ROUTE MAPS
Use the tabs along the bottom of each day’s overlay to see the individual options.
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Scroll below for a list of route descriptions.
Since 2022, this has been our traditional Saturday mixed terrain circuit through the remote northwest corner of the county. Bookended by big paved summits, the middle third includes state forest trails, logging roads, and stonewalled red dirt backways through old farmsteads. My preference is a drop-bar bike with tires around 40-50mm, and a drivetrain with a big low end.
Drawbacks include a near total lack of cell coverage for most of the day (save an offline map of the area on your device, in addition to the route GPS files). Once you pass through Walton Village in the morning there are no more town centers or stores until you return near the end of the route, so stop to pack any extra food you’ll need. Carrying a water filter is also a good idea. Some off-route gas stations and businesses are on the RidewithGPS maps in case of emergency. State Highway 206 is avoided on the route but could be a bailout if needed, with frequent car traffic and a few big hills but a wide graded shoulder that leads directly toward cell coverage and to the hospital and urgent care clinic in Walton Village.
[40mi +3490ft (10% unpaved)] Essentially three big climbs and descents, the middle is unpaved through Steam Mill State Forest. If you haven’t already, learn to love steep sustained climbs and dip your toes in Delco gravel.
[50mi +4840ft (20% unpaved)] Add a few more great chunky dirt roads, then a nice paved descent from hilltop farms back into Walton on Seeley Wood Rd.
[60mi +6100ft (33% unpaved)] This is the full route, shorter options start along the same path then peel off at intersections along the way.
These more dirt-oriented routes stay closer to Lockwood and Walton. At the top of the ridge just above John Lockwood Rd sits 7000 acres of Bear Spring Mountain Wildlife Management Area and Campground. From the park entrances on Hwy 206, there are several trail options, some great gravel descents, a couple large ponds suitable for swimming if there’s enough sun, and a fun bar and restaurant on the far side called Rainbow Lodge.
To get up to Bear Spring Mtn, climb Colchester Mtn Rd across the valley and up about 950 feet on increasingly steep pavement over three miles, to an intersection with gravel Wood Lane at the top. From there another 150ft of unpaved climb passes the dead end of Wood Lane onto a wide grassy trail across a private parcel’s easement into Bear Spring, and over the summit to the main park entrances on Hwy 206. You might have more fun in parts with a flat handlebar and knobbier tires, but everything is doable on your monstercross gravel alt-biking tourer.
[30mi +3080ft (40% unpaved)] Bear Spring’s most maintained trail network caters primarily to snowmobiles, wide grassy paths perfect for your gravel bike or rigid ATB and nothing so tight or technical that would require a bike with suspension (pretty fun though). Tunnels of trees open to expansive views in a couple places where the state has permitted logging clear cuts. Launt Pond is on the route and swimmable, and there’s an optional hiking trail that circles around it. From the intersection of W Trout Brook Rd and Beers Brook Rd about 9 miles into the day, you can stay on the route for more trail climbing and descending (and the second clear cut vista), or divert from the route for a mellow descent down Beers Brook Rd past smaller and more secluded Russ Gray Pond. Both will lead you to a railbed trail that heads west toward Rainbow Lodge, or skip that and head east back into Walton with food/drink options at the Walton Diner, Packin’ Heat, The Castle, Joe’s Pizza, Danny’s, or the Big M grocery.
[50mi +4340ft (55% unpaved)] Spend more time on trails in Bear Spring, then descend south to another state forest on the East Branch Delaware River, where a six-mile flat dirt double track Public Forest Access Road curves along the high bank above the water. Return over the ridge with a steep sustained gravel climb up Carcass Brook Rd, and find Rainbow Lodge on the descent. You can return to Walton on a quiet part of Highway 10, or parallel for a bit on a grassy and wooded railbed trail.
Sunday Lockwood to Platner Cook-out (Round Trips)
Stop at the Big M in Walton or General Store in Hamden for supplies to contribute to the potluck cook-out in Delhi. The most direct path between Lockwood and Platner would be 12 flat miles in each direction primarily on the shoulder of State Highway 10 which isn’t especially pleasant for bicycles.
[1 Long Gradual Climb (35mi +1980ft, ~0% unpaved)] Loop through Walton Village, and climb an eventual thousand or so feet up East Brook Road but it’s over ten miles so you can barely tell. Maybe think of it as climbing up the Williamsburg Bridge ten times in a row, but half as steep. An equally gradual descent undulates through a farm valley down to the Platner Brook cook-out. Full disclosure, there’s actually another ~300ft climb back up Lockwood Rd on the return.
[Powerline Descent (35mi +2440ft, 20% unpaved)] After the gradual East Brook Rd climb, dirt roads across the ridge lead to snowmobile trails and then a powerline descent from the substation down to a secret entrance to Andrew and Kathryn’s back yard.
[Combined NW Delco to Platner (52mi +4850ft, 33% unpaved)]A good extra credit option if you’ve ridden the 50mi NW Delco middle option. This route heads back out to complete almost all the rest of the 60mi option, then connects to the snowmobile and powerline trails to Platner Brook.
If you have time for one more ride on the drive back home, park at the covered bridge in Downsville and do a loop through Delaware Wild Forest with several swim opportunities should weather permit.
[Corbett Falls (17mi +1550ft, 15% unpaved] A short and very sweet loop through Delaware Wild Forest. Climb gravel Campbell Brook Rd and descend paved Highway 206 back to the reservoir, or reverse the route as desired. A neat water feature is on the gravel side.
[Beaverkill Bridge (42mi +3930ft, 20% unpaved] More pavement and more hills. Roll through Roscoe after the unpaved Horse Brook Rd descent, and cross the historic covered bridge in a state park with swim access.
[Tomannex Forest (43mi +2900ft, 30% unpaved] More unpavement and fewer hills. Open lunch options in Roscoe proper could be an easy off-route spur. Then a long paved stretch of Old Hwy 17 along the Beaverkill brings you to the Tomannex Public Forest Access Road, a six-mile flat dirt doubletrack path along a ridge above the East Branch Delaware River, muddy in some places where water comes off the hillside.