Decent dirtbike trails with camping nearby in md?

alucard0822 · Mar 23, 2017

In Cecil, you can ride through Elk neck, lots of dirt roads and things to see, but have to ride slow so the park rangers don't get POed.

Found a few dirt Roads on gravelmap in the area, half the fun is exploring. Some of the back roads you can find are nothing more than a 2 track trail, have a couple around here that were bypassed or nobody really uses, they deteriorate, and are a fun legal way to ride, if only for a couple miles

Tomcat · Mar 23, 2017

Check with member on here KTM rider, he's out in Western MD though.

soco · Mar 23, 2017

davsco said:
i got a drz400s year before last to be able to do some local riding on back and dirt roads, without having to schlep my actual dirt bike 3-6 hours to find some real trails. we have a place out in canaan and there are dirt roads GALORE around there. all thru dolly sods, between canaan valley and blackwater state parks and everywhere around and in between. i also live outside of leesburg, va and lots of dirt roads in western loudoun. actual trails are way funner but this is next best thing.

well hell, if you wanna do some riding (and maybe fishing) this summer, let me know! I'd love it if any of my friends would get a dual-sport but nobody seems willing to bite sadly.

edit: nice skid plate! I intend to do that...(and a clarke 3.6gal tank, and a fan, and a headlight guard, and a kickstart level, and a luggage rack, and a front fender brace, and probably an additional $300 in things I'm forgetting.)

Pale Ryder · Mar 23, 2017

Not sure if they offer camping, but since the AT runs through part of it may.

Plenty of dirt roads and old logging roads.

Sorry disregard, ATV's allowed, no motorcycles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michaux_State_Forest

alucard0822 · Mar 23, 2017

Pale Ryder said:
Not sure if they offer camping, but since the AT runs through part of it may.

Plenty of dirt roads and old logging roads.

Sorry disregard, ATV's allowed, no motorcycles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michaux_State_Forest

They make an exception for a few events, the big one is the MORE ride in August, fills up quick.

http://www.angelfire.com/michauxoffroadenthusiasts/images/Dualsport17flier.pdf

Would be cool to have a MDS contingent attend. It's the same day as the August 3 gun match at Thurmont, so tough to figure out which one to attend. Haven't done an organized run before and would like to , so will probably attend the DS run.

outrider58 · Mar 23, 2017

Wolf Den Mountain Riding and Hunting Club.
Garrett County Md.
Talk to Sherry.

http://www.riderplanet-usa.com/atv/trails/info/maryland_14592/map_4182.htm

babalou · Mar 23, 2017

I have one

I heard downtown Baltimore is used quite often. :innocent0

Nottherealfranco · Mar 23, 2017

Does anyone ride a KLR? I've seen a bunch of online debates between DRZ's versus KLR's, and wanted to know if anyone here could offer insight into which is better for dual sport activities within the local area.

Mike3888 · Mar 23, 2017

alucard0822 said:
First thing you need to get familiar with is Gravelmaps. It's a hike to the closest trails, but you might have some good dirt roads a few miles away that you can explore for a couple hours. I'm not too familiar with the VA trails, but Bald Eagle Park is about 2 hours north of the central PA/MD line, lots of trails, camping, and such. Most around here get a Reading Anthracite permit and ride on the land owned by the coal company, about the same distance, but no camping. There are also events at a few other parks that don't normally allow bikes, MORE hosts a couple rides in the Michaux forrest near Gettysburg. A tagged dualsport gives you a ton more places to ride than offroad dirt bikes.

http://gravelmap.com/

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/forestry/stateforests/baldeagle/maps/index.htm

http://readinganthracite.com/access-permits/

http://www.moreclub.org/

As far as a bike, Dualsport and adventure riding is growing really fast, so lots of new models coming out, bikes range from small light enduros to large comfortable ADV bikes. I kept small with my Honda CRF250L, nimble and small enough to run tight trails, and fun on tight mountain roads, was also inexpensive, very reliable and is very capable with a couple modifications. It offers little wind protection, and little power at highway speeds make it less than ideal for much time on interstates, and you get the stink eye from police till they see the license plate on the back. It is light enough that I can toss it on a hitch hauler on my SUV and easily transport it where I want to go. There are a lot of packs and racks available to load it up with gear. Have ridden a couple larger bikes, was looking into the Africa Twin before I bought mine, but it's more than twice the price, and over 500# with all the fairings and bodywork to make them good onroad. The true ADV bikes aren't ideal on the smaller wooded trails around here made for ATVs and dirt bikes.

Bald eagle is where we ride, but they are atv/utv only. Fortunately we have a camp 20 minutes from there. To the op. Maryland just sucks when it comes to this. Now if you wanted to make a weekend out of it, get some friends and head to central pa. There are lots of places to camp and ride the dirt roads since your using an on/off road bike.

Biggfoot44 · Mar 23, 2017

Way back when I had hair, had a (used) '72 XT 250, but local riding turned out to be nearly all street.

For a long time had idea on backburner another street legal Enduro ( as they were known then). Realistically I wouldn't venture out amongst the local idiots on the road, and would need to haul it several hours. But I want the freedom to ride on (back and/ or dirt) roads for liscensed vehicle, instead of only ORV trails with ATV.

Ok, I'm a big guy, and it takes a certain amount of power just to move 250lbs sround. Using a baseline of old school 250cc two stroke when I was 215lb . Are modern 250cc 4 stroke hopelessly underpowered? Would 400cc 4 stroke be sorta close ? Do I just need to go to 650cc , and be done with it ?

Armadillofz1 · Mar 23, 2017

Shenandoah 500 is coming up in october. Its a fantastic dualsport. Camp overnight with a dew hundred other dualsporters. The local firehall puts up meals. All you can eat breakfasts and spagetti dinners. Top shelf organization. Its a 2 day event. About 500 miles of trails in 2 days. Spaces fill up fast.

soco · Mar 24, 2017

I had a comment on klrs vs drzs, but I realized I was thinking of KTMs. Oops, my mistake. I don't know much about how they differ tbh, someone else would be more help than I

Bigfoot:
I don't think you'd like a 250 unless you were keeping it under 40 mph. As far as 650s, they are better for the road obviously, but they are that much bigger and heavier. A 400cc 4 stroke is nothing like a 2 stroke, mainly because of the different power band. I would recommend you try to putt around a parking lot with one before you pull the trigger

Minuteman · Mar 24, 2017

soco said:
Gents:

I want to get into the adventure bike game. The goal is to take a street legal dirtbike, load it down with basic camping gear, and ride it out to some trails and take it into the woods to do some camping. There are certainly some opportunities out in western MD and a few in SOMD/eastern shore, but there don't seem to be a ton out there.

Does anyone have any information regarding any areas (public or private, I don't mind paying so long as I can get somewhere far enough away from other people to be peaceful) that can be legally ridden within a few hour radius of DC/Balt (that also have camping facilities or areas nearby to camp in)?

Edit: I am not going to be motocrossing, looking more for fire roads/trails to just sorta put through the woods. More "relaxing" than "terrifying" haha

Sorry, I can't help you; but glad to see you are already getting a ton of great advice.

I love this concept, this sounds like a wonderful adventure and I hope you continue to update us, so we can live vicariously through you. I'm also interested in what gear you take and lessons learned. With just what you can get on a bike, you'll have to do some planning and make some compromises.

Be safe!

Minuteman · Mar 24, 2017

alucard0822 said:
In Cecil, you can ride through Elk neck, lots of dirt roads and things to see, but have to ride slow so the park rangers don't get POed.

Found a few dirt Roads on gravelmap in the area, half the fun is exploring. Some of the back roads you can find are nothing more than a 2 track trail, have a couple around here that were bypassed or nobody really uses, they deteriorate, and are a fun legal way to ride, if only for a couple miles

View attachment 201064

Thanks, this website is a fantastic resource!

kohburn · Mar 24, 2017

Nottherealfranco said:
Does anyone ride a KLR? I've seen a bunch of online debates between DRZ's versus KLR's, and wanted to know if anyone here could offer insight into which is better for dual sport activities within the local area.

both good machines. some of it depends on your intended use. the dr has more suspension travel and offers a 400cc balance between weight and power. but if your off road time is more like fire roads than technical stuff you don't have to worry about that and a klr650 or even a versys or vstrom would likely be fine.

Biggfoot44 said:
Ok, I'm a big guy, and it takes a certain amount of power just to move 250lbs sround. Using a baseline of old school 250cc two stroke when I was 215lb . Are modern 250cc 4 stroke hopelessly underpowered? Would 400cc 4 stroke be sorta close ? Do I just need to go to 650cc , and be done with it ?

80's overhead valve 250's put out about 17hp, modern overhead cam 250's put out about 25. the overhead cam ones have no problem hitting 90mph and maintaining speed on inclines. I've got a modern overhead valve (90's Honda tech) that tops out about 65-70)

Armadillofz1 said:
Shenandoah 500 is coming up in october. Its a fantastic dualsport. Camp overnight with a dew hundred other dualsporters. The local firehall puts up meals. All you can eat breakfasts and spagetti dinners. Top shelf organization. Its a 2 day event. About 500 miles of trails in 2 days. Spaces fill up fast.

never heard of it, will have to keep it in mind as it sounds like a good time.

alucard0822 · Mar 24, 2017

Biggfoot44 said:
Way back when I had hair, had a (used) '72 XT 250, but local riding turned out to be nearly all street.

For a long time had idea on backburner another street legal Enduro ( as they were known then). Realistically I wouldn't venture out amongst the local idiots on the road, and would need to haul it several hours. But I want the freedom to ride on (back and/ or dirt) roads for liscensed vehicle, instead of only ORV trails with ATV.

Ok, I'm a big guy, and it takes a certain amount of power just to move 250lbs sround. Using a baseline of old school 250cc two stroke when I was 215lb . Are modern 250cc 4 stroke hopelessly underpowered? Would 400cc 4 stroke be sorta close ? Do I just need to go to 650cc , and be done with it ?

Varies quite a bit, and you can usually only pick 2: power, lightweight, low maintenence. The CRF and WR 250s run around 25HP, EFI, 300lbs and can top out around 80 on the highway the WR being the better of the 2 out of the box. The DRZ adds little weight and 10HP, but runs a carb, still probably the best all around. The KLR650 has less travel, over 100lbs heavier, and still only about 40HP, but offers wind protection. KTM and Husqvarna are very good, but very expensive, the street legal 250s make 30+HP and weigh 250# with a far better suspension, the new Husqvarna 701 enduro is top of the line, 74HP, 320lbs $11,200.

StantonCree · Mar 24, 2017

Bro you should clean up those leaves

poopypants · Mar 24, 2017

AOAA is close...couple thousand acres private pay to ride...bike quad rzr jeep friendly
We stayed at earth day campground which is a few miles away...primitive more of just find a flat spot and set up shop
(they are building a campground at aoaa but it's not ready)
http://www.aoaatrails.com
Watch out for the Sasquatch :cool:

Minuteman · Mar 25, 2017

Something like this?

HeatSeeker · Mar 26, 2017

I know a lot of roads through Greenridge that are not ORV, but would still be a nice enduro ride. Gordon Rd, Old Williams Rd., Jacobs Rd, and Troutman goes all the way out the backside up then down into Flintstone. Polly Neal was an ORV trail at one time. It's a rough ride with some creepy old abandoned shacks and a couple small family grave yards on it. These roads are mostly dirt, steep, windy, and always have lots of mud puddles and standing water on them. We do a little 4-wheelin on these roads.

Decent dirtbike trails with camping nearby in md?

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