| Length | Difficulty | Climbing | Trail Links |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 Miles | Beginner | 406ft | View Route on Trailforks |
Dupont State Forest near Brevard, NC is rich with different riding options. On a recent vacation to NC (which you’ll be hearing more about soon), I was riding with my wife (20 weeks pregnant), my 3-year-old and my 6-year-old. With this riding crew I needed an easy route that would not include too much climbing or technical terrain. This route that we followed delivered. Before starting our ride we took a quick hike to several waterfalls and then parked in the High Falls Parking Lot. This lot features paved road access, bathrooms and a visitor center.
From the visitor center we headed east on Buck Forest road. This is a wide gravel road through the forest which contains a moderate climb and then decent to the covered bridge. The covered bridge is absolutely gorgeous and is built right above High Falls. If you wish you can take a detour and check out the falls.
After crossing the covered bridge we took a right and turned south onto conservancy road. This again is a wide gravel road that is an easy ride that we didn’t really need our mountain bikes for. After the just a short distance we turned onto our first single track trail for the day “Pine Pitch.” Pine Pitch is a one mile blue trail that features a bit of easy climbing to begin and then a nice downhill for the last 3/4 of a mile. There are a few roots and rocks along the way to keep things interesting, but the entire family had no problem clearing the entire trail. The trail terminates at a beautiful little lake, Lake Dense. If it had been summertime dangling our toes in from the dock would have been a chosen activity I’m sure.
Pine Pitch then dumped us onto the Three Lakes / Lake Dense trail that continued past a smaller lake with a similar easy singletrack feel. The second lake does contain a bridge, but don’t be confused by it, it is not part of the trail and is only good for a quick photo-op.
The Three Lakes Trail finished our singletrack for the day. We were able to take an easy pedal back on conservancy road back to Buck Forest road. Back in the parking lot my six year old gave me his feedback on this ride: two thumbs up!
Hi Matt!
Great post! I’m headed to Dupont this weekend with the family.
My daughter is on a 7 speed 20″ bike, I’m pretty sure she can make this! She hasn’t done any singletrack yet, but did 8 miles on a flat fire road around a lake last weekend. My son is almost 4 and he’ll be on my tag along. Do you think he’ll be able to make it? Do you think it will be too rough for a tag along?
How long did the ride take?
Great post!!
Hi David. Glad you found this helpful. My recollection is that I think this should work with a tag along if you are both used to riding with it. I used a tyke totter for my 3 year old. I think it took us between 1 and 2 hours. Depends on how many breaks you take. Bring snacks and plan on stopping with your kiddos to enjoy the time together. The whole ride is gorgeous.
Fantastic! Thanks for the help Matt! Great info! Sounds like the little singletrack is fairly smooth. I’ll just tell my son to hold on! He did a great job on the VA Creeper Trail about 3 months ago when he just turned 3, so hopefully this will work for him!
Matt, thanks for taking the time to write this up. Rode this with my 7 year old son yesterday and we had a blast. It’s got a little bit of everything and he thought he was big stuff for completing it. He’s on a 20” Trek with front suspension. It took us about an hour with a few short rest breaks along the way.
Thanks again for sharing!
Awesome! Glad you guys had fun!
Hey Matt I’ve got a 10 and 5 year old both good riders but my 5 year old is on a 14″ or 16″ wheel bike. Think he could do it? Or would the up hill be to much for a single gear bike?