Last Saturday, my girlfriend Joyce and I decided to head to the Allegheny National Forest (ANF) for a ride. Located in northwest PA, the ANF has 4 separate ATV/bike trails. You can read about the trails at http://www.fs.fed.us/r9/forests/alle...on/atv_trails/. The trail we ride the most is the Timberline trail, which they say is the easiest trail to ride. It's basically a 38 mile loop, with little loops along the way to make life interesting.



Getting ready to unload the KLX and Joyce's XR100. Each trailhead has a ramp so you don't need to bring your own.




The trails are about6' wide, and they are pretty well marked. There is a speed limit of 25 MPH, but on that day no one adhered to it and no one enforced it. It's quite an experience when a quad comes at you at about 40 MPH and there's no place to go! Being a Saturday on basically a holiday weekend, the trails were packed. About 60% ATV's and 40% motorcycles.




Here's Joyce getting ready to rip it up!




Most of the mud holes had dried up, so I thought we'd stay fairly clean and dry...




...unitl we got to this! There was a way around it though.




They call this a beginner's trail, and for me, it'sa nice ride. Joyce is still learning though, and found some of the hills a challenge. I spent most of my time watching for herin the mirrors. She doesn't have the downshift-up-a-hill process down yet, and stalled out a couple of times.



They throw in enough terrain changes to keep you on your toes. Lots of loose rocks. Riding at a "family" pace and thetrailis fun.Pick the pace up thoughand it's a blast!




Hey, who's the fat bald guy?...




Half-way up the trail is a "play area" that used to be an aggregate quarry. When I got there, there were about 50 people sitting around and one guy getting ready to cross the water on a CR500. Helaunched it wide open, shifted once, and literally hydroplaned all the way across. Man, do those things run! Some guys on quads thought they could do the same thing. It didn't work out too well.

While I was there I checked out what everyone else was riding - CRF450's, WR450's, a bunch of KTM's (both 2 and 4 strokes), and one lone DRZ400 (dirt version). Then I noticed that they were all checking out what I was riding. Most of them had never seen a KLX250s before, and asked me all about it. A few pulled that "my bike is better than yours" attitude, but mostseemed impressed. Just spreadin' the word...




This whole area really exists to be logged and drilled for natural gas and oil. There are roads that go everywhere, and the Timberline trail follows a few of them.




At the upper end of the trail is a tiny little town call Russel City, and this is it. Trust me, this picture is not leaving anything out. This store is cool becauseit has everything you could need for camping or out on the trail (including inner tubes and clutch levers!). I'm standing across the street in front of a little ice cream stand that also sells food. With Joyce, the ride up takes about 2 1/2 hours (at about 15 to 25 MPH). Get something to eat, then ride back. It'sa great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

Like I said before, the trail is one big loop, and there are little loops along the way. On the way back,we took a wrong turn (because the friggin' sign fell down [:@]) and ended up going around one of the loops twice. That added about8 miles to the ride back. Joyce began to realize that she might end up in the dark - in the woods - without a headlight. That's when she decided it was time to go, and rodeherXRfor all it was worth. I was laughing the whole way back, and grateful that I could finally get into 4th gear.We made it back just before dark though, after a total distance of 46 miles.

 

good ride report. nice pics too!! thanx for sharing

 

Very nice Mustang, glad to see other places to ride, I liked that unloading ramp, that makes it easy and safe.

 

The bad news is I ride in a PA trail system and as of tonight until they pass the new budget all state parks and water areas I mean ALL are closed and all DCNR employs are on ferlow......[:'(]Politics SUCK

 

Nice report and pics[8D]

 

The 'bike trail' near there is also AWESOME and requires just a little more experience. The hardest part has a bypass. Maybe talk to others up there and see what you think. I'm in MD now but would like to ride it again someday.

 

What's it like riding in that green stuff? Nothing but cactus, sharp rocks and sidewinders to fall on here.

 

I plan on making it up there soon. Is it just beginner trails? The trails I've made seem a lot harder than that! Very nice ride report, and your wifes hoodie rocks! (I have the same one) First on race day!

 

Man that looks like fun. It is also great that the ladycould join you. I gotta get mine on a bike.

 

Thanks a lot guys! Bad Bear, the Allegheny National Forest is federal land, so it remains open. Good ol' Gov. Rendell can kiss my behind!

I've heard about the "bike trail" on the Marienville trail, but I've never really ridden it. Joyce and I made it about 1/4 mile up the Marienville trail when she had had enough, so we turned around. I did the ATV trail by myself, but not the bike trail. My problem is thatJoyce is the only one I can ride with (all the guys I know ride street only), and I don'tlike to go out there by myself. If I wipe out or break down on a Tuesday, I may not be found until Saturday! [] I really want to try it though.

The Timberline trail is rated as "beginner" for an ATV rider. Some spots are covered in baseball-sized rocks - easy for an ATV, but a little challenging for a bike. Don't get me wrong, the trailwon't test your courage, but it's not boring either. The Marienville trail (which has the "bike trail") is a little tougher. It's narrower and rockier and the hills are steeper, but it'smostly one-way, so you won't get ran off the trail by quads.