Riding Uhwarrie National Forest
About 50 miles south of where we live is the Uhwarrie National Forest 51,000+ acres lying just West of Badin Lake. I have been down to Uhwarrie a couple times, once of my motorcycle, and once with the family for hiking. As I’ve been getting more into cycling, and especially “gravel” riding, I’ve been hearing from a lot of the local cyclists that this is the place to go because of all of the gravel roads, great scenery, and other trails you can ride.
Part of the focus for my sabbatical is doing things I don’t normally do when I’m working full-time, which includes more adventures on my bike. So I decided to to pack my Kona Rove onto the back of the van and drive the hour south to spend the day in Uhwarrie. Here’s the Ride With GPS webpage for those interested in seeing the specific trail I took.
The point for me was to get out, do something I haven’t done before, and ride for a long time. It was very peaceful and a lot of fun. The weather was perfect at 68 degrees and it felt like I had the place to myself. I did about 2,000 feet of elevation and something between 20-25 miles (I had to restart my GPS at least once).
I parked at the “Hunt Camp” and planned to take the Moccasin Creek Rd but when I got there a bulldozer was tearing up the road, so I needed to ride out rt 159 to Mullinix Rd and cut in that way to get over to Badin lake. I visited Badin lake and a couple of the campgrounds on that side of the park before riding deeper into the park and finally climbing up Falls Mountain before working my way back to the car. Most of the roads I rode on were gravel which is exactly what I was looking for. Only one spot was really difficult and that was the Falls Dam trail, which as it turned out was more for Off-roading vehicles that a gravel bike! It took me some time to traverse the 4.5 miles downhill about 600 feet through the rugged of large rocks, roots, mud pits, and even a fallen tree (see above) but I made it and I had a lot of fun in the process. I ended the day at a favorite local brewery with a little reading. I’m looking forward to more adventures soon!