Puzzled
01-08-2007, 06:31 PM
Burnt Mills Marshall’s Creek/402 PA
In my quest for legal places to ride I decided to try one of the DCNR locations. Burnt Mills is located off of Route 402 between Marshall’s Creek (Route 209) and Route 84. Access to the trail parking is simple. The parking lot is plenty large enough to support the largest of truck and trailer combos. There is even a Porta Potty just in case you have to go. The trail is clearly marked with three different markers. A green symbol with a picture of an ATV differentiates which trail is which. There are red triangles (arrows) along the trail to keep you on the trail and to show you when the trail makes direction changes. The final marker is a larger yellow arrow indicating which way to go. You’ll cross over a couple of paved roads along with a few dirt roads. Each intersection is clearly marked with a stop sign. Most of these same intersections have a gate closing the trail off to anything larger than an ATV.
The trail is about two bikes wide in the narrowest of sections and slightly wider elsewhere. The first leg of the trail appears to have had some drainage issues taken care of recently. These repairs resulted in mounded up stone making for some nice in transit trail jumps. They were better going down the hill as opposed to coming back up. To say the trail was rocky is an understatement. It isn’t as bad as Paragon (for those who have been there). All of the rocks can be ridden over so they are not large just plentiful. Water wise the trail wasn’t terribly bad. I’d imagine after a generous amount of rain it would be pretty wet throughout.
Since it is winter the scenery was sparse. The plus side it that visibility was good. We came across about six other bikes while on the trail. Not bad considering its location and the time of the year. You have to cross over a cool little wooden bridge about half way through the seven mile course.
Unfortunately that seven mile run is all there is. There are no deviations from the trail making the return trip the same one you just made. If your into speed and jumps this isn’t the place for you. This trail is best suited for a leisurely ride on a utility quad or a sport quad with a top shelf suspension. With only 14 miles of trail in and out you won’t be here long. If you don’t have any place else to go this is a fine place to go. If you have a better spot to ride than I suggest you go there. After this ride on a very good suspension bike I felt like I just went twelve rounds with a heavy weight boxer. I really don’t see myself going back unless I was to hear there were trail upgrades. While it may sound like I’m knocking Burnt mills I’m not. It just isn’t for me. I commend the DCNR for opening up these trails to ATV’S in a time where nobody wants us.
In my quest for legal places to ride I decided to try one of the DCNR locations. Burnt Mills is located off of Route 402 between Marshall’s Creek (Route 209) and Route 84. Access to the trail parking is simple. The parking lot is plenty large enough to support the largest of truck and trailer combos. There is even a Porta Potty just in case you have to go. The trail is clearly marked with three different markers. A green symbol with a picture of an ATV differentiates which trail is which. There are red triangles (arrows) along the trail to keep you on the trail and to show you when the trail makes direction changes. The final marker is a larger yellow arrow indicating which way to go. You’ll cross over a couple of paved roads along with a few dirt roads. Each intersection is clearly marked with a stop sign. Most of these same intersections have a gate closing the trail off to anything larger than an ATV.
The trail is about two bikes wide in the narrowest of sections and slightly wider elsewhere. The first leg of the trail appears to have had some drainage issues taken care of recently. These repairs resulted in mounded up stone making for some nice in transit trail jumps. They were better going down the hill as opposed to coming back up. To say the trail was rocky is an understatement. It isn’t as bad as Paragon (for those who have been there). All of the rocks can be ridden over so they are not large just plentiful. Water wise the trail wasn’t terribly bad. I’d imagine after a generous amount of rain it would be pretty wet throughout.
Since it is winter the scenery was sparse. The plus side it that visibility was good. We came across about six other bikes while on the trail. Not bad considering its location and the time of the year. You have to cross over a cool little wooden bridge about half way through the seven mile course.
Unfortunately that seven mile run is all there is. There are no deviations from the trail making the return trip the same one you just made. If your into speed and jumps this isn’t the place for you. This trail is best suited for a leisurely ride on a utility quad or a sport quad with a top shelf suspension. With only 14 miles of trail in and out you won’t be here long. If you don’t have any place else to go this is a fine place to go. If you have a better spot to ride than I suggest you go there. After this ride on a very good suspension bike I felt like I just went twelve rounds with a heavy weight boxer. I really don’t see myself going back unless I was to hear there were trail upgrades. While it may sound like I’m knocking Burnt mills I’m not. It just isn’t for me. I commend the DCNR for opening up these trails to ATV’S in a time where nobody wants us.