North/South Carolina routes?

[benajah]

Hi all,
I just moved back home to North Carolina from California. I have backpacked and mountain bike throughout NC for most of my life, but never married the two together while I lived here before. Any info available on possible routes in the southern Appalachians? I know Uwharrie like the back of my hand, and have a good backpacking knowledge of Pisgah, Cherokee national forests but not mountain biking there quite so much.
Any beta anyone may have would be greatly appreciated.

[donmeredith74]

Benajah, I'm sure you've stumbled into the TNGA by now. Its a nice, long route through northern Georgia that does a nice job of avoiding civilization. There are a lot of routes in NC that have been plotted and reported on here. Look for posts by sjanes on here. Great guy with a good sense of adventure. You can also lose yourself looking at the posts at PedalingNowhere.com. Good stuff. Have fun!

http://www.pedalingnowhere.com/plog

DM

[Deathgrip]

Good stuff, Don. I'm in North GA m'self, and looking for bikepack-able terrain. Nowhere near enough fitness level to tackle the entire TNGA, but maybe in small sections to start...

[donmeredith74]

Deathgrip, there are some rides in the Asheville / Greenville area that can be pared down to size. There's some more tame work to be done on the Palmetto Trail here in SC as well. It doesn't have to be 20k of climbing to be fun. I walked about 6 miles out and camped in the random middle of nowhere in the SC foothills a few weeks ago because I could. I was silly cold and a less than breathtaking destination by most measures but I came back with a smile on my face.

[boglenn]

Check out Dupont Forest 11 miles from Brevard, NC.  80 miles of mt. bike trails rated from easy to difficult.  No fees and easy to get to.

[dave]

http://www.bikepacking.net/forum/index.php?topic=1940.20

Dupont is nice, as mentioned.  There's also lots of good stuff in Pisgah.  I've explored a lot of the Davidson River area near Brevard and can attest that there are tons of fantastic trails and forest roads there that lead to great backcountry camping.  Pisgah has steep climbs but they're all doable using the gravel forest roads.  Check out the cool video in that link posted by Chunt.

 

[Lucid]

Good stuff, Don. I'm in North GA m'self, and looking for bikepack-able terrain. Nowhere near enough fitness level to tackle the entire TNGA, but maybe in small sections to start...

Where about in N. GA are you?  I live in the N. Ga area as well.  I love the area around the tanasi trail system.  you can link up those gravel roads and trails all the way to Dalton and beyond.  Hit me up if you need some ideas.
B