Review Date
November 4, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: bricec5 ,  Racer

Summary:
The trails here range from being very technical, to fast smooth single track, technical climbs, and extremely fast descents (i.e. 35mph). I have been riding these trails for over a year and over the past 3 months I have been 3-5 times a week. Today was the first time that I ever successfully climbed the Old Farm trail (about 700' of technical climbing in 1.5 miles) so it will test your skills. I'm a person who gets tired of things very quickly but these trails still have me coming back for more. The trails encompass two mountains (Brush and Gap) and the valley in between. They are well maintained but maps are not very common, especially when not near a parking lot. I would highly recommend bringing a map. My favorite part of the whole system is the diversity, length, and challenge of the trails. Some like Old Farm mentioned earlier, snakeroot, jacob's ladder, are good for an adrenaline rush on the way down and a serious ass kicking on the way up. Others such as Royale, Poverty Creek, and May Apple are nearly flat, smooth, and fast. Only a 10 minute ride from Virginia Tech's campus.

Recommended Route:
From Campus: Go 1/4 mile on Glade Road (between the Empo and Kroger) and turn right onto shadow lake road. At the bottom of the big hill there is a stop sign. Make a left onto meadowbrook road and to the right of the Virginia Tech freeride house is a paved pathway which takes you to the bottom of Old Farm. *** make sure you go up the paved pathway to the trails and NOT up Old Farm Road***

Once at the top of old farm, I like doing one of two trails. Find Beauty by taking a left along the top of the mountain and ride up and down the jeep trail (also called Horse Nettle) for a mile or so. Take a right onto Beauty (it is unmarked but you should be able to see it). Or, from the top of old farm, Jacob's Ladder (aka Beast) goes down into the valley. No matter whether you take Beast or Jacobs ladder, you will get to Poverty Creek at the bottom. Take a right and ride until you see May Apple on the right. Take this fast trail for a mile or so until it reaches Snake Root. Turn right onto Snake Root (it is a fire road at this point). Snake Root turns into single track and takes you up to the top. Right onto horse nettle and then back down to Old Farm and you're done!

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Mountain Lake and Carvin's Cove

View Comments (1)

Would you like to Comment?
Join MTBR.com for a free account, or Login if you are already a member.

Review Date
August 3, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: benthandlebars ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
There are to main trails that go in opposite directions. Smaller trails branch off of both. Horse nettle goes up a ridge. It stays above poverty creek most of the time. There are trails connecting horse nettle and poverty creek. There are some other trails at the far end of poverty creek.

Recommended Route:
I like to go up horse nettle first. About half way up you can take joe doyle which is a fun trail that goes down to a small creek. Its very scenic with some climbs and descents and some water crossings. It comes out on poverty creek which you can take back to the parking lot. If youre feel like continuing to climb or want some technical downhills, continue on up horse nettle to the top. You can take snake root down to poverty creek. It has some really rough steep parts at the top and becomes more level near the bottom. You could also take jacobs ladder down. Ive never ridden it but would imagine it would be like snake root.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Pandipis is my favorite place to ride around here.

Review Date
July 14, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: twobournes ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
There are several interlocking trails that offer a number of options in aerobic and technicality. The poverty creek trail is the primary trail and is a very nice 7.2 mile out and back that offers a bit of everything in itself. the first 4 miles are fast with only rolling hills some interesting rock gardens and a few creek crossings to keep you on your toes. The final 3+ miles involves some significant climbing. If you do the out and back you will have about 6 miles of climbing in the middle, but you'll forget all about that as you fly through the final four miles back. The horse nettle trail traces the ridge above poverty creek and provides riders with several options to get back down (snake root, Jacobs ladder, joe doyle, or beauty). Any of these trails connect the two longest trails (poverty creek and horse nettle). On the other side of the mountain are a few technical trails that ascend and descend the opposite ridge line.

Recommended Route:
Parking area is well marked. enter poverty creek trail near parking lot entrance and horse nettle from the far end of the lot. These two trails feed you to the other trail options. You can find complete maps of the trails here: http://www.weaselworks.org/pandapas/
Do not let the map fool you, the trail system is very easy to understand once you are there (especially if you take a trip down poverty creek trail and back). once you understand how the trails are laid out the maps are very easy to use.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Matthews State Farm - Galax