Barkeater Trails Alliance to unveil new descent route on East Branch Trails in Keene

Mountain biking network open for spring riding

Story and photos by Phil Brown

I don’t need an excuse to ride my mountain bike at the East Branch Community Trails in Keene, but on this day I had two.

First, the Barkeater Trails Alliance announced that the East Branch trails were cleared, dry and ready to ride for the season. Second, a new descent trail was now open to the public–or so I thought.

I rode all the trails on Friday, a total of 4 miles with 525 feet of ascent. Coincidentally, when I got back to the car I saw an email from BETA announcing that, with public input, it had chosen names for the various East Branch trails. I’ll use them in this story.

Downriver

The East Branch network remains a work in progress, but for now its signature trail is Downriver, one of the best flow trails in the Adirondacks. This smooth, machine-built route swoops around banked curves and undulates over large rollers (humps).

Downriver, however, starts just halfway up the mountain. It’s reached by a well-constructed climbing trail, newly dubbed Upstream, which continues upward to a pair of loops higher on the mountain. In the past, those who biked the loops had no choice but to descend the climbing trail 0.4 miles until reaching Downriver. Not ideal.

Boulder Rush

The new descent trail, Boulder Rush, enables riders to get back to Downriver without reversing their tracks. It starts off the shorter of the two loops, now called Vista Loop for its view of the Sentinel Range. 

Boulder Rush differs from the smooth flow of Downriver. It has banked turns, but the berms are not as large. As the new trail’s name suggests, you will encounter rocks, including optional jumps over boulders (one has a wooden ramp).

Upstream

About a quarter-mile from the top, Boulder Rush forks. The left fork, a steep descent to Upstream, is for experts. The right fork offers an easier way back to the climbing trail, reached in another 250 yards. With the exception noted above, Boulder Rush is of intermediate difficulty.

Once back at Upstream, you have an easy climb of about a hundred yards to get back to the start of Downriver and the fabulous downhill.

Many riders like to do laps on Downriver. I usually am content to do a circuit of all the trails, descending Downriver once (sometimes twice). That’s what I did on Friday. Unless otherwise indicated, the distances in the following description are measured from the trailhead.

Friday’s ride

Starting at the parking lot, I followed the obvious trail past a wooden pavilion and began a gentle climb on Leepoff Loop, a wide, family-friendly trail. At 0.2 miles, I came to a junction, the beginning of the actual loop. Either way will bring you to Upstream, but I went left.

At 0.55 miles, I reached the start of Upstream, just to the left of Downriver’s termination. As a climbing trail, Upstream is hard to beat: it winds up uphill on a smooth tread with easy gradients. At 1.1 miles, I passed the bottom of Boulder Rush, where I met Louis Piccirillo, a biker from Plattsburgh who told me the East Branch network is his favorite place to ride in the Adirondacks.

“The trails are phenomenal,” he said. “You can lap them a bunch of times. Of Downriver, he remarked: “It’s so good. No rocks. It’s flow, but approachable.”

Continuing uphill, I soon passed Downriver’s entrance and then reached Vista Loop at 1.6 miles. Last year BETA built a longer loop off Vista Loop called Sentinel View. I turned right onto Vista Loop and then right again onto Sentinel View.

At 1.8 miles, I came to a junction on Sentinel View, the start of this loop. I went left and at 2.0 miles stopped to admire the view promised in the trail’s name. I finished the circuit and returned to Vista Loop at 2.25 miles. I turned right and in a jiffy reached the start of Boulder Rush. It was blocked by yellow tape. I continued a short distance farther to a bedrock knob to take in another view of the Sentinels.

Based on communications with BETA, I thought Boulder Rush was ready to ride. In fact, it had plenty of tracks. Was I mistaken or had BETA just not got around to removing the tape? I chose to believe the latter. As I learned afterward, the trail won’t be officially open until BETA installs signage, which should happen shortly.

In any case, I returned to the entrance and began my initial descent of this long-awaited trail. I’m not a shredder, so I didn’t go over any of the optional jumps, but I imagine expert riders who do will enjoy the adrenaline rush. At the aforementioned fork, I turned right for the easier finish. Back at Upstream, I turned left and came to Downriver in a few minutes. 

Downriver can be enjoyed by intermediates. The berms are so high that it’s hard to mess up on a turn. Between the berms and the rollers, it’s one feature after another. You won’t be bored, I promise. 

The flow trail ends in 0.4 miles at Leepoff Loop. Since I had come from the right earlier, I turned left to complete the loop. I prefer doing the loop clockwise because on the way back you have the option of riding over a huge boulder (not difficult). 

As mentioned, the East Branch network is unfinished. Later this spring, BETA plans to unveil another descent trail. From Sentinel View, it will provide a direct connection to Downriver. It will an expert-only “enduro” trail named Duzzi. The appellation is a tip of the hat to Luke Peduzzi, the East Branch trail builder. He deserves it.

BETA plans to hold a barbecue on June 7 to celebrate the East Branch Community Trails. Details will be be forthcoming.

DIRECTIONS: The East Branch trails are located on the east side of NY 9N between Keene and Upper Jay. From the intersection of NY 9N and NY 73 in Keene, drive north on NY 9N for 3.6 miles to the parking area’s entrance on the right. 

GPS coordinates: 44.305028, -73.789196