Pine Hill Pak

To celebrate my Pass Day, I rode Pine Hills Park in Vermont. Amusement was had. I have never ridden in VT before and had no idea what to expect. I had heard good things about Pine Hills and they were all true.

In a nutshell, it is a small, high quality set of trails in Rutland, VT. It took me a little over two hours to get there from Albany. Because it is small and kinda far away; I don’t think I will ride there regularly. But if I were a local, I would ride there every week. The trails were very well laid out and did a lot in a small amount of area. The trails are not overly technical. Unlike Pitstown and SMBA, they don’t jar you pieces or expect you to ride over mammoth rock elements. These trails are fast and flow well. Berms, jumps, and high speed riding is the norm here.

Being Vermont, there’s always a good view at the top. The trails are laid out well. I was able to ride there with my single-speed without any real trouble, in spite of the fact the trails are on the side of a small “mountain”. It was a hot day and the heat often slowed me down more than the hills did.

I was impressed by the amount of contruction and maintenance on some of the trails. Bermed corners were common and the trails are littered with little booters to fly off of. They make good use of the rocky landscape. And they build some kick-ass bridges to prevent erosion/mud in wet spots. The suspension bridge was, by far, my favorite. Riding on a suspension bridge on a bicycle is trippy feeling.

I would like to ride there again this fall. It was a hot the day I visited and some of the climbs were more tiring than necessary because of the heat. Given the amount of work they put into these trails, I assume they do a good job of keeping them clear of leaf clutter. I suspect this place is a riot on a cool fall day.