BCSP Brown County State Park

[The Ryan Steele]

Well I was watching the trail reports on the hmba.org site and the "trail master" (gnawbonelefty) said that the trails would be "peachy" to ride and that the traffic might be beneficial for the trail. Well............Holy @$^)(@$^&^$@$&*^%&*(#%(*#$()@*# were the trails in great shape. Conditions, of the trails, were prime. the tread was lightly damp and super tacky. All the trails, I'll talk about Schooner later, were in great shape. There were only a couple of mud holes here and there. and the low creeks had water in them. Schooner trail or, the expert trail as others might know it, was, in my opinion, not that great. It is a slow technical type trail. Which is what I don't particularly like. Some people like that thing but I went to BCSP to rip down fast flowy singletrack not tiptoe around in my lowest gear for 2 miles. It is fresh so that was one thing there were some parts that were muddy and on the side of a "cliff" and it was just about impassable. They are still working on a couple of thing on the trail also. Along with a couple of downed trees made it not so fun and, to me, a waste of energy. IF you have good stand-up skill and like very difficult slow tech riding you will like this trail. IF you even question your skill level I would recommend not riding this trail. I'm not the best but I can hold my own and I found this trail to have some very challenging spots. A couple of which I had to walk. Maybe when it is packed in and dry and finished then I might revisit it. But until then I will be avoiding it and staying on the what I consider to be the more fun trails.

This system is a MUST for any serious rider to go to. 3 hours and 40 minutes at an average speed of 65 mph from my house (Palos Hills) to the trail head. I will be going back there soon. Hopefully next month.

[dh_swing]

Great report -- thanks.  Was there for the first time last November and it was easily the best riding I have done anywhere in the Midwest.  Rode all weekend, and the only people I met were a group from cambr-palos!

Might have to get something planned here for next weekend...

[Fallen]

Five of us old TS guys are heading down there May 15th thru 17th, camping / riding.  Looking forward to it!

[Seanbikes]

Some West guys(including me) will be going down the 1st weekend in April.  I can't wait to finally ride Brown Co. 

Ryan did you stay overnight or drive back, where did you stay if you did the motel thing?

[aaronc88]

Ill have to make this trip for once. Hopefully I can get down there when I get back from school for the summer.

[Sambo Santa]

Nice! I havent been there yet, but I checked on their site last week, figuring/wondering if they would be ridable before Palos was.

It sounds like the weekends could still be hit or miss depending on precipitation, but I am down for a trip!

[The Ryan Steele]

Nice! I havent been there yet, but I checked on their site last week, figuring/wondering if they would be ridable before Palos was.

It sounds like the weekends could still be hit or miss depending on precipitation, but I am down for a trip!

Once the place dries completely it can take a heavy rain and be ridable in a couple of hours.

[sommerfliesby]

Drop a dime next time you go...I'll be wantin' to try out the new ride already!

[Hand/of/Midas]

Once the place dries completely it can take a heavy rain and be ridable in a couple of hours.

Yea, you know that rain tuesday night? we rode after about 2pm later wednesday afternoon. awesome.

[Yeti Clyde]

Is Brown County singlespeed friendly ?

[The Ryan Steele]

It was mostly designed by a guy who rides SS.

[Yeti Clyde]

Thanks....

[Hand/of/Midas]

Is Brown County singlespeed friendly ?

I normally ride my geared HT there, but we took our SS there last time, most fun i've had on that bike!
All the trails are bench cut, and flow uphill too, as weird as that sounds,the climbs are super fun, but i'm weird like that.

[MountainT]

We just booked three nights in the Lodge Tues, Wed and Thurs for spring break. $89 a night plus a water park for the family.  Hope the trails are dry, it sounds like brown county dries very quickly. 

[Hand/of/Midas]

We just booked three nights in the Lodge Tues, Wed and Thurs for spring break. $89 a night plus a water park for the family.  Hope the trails are dry, it sounds like brown county dries very quickly. 

Hehe, we "slept" in the west lookout tower during a severe thunderstorm warning last time. hehe. We always find free sleeping, sometimes that means hammocks downtown by train stations,sometimes its 3 nights in a toyota in a row. always an adventure with us.

The trails were dry by about 2pm the next day after an all night rain, the older trails on the north side dry faster than the newer ones on the south side.