Trails in Rochester?

[DaveSauce]

I just moved to Rochester and I'm trying to find some trails (at least, once the weather clears up and lets things dry off).

The only trail I know of is Douglas Trail, and I don't know if it has a decent mountain bike part. The head is about half a mile from my home, though.

I've heard of some other trails, but I can't remember their names. I do know they're not listed on the site for some reason. East something or other I think.

[SuperClydesdale]

Dave

Here you go: http://www.rasc-mn.org/rasc_mtb.html. Map links on left side of page.

Been to John Hardy's BBQ yet? As the kids say, "it's the bomb!"

Mark

[Matthew]

Hey Dave, welcome to rochester. We have eastwood, hawthorne hills, steeplechase and mayowood for riding. I would be happy to show you around sometime and we must only live a mile or so away from each other. Give me a ring and we can go out riding sometime. 507-288-6133. Also there is a club time trial out at steeplechase wed at 6 if you wanna come out and meet some of the club.

[FarmerBEN]

first off, you have my sympathy... Rochester is one of the most sterile/generic towns in the world, they basically don't have anything that you can't find somewhere else (nearly everything is franchise). To put it in bar terms up until two or three years ago people actually consider applebeas/TGI Friday's a drinking option. your biking options are pretty limited in Rochester proper, but there are a few trails to hold you over till the weekend. Eastwood is right off highway 14 and isn't anything special, hawthorne hills is north of chateau theater, and supposed there are some trails on the southwest side of town near the historical society and mayowood. I would say hawthorne is your best bet, but I haven't ridden the mayowood trails. On saturday a ski hill between oronoco and mazeppa has riding, and red wing and winona both have pretty good trails and both are around 45 minutes away.

as for the rest of rochester life, I recomend whistle binkies for a bar, balati's for pizza and I am more of a rosco's bbq guy than john hardies but both are pretty good.

[DaveSauce]

Thanks for the replies. Hopeifully I can find some time to give some of those trails a try.

[FarmerBEN]

matthew, have you ever ridden the mayowood trails? I've heard that are the best in town and that they suck froim two different people, I'm hoping to take a friend biking and I don't know if I should go with mayowood or eastwood,

[Matthew]

I ride mayowood about twice a week because they are the closest to my house. I like them and a full loop of all of them takes about 45 minutes so it can be a long ride. there only problem is that late in the summer they can get overgrown. Also if you've never ridden there before you will miss at least half of them. It takes some exploring and trial and error to experience all of them. I always start right by the dam near mayowood mansion. the trails go onto the tar path for short sections and you need to watch along the edge of the tar to see where it takes off into the woods again. Once you get to bamber valley you cross the river on the wooden bridge, follow the paved trail under the road and the singletrack takes off on the right again. Once you fully exit this section there is another that takes off right across from it and runs back the same way you just came from. Its a good loop. I rode eastwood yesterday and it was allright, but there is a lot of construction going on and towards the end of my ride I ran into a guy pleasuring himself. He hid behind a tree the first time then about 5 minutes later I ran into him again. this time he was in the middle of the trail and he didn't try to hide or cover up. I am told this is pretty common at eastwood so I don't know if I would go there with someone else. Also hawthorne is in good shape and there is going to be a pay box out at steeplechase so riding during the week out there is going to be okay soon Anyway if you want to get together for a ride sometime or to have me show you around mayowood give me a call. 507-288-6133.

[gpzrider]

I've been riding Mayowood quite a bit this spring and have found it fairly enjoyable. Biggest drawback (advantage?) is that it isn't very hilly. Mainly it is convenient since it is only a couple miles from my house. I rode Steeplechase a couple weeks ago however and would have to say that is far better than any of the other trails in or close to Rochester. Those guys have done a great job!

Matt, when will that pay box be up? Also, do you know if they have thought about a season pass type of thing?

[Matthew]

The pay box was just decided upon in the last week and I don't really know what the owner needs to do for insurance coverage and etc yet. I will post up here as soon as it goes up and I will be posting the schedule of when the trails will be open. Even with the pay box they won't be open 24/7, but they will be open at least a couple of evenings during the week and all day sat and sun.

[FarmerBEN]

It seems that lately a larger number of roch riders have been showing up on this forum, we should get a group together and do some riding followed up by a trip to Whistle binkies or something. I know Rasc has group rides setup for road riding but I haven't seen any non-competative group mountain bike rides. As for the lack of hills on the mayowood trails, the people I am bringing will be happy to hear that. I think we might be heading there on friday or saturday, if anyone wants to join us for a pretty slow ride (I am bringing beginners) you sure would be welcome to.

as for steeplechase if it is open on weeknights I won't have anything to gripe about anymore.

[Matthew]

As soon as I find out what days of the week steeple will be open I will probably schedule a weekly group ride out there. I will probably be out riding mayowood friday after 5 sometime so if I see you out there that be cool. Have a good time.

[gpzrider]

I'm all in for some group mountain bike rides. I don't have really anybody to ride with currently and I've heard that riding with others is a great way to improve.

I'll be watching the board for any postings on this type of thing.

[hendu]

I just moved to Rochester last year and got a new mountain bike this spring. The only place I've ridden this year is Lebanon Hills. I was thinking of riding Steeplechase on Saturday. It's nice to hear there are some other options in Rochester. Unfortunately, it sounds like the reviews are pretty mixed. It would be nice if they were reviewed in the trail guide section of the MORC website.

[Matthew]

I will be riding hawthorne hills tonight after I chainsaw a couple of downed trees out of the way. Anyone who wants to ride is welcome to come along. I won't be riding real fast as its a recovery ride after the time trial yesterday. I will be cutting trees until about 6 and riding after that.

[FarmerBEN]

mtbr.com has some reveiws but many of them only have one or two reviews, so they lack any real credibility, I was planning on a nooner at steeplechase maybe I will see you there.

[Matthew]

I am going to be riding hawthorne tonight at a nice easy pace if anyone wants to join. I will be getting there about 6 30.

[zaskar]

How about a hell yeah for the revival of the Rochester thread!!! Can I get a ....

Ok, so I missed this thread by year from the looks of things.

Anyone still out there? I just stumbled upon a small piece of the Mayowood area trails. Which rocks cuz this is basically my backyard. Otherwise I mainly ride Hawthorne. Just trying to get back into this sport after a long hiatus that was dedicated to wasting gobs of money on Roadracing (motorcycles). Now that I realize I can't afford that sport I'm getting back into this stuff hoping I can get back into decent shape and have some fun!

It'd be nice to find some more riders to hit some trails this summer. I'd like to maybe even enter some races and see if I can even finish one.

[FarmerBEN]

I occasionally ride rochester, eastwood is appearantly getting developed, but hawethorne and mayowood are both pretty nice. is mayowood fairly dry? I was hoping to ride there this friday, but I wanted to make sure it was in good shape.

[AndrewMay]

I'm going to try and find Mayowood today. I looked last year but didnt find them. I'll let you know if they're dry later.

[Matthew]

All the trails in rochester were very dry on sunday morning. The heavy rain sunday night shouldn't have soaked things to much. The trails at Mayo wood are generally pretty easy to find. Get yourself to the damn and look to the left. The singletrack takes off from there and goes all the way to 52. You have to jump on the asphalt path several times but keep watching the edge of the trees and you should see the path head into the woods again as you go. the best sections are just past the footbridge going towards 52. You'll have to do some exploring as it takes a few times there before you find all of the trails and get to know which direction works best to ride each of them.

Eastwood is still in pretty good shape to ride. They aren't developing it. They just put a road through part of it to get to a new development. There are reroutes and you can cross the new road and still ride the western end as well.

Hawthornes is in okay shape but it does have a couple of trees down that will need to be chain sawed. I might get to it later this week.

What time are you heading out to mayowood andy?

[zaskar]

I'll be busy tonight but depending on weather if anyone's looking to ride later this week let me know.

I rode just a small portion of the trails by Mayowood, actually the ones east of cty rd 8 and they were dry. Looks nice and I am looking forward to discovering the rest of these.

[AndrewMay]

I was going to go this afternoon, around one or two. But if you want to go I could wait...

[Matthew]

I won't get off work until 4 30 and since it might be raining by then you might be better off getting your ride in while it's still dry. Maybe we should get a rochester group ride going later this week at eastwood.

[AndrewMay]

Sounds good to me. What times work for people?

I'm usually at the Clinic until 515-530 so anytime after that works good for me.

[gpzrider]

A group ride would be a great idea! I think it would be a blast to get a group of Rochester riders together for regular rides. I get jealous of all those metro riders getting together all the time.

I was out at Mayowood this morning and the ground was a bit tacky from the rain, but overall in good condition.

Any idea when Steeplechase will be opening up?

[newp]

I may be able to make a group ride sometime if they are posted, time and place. I just rode the trails last Wednesday and they were in great shape.

[Matthew]

Steeplechase will be opening shortly. I was hoping for an opening date of this sunday, but when we were out there this weekend the slopes still had snow on them and if we get any real rain this week that will probably keep things a little to damp to open until the middle of next week. I will definately be organizing a group ride as soon as they are open though. For now who is up for a group ride this thursday at say 6. I was thinking eastwood, but I would be up for mayo or hawethorn as well.

[gpzrider]

Thursday at 6 should work for me, though I'll have to leave by 7. Eastwood or mayowood would be my vote.

[zaskar]

I'm down for Thursday. I'd rather ride Hawthorne or Mayo (haven't seen much of these trails). Hawthorne's a good workout to. I wish they had some obstacles though, log piles or something.

Keep posting some details here and I'll keep checking for updates. Hopefully the weather cooperates.

I see at least three of us are all at Mayo so we probably have similar schedules. ~8-5

[newp]

I have three weeks of pool league left on Thursdays. I meet up with you some other time, have a good ride.

[AndrewMay]

I could probably do a ride on thursday. I'd need some directions to Hawthorne though.

[Matthew]

The reason I didn't pick hawthorne is that it needs some attention with a chainsaw and I won't make it out there before Thursday. If you guys wanna help me move some trees we could do hawthorne on thursday otherwise lets do mayo or eastwood.

[gpzrider]

If I had more time, I wouldn't mind helping move the trees (let me know when you head out to hawthorne if you'd like some help), but given that I only have an hour to ride, I'd like Eastwood or mayowood. I'll probably have to pass if it is at hawthorne.

[Matthew]

Lets do mayowood then. 6pm thursday. Let's meet at the parking area before the dam. Does everyone know where that is or should we meet in the parking lot of bamber valley elementary?

[AndrewMay]

IS the dam just down the road from the bamber valley parking lot?

[Matthew]

Yes it is just west of the school about a mile or so. But you can't drive across it anymore so you have to go around on salem road and then take a left on mayood and approach the dam from the west. If your looking at a map the dam is right below mayowood lake.

[woodchuck]

Steeplechase will be opening shortly. I was hoping for an opening date of this sunday, but when we were out there this weekend the slopes still had snow on them and if we get any real rain this week that will probably keep things a little to damp to open until the middle of next week. I will definately be organizing a group ride as soon as they are open though. For now who is up for a group ride this thursday at say 6. I was thinking eastwood, but I would be up for mayo or hawethorn as well.

Matt - I was emailing with Charly about setting up a regular group ride on Thursday nights at Steeplechase. Unfortunately my travel schedule is a bit erratic this Summer so I can't organize it every week. Perhaps we could tag team on organizing it. Or, if you want to head it up and I am willing to fill in the weeks you are unavailable.

[Matthew]

Yeah Charly had mentioned it to me to and I think group rides are a great idea. I want to do some at all of the trails just to keep it interesting but once steeplechase opens we can definately do an every thursday night thing out there. The other thing I was thinking would be fun is a group night ride if there are others out there with lights. I like to ride hawthorne at night. Anyway sounds good, can you make it this thursday?

[Dhallaway]

I'd be happy to help with some either Tuesday or Thursday night group rides. There is a Thursday night road time trial series during May, but I'd love to do more MTN biking this year... hmmm, mind numbing road-time-trial or beating my old body up on some dirt trails...

I'm planning to join you guys Thursday evening on the Mayowood trail.

Dave

[zaskar]

So Mayowood it is. 6pm? Sounds good to me. I believe I know the parking lot you speak of.

[AndrewMay]

Sounds good to me. See all of you there.

[Jeff R]

I can't make it out this Thursday, but I'm definitely up for participating and helping with some group rides in our area. I'm also interested in reaching out to find new riders including kids to get them started on this great sport. I've talked with JRob about another Open House at Steeplechase this spring. It would be great if we could get one in before the race in June...Have fun tomorrow all and I'll keep tuned in for the next ride.

[zaskar]

I'm not sure how much rain we actually got yesterday but what are people's opinions as to how it may have affected the trails?

Just curious if we need to reschedule the ride. I'd hate to be that guy and make a bunch of ruts.

I would like to practice good trail etiquette but I'm a noob to so pardon my ignorance.

[Matthew]

I'm not to worried about it. I don't think we got a whole lot of rain last night and those trails seem to dry fairly well. I am more worried about it raining later on today, but as long as it's not raining I plan on being there at 6. We can always check out the trail and if it looks to wet we will just ride the pavement and plan our next group ride.

[zaskar]

Sounds good. I'll plan on the same.

If anyone needs contact info:

Brian @ two 6 nine - two 2 zero 7

[Bruzer]

I didn't see it mentioned in this post, but there is another place I know called Indian Heights near Valhala Apartments off of Elton Hills Drive ( http://trails.mtbr.com/cat/united-states-trails/trails-minnesota/trail/PRD_168685_4557crx.aspx ). I think I have the GPS coordinates if you can't find it.

I rode Indian Heights 3 times, (a few years ago) and it does not have much distance compared to the other trails. Steep incline to start, once you get to the top it does have some mounds that you can decend as chutes. It is a fun place to mess around with a suspension bike.

It isn't much, but if you are stuck in the middle of Rochester and don't have 1/2 a day to drive to Steeplechase this will give you an off road fix. I used to live off of Elton Hills drive and it was a short distance from my place.

[Matthew]

I have ridden indian heights and it is sorta fun, but ultra short. There are a few fun sections to session however. I didn't mention it earlier in the thread becuase the last couple of years the center part of it has stayed muddy and swampy until about the middle of June so I didn't think it would be worth riding until later.

Hope to see everyone out at mayowood tonight at 6.

[gpzrider]

Hey guys, thanks for the ride. Looking forward to many more group rides this summer.

[ctommyrun]

I rode Indian Heights years ago. I remember it being short and very rocky, loose rock. I sliced my tire open on a rock. Also I know it's so wet that kids actually collect tadpoles in the standing water!

[Dhallaway]

Thanks guys! Now I need to get out and play on those trails some more. Is anyone interested in doing a ride at Eastwood next Thursday (May 3rd)? I'd love to send a note out on the RASC email list.

[AndrewMay]

I'm in for next thursday. I also had a good time riding last night, we'll have to try and make that a weekly event.

[gpzrider]

I'm up for eastwood next Thrusday...

[zaskar]

<-- Also enjoyed the ride yesterday. Thanks for leading Matt. I too would like to make this a weekly event. Hopefully I'll be riding more often and can get some legs under me so I can keep up better.

[Bruzer]

I would love to ride with you guys, but Thursdays will not work for me, that is softball night.

I think we have hijaked the thread off the topic of places to ride in Rochester, perhaps it is time to start a weekly ride thread?