Douthat State Park

Last Sunday after our cave trip Cara, Gordon, and I made our way to Douthat State Park in Virginia to do some mountain biking. We had been there once before but due to cold weather and squirrel attack we had turned around at the top of the Stony Run trail. The weather today was perfect with temperatures in the mid 60's and plenty of sunshine. As we were preparing for the ride someone stopped by and recommended that we enter on Beard Gap and Locust Gap trails to avoid the numerous creek crossings at the beginning of Stony Run trail. The beginning of our ride was a good taste of what was to come. We started off on the Beard Gap trail, a mild climb up to the intersection with the Locust Gap trail. Once on the the Locust Gap trail it was a fast descent along the side of the ridge back down to the intersection with the Stony Run trail. Once on the Stony Run trail Gordon and I recognized where we were from our previous visit. Before long we reached the steep section of switchbacks up to the top of Stony Run. Gordon quickly took the lead on the climbs stopping to wait for us at most of the switchbacks. When Cara and I caught up to Gordon we rested for a brief moment. However, we couldn't rest for too long as there were many bees about and Gordon had already been stung once. Eventually, we reached the junction of Stony Run and Tuscarora Overlook trail. This is where we turned around on our previous visit. This time we continued on the Tuscarora Overlook trail and we soon came to a small cabin with a fantastic view of the valley below us. Here we stopped and rested and had a few snacks. After leaving the cabin the trail continued up a short ways before it reached the Middle Mountain trail. The Middle Mountain trail followed the top of the ridge. It was a bit overgrown with brush encroaching on the trail on both sides. We stayed on the Middle Mountain trail until the Salt Stump trail. The Salt Stump trail headed straight down the mountain. Our legs got a rest but our forearms were cramping up from constantly squeezing the brakes. After about 30 minutes of great downhill we emerged at Douthat Lake. From here it was just a quick ride down the Heron trail back to the Blue Suck Falls parking lot. All and all it was a great ride. I look forward to returning sometime and checking out some of the trails on the other side of the park.

For a map of our ride click here.

For a great photo essay which covers some of the same trails check out striker's post at trianglemtb.com.