Review Date
May 20, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: bwargula ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Don't be fooled...this ride is excellent ! Alot of work has went into the trails the last couple of years. There is excellent fast singletrack that is connected by short stints on the towpath. It goes from the Weissport Lehigh Canal/Towpath to the sewage treatment plant near Jim Thorpe, and then if you want, it is a short trip along side the RR tracks into a food market parking lot in Jim Thorpe. It is an out & back with the return trip even faster with a better flow to it. It will be approx 10 miles and an hour plus round trip. If possible, getting a tour from some one familiar should make the trip a whole lot more challenging and enjoyable. You will come back.

Recommended Route:
The trail entry is behind the job johnny at far left of parking lot. The start is nice hard pack single track with a challenging raised ladder in the 1st 30 seconds, followed by fast flowing up and downs, a few more ladder bridges and many tree roots thrown in. Then there are various short sections you must travel on the actual stone/dirt towpath that will be connecting excellent singletrack off to the left side. Trails are mostly marked by pink (or blue) banner tape or pink painted dots. Eventually (approx 3 mi ?)you will pass a pedestrian bridge with a very high large wooden overlook on the right. The single track then heads into the woods on the right side. There will be various short trails that veer off further to the right but you can stay straight. Soon you will go under a huge steel railroad bridge that jumps ya out on the towpath briefly then back down into the woods on singletrack off to the right. This will run you to the sewage plant witha nice long rock garden around the plant to the RR tracks. I usually turn around after a brief break and then head back to Weissport in the reverse direction. This can be one fast trek with alot of flow and cool trails.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Tamaqua Bungalow
Summit Hill Ridge Loop
Broad Mt. American Standard

Review Date
September 3, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: WeisportCanal ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
FOLKS! There are NEW singletrack trails here! Northshore bridges, teetertotters!!! Definitely warrants multiple visits. The park is run by mountain bikers. We love freeriding... and we'd love some jumps! Hint, hint ; )

Recommended Route:
Park in Lehigh Canal parking lot in Weissport. Ride up the towpath towards Jim Thorpe. Take anything that breaks off to the left. There is also a new loop to the right past "Lock 7", where there is a gate and a road off to the right side, about a mile up the towpath. Sick downhills and climbs!!

Review Date
June 16, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: VTDIRT ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
On my recent trip to the Jim Thorpe area, this was one of my favorite trails. It may seem like a simple rail to trail ride, but there is plenty of single track that can make the ride worth while. Jim Thorpe is a great little town. You are not out of place walking around dirty and in bike gear. The main trail had several walkers fishing and picnicing, but the single tracks were clear. If your in this area, definatly try out this trail.

Recommended Route:
Go to the Bike shop on town and get a map and directions to any trail in the area. You can park in the train station parking lot and head to the trail from there. Once on the main canal trail, look closely to the left and right. There is several single tracks heading down into the woods. Some I didnt catch till I was coming the other direction. I ended up following a local and found some realy reat fast sections with technical bridges and swicthbacks. You have to try this stuff in both directions. There seemes to be a few nice steep downhill but is was pretty wet one the day I was up there.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Broad Mtn. Loop- Very scenic overlooks (Wide Rocky Trail)
Mauch Chunk Ridge- I didnt have the equipment to tackle this one. But a very challenging down hill if you have the guts.

Review Date
August 21, 2004

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 1 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: Thomas15 ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
I'm new at MTB and this is my home trail since I live in Lehighton. My first off road ride was here, I used one of my old road bikes, I survived but the rocks and roots on portions of the towpath made for a rough ride indeed.

As mentioned by some of the previous reviewers, there is some great singletrack off of the main towpath trail. Another point to mention, is that the 2 extra miles of trail from Weissport to Parryville is not as nice as the Weissport to JT portion. There are several reasons for this, one is that the Lehigh river is out of view for most of this section and the trail is not as secluded as in the "upper section". I haven't seen any single track there and it just lacks the family atmosphere and high valley walls that are abundant in the upper section.

It's basically an easy ride and very scenic, if only it were longer.

Recommended Route:
Start at Weissport and ride to JT, turn around. Save yourself a lot of headaches by avoiding starting in JT.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Lehigh Gorge

Review Date
July 21, 2004

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: WeisportCanal ,  Downhiller

Summary:
There is some great singletrack here, with North Shore obstacles (nothing too crazy). Just take any trails between the Towpath and the River, and enjoy!!!

Recommended Route:
Park at Weissport lot, head north to Jim Thorpe. Ride a trail that heads to the left after a wooden bridge. Take any offshoots, you can't get lost. Stop in at Reed's store in town (the green one on the corner) for drinks and munchies.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Further up the towpath, there is singletrack to the L and R. DOubleback when you hit the sewer plant. Crossing the RR tracks into Jim Thorpe is not legal...