Ridin' the Summer Slushpuppy

Watch closely as Clif proves his Cheetah heritage 

Background:

The Linville and Catawba rivers feed into Lake James State Park, a beautiful and very clean lake at the southeastern edge of the Pisgah National Forest Grandfather District and the Linville Gorge Wilderness.

There are two areas of this park for recreating, the Paddy's Creek area where I have mountain biked and the Catawba River area which is more fishing and hiking centered. There is a beach for public swimming and overall the state park has very nice facilities. For mountain biking, there are over 13 miles of smooth and flowing singletrack. From what I understand the trails are only a few years old and there is more trail to be built here in the future.

The trails are pretty much pine straw and clay, which makes for some fast riding due to the big hills of the lake. On the day that I came up to ride, there was a thunderstorm the night before, which led to pretty slippery conditions. Some people see it as more dangerous as I see all the more fun. 

Bike Report:  

The trail system is made up of two intermediate loops and two beginner loops. I have ridden all of the trails here at one point or another but today I rode the West Wimba loop. This loop goes for about 6 miles and about 500 feet of climbing.

Lake James doesn't get as much praise as it probably deserves due to the nearby Pisgah riding of Kitsuma, Heartbreak Ridge, etc., but it certainly deserves praise in my book. For what it lacks in technical features, it makes up for with sheer speed and flow of the trail. The climbs are managable and the descents generally put a big old adrenaline-induced smile on your face. There are many opportunities to pump your bike over rollers and, while there are no dedicated jump sections, you will hit some nice air with ease due to high speeds. 

Of course the GIF creator slowed my speed:)

So I finished the Wimba loop in about 30 minutes and returned to the car to get the pup so we could do one of the shorter loops together. We did the upper Tindo loop at a moderate pace and our furry friend had lots of doggy funs.

All in all I always have a great time on this trail system and I am excited to see what the future holds for it as it gets more broken in and the trail builders build more. Other cool parts about this state park is the views of the Linville Gorge where you can see Shortoff, Table Rock, the Chimneys and more. I have spent some time in the Gorge by now and will be posting here about the adventures here soon. 

A tired pup is a happy pup