Review Date
September 10, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: hardrocker77 ,  Downhiller

Summary:
Trail is awesome, super smooth and flowing, I've rode pisgah, and those are hiking trails you can ride a bike on, these trails are made for bikes.

Recommended Route:
Follow the blue arrows for a couple great downhills and hard climbs.

Review Date
September 7, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: jscusmcvet ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
I rode the OVT trail, Shiner's loop and trails 1,2,4,5 at Dark Mountain. Trails are extremely well built, making excellent use of the terrain. They are laid out in a way that even though there is climbing it is spread out well and no one single climb was debilitating. All trails are very well marked and maintained. Fun for all levels.

I found the OVT trail to be an excellent, if easier, trail and it served as kind of a warm up for the others. Lots of bermed turns, swoopy, short ups and downs and pretty scenery. Smooth trail makes it likely a good place for a more beginning level rider who is making the leap to single track riding. Don't get me wrong, the trail is funfor all levels.. beginners will be challenged with out being endangered and advanced riders will have a blast as they carve and slice through the woods, taking advantage of excellent trail features. Being an intermediate rider I enjoyed the features and took it easy.

Shiners Loop was extremely fun. Remarkable beauty, a bit more technical than OVT. Most of all just a fun, swooping ride with great turns and a few jumps. One of my new favorite trails.

Dark Mountain added to the challenge. Headed up #1, and found the trail making use of the terrain to negate the feeling of a hard climb. Crossed the jeep trail and continued on #1, climbing through some beautiful forest. Intersect with #2 and immediately see that #2 is the most technical trail of the bunch. Down hill, tight switchbacks with significant drops had me walking a few of them. The bottom of this trail is an awesome, quiet spot next to a stream. Climbing back up was the most strenuous climb of the day. Doable, but you earn it.
Continued on to trail 4 and 5, fun mostly downhills, with a few obstacles and plenty of roots. Excellent use of the terrain and the gentle slope of the downhills lets riders decide on their own level of adreneline rush. Some of you who are fast riders could fly on these two and those of us who, well... are not that fast... can enjoy them still at our own pace. A few well placed obstacles, but not too much.
Overall, these turned out to be some great trails and are now among my favorites. Fun is the key word with these trails, Congrats to BMCC for a job well done.

Recommended Route:
Dark Mountain - follow Burn route for a challenge or link 1,2,4,5,1 for a little shorter ride.
OVT - out and back for as long as you like, but don't miss out on Shiners loop.

Review Date
January 9, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: rbabb ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
I am a local rider in the Wilkes area and thought I would update folks on the trail situation. Dark Mountain is better than ever with an added stretch winding up Fish Dam on the Burn Loop. OVT is really fast and well packed with a beautiful new loop that we call Shiner's. (Guess where that came from...) The complete out and back at OVT will now give you 18 miles of fast, bermed riding. The Warrior Creek loop is almost complete and it is the best trail system yet at W. Kerr Scott. It has been described as the OVT on steroids. It is located at the Warrior Creek campground and can be accessed from Keowee boat landing. This parking area is about 5 miles from the more popular Dark Mountain parking area at the dam. If you ride through OVT to Bandit's roost, it is about 2.5 miles on the road to the trail head. The loop will be complete in about 3-4 weeks. The trail is very ridable now and there are plenty of places to access the campground paved roads if you do not wish to do an out and back ride. The new trail at Warrior is a must see if you have ever experienced and enjoy the trails at the lake. For information on the Warrior Creek 6 hour endurance race, visit www.bmcc.us. Trust me, 6 hours will be plenty. The race is in April so check it out!

Recommended Route:
If you are riding OVT and only wish to do Shiner's one way, I would recommend taking it from the top entrance of the loop and riding back toward the Visitor's Center. This way is a little more down hill and ridiculously fun!

If you are planning to ride Warrior you can post on the BMCC website and we will be glad to give you a tour. It is worth the trip from wherever you are!

Other recommended trails in the same area:
I rarely ride anywhere else. We now have approximately 26 miles of single track to choose from and it grows every week.

Review Date
September 23, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: gmoss ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
What it lacks in mileage, it makes up for in aerobic workout. It really has a mix of everything. Awesome downhills combined with great climbs makes this trail very challenging for all. It is very easy to ride just the parts you like by connecting them via the main road. Can't wait to go back! Look forward to any trails added.

Review Date
November 25, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: Yes I like steel ,  Racer

Summary:
As said by ALL earlier reviewers and now more!!! OVT is packed and kickin"" A few jumps are thrown in for good measure. Great flow.... Great singlespeeder trail. Fish Dam or the Dam Fish, whatever you wish to call it is now linked to Dark Mountain and it can be ridden from Dark Mountain for a killer downhill to the dam and then up the hill to the OVT Trail. Yes its a hill and a half but I like hills, shaved legs and hardtails with skinny tires. I said I raced. The BURN is a kick butt event in May. see bmcc.usa for info. Dark Mountain trails are as always great and well maintained. great flow. The rock garden on the downhill is sick fun and after a week the scabs are ready to come off and they really taste great. See You There

Recommended Route:
Parking lot @ visitor center to OVT out and back to the Dark Mountain Trails to Fish Dam Creek up the hill, it hurts it hurts it hurts. ohhh ohhh ohhhh yes!! To the visitor center 20 miles ++

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Hobby in Winston, BRP Road Ride the rest is just there.