Glacier Ridge Mountain Bike Trails
We were impressed with the trails at Glacier Ridge in Farmingville / Brookhaven, Long Island, NY. So much so that we drove out to ride them two weekends in a row. Glacier Ridge Mountain Bike Park has about 12 miles of well groomed and maintained single and double track trails that flow over and around a natural ridge line formed by a glacier.
The terrain has lots of smooth, rolling ups and downs, unlike many other park trails where you go downhill for extended periods only to have to trudge up long uphill climbs to keep going. There were no big climbs that caused us to have to walk the bikes uphill. Average grade is 3% with 12% max.
Some of the trails we rode on and liked were WHITE GHOST and HUNTERS PASS.
We also learned that the diamond trails all loop back on themselves, so if you want to do a certain trail section over again you can (as many times as you like) without having to return on a one-way trail all the way back to home start.
We found the singletracks to be narrow and threading through lots of small trees which forces you to chose more precise lines as you navigate. In the early part of the course there were lots of twisty turns which required technical skill but if you have decent bike-handling skills were fun. If not, you will learn fast. I recommend standing up out of the saddle while riding as you navigate through the trickiest part of tight trees or you may end up side-swiping one and eating some bark for breakfast. I clipped a few trees myself.
Other than a few logs and slight drops there were no severe downhill drops that might cause less experienced riders to ENDO over the handlebars. However, as experienced a rider as Paul is, he still did manage to ENDO which he attributed to trying to multi-task while riding and not paying enough careful attention to the trail ahead.
The days we rode the trails were mostly hard-packed and easy to cruise over, with few areas of sand or loose gravel. The trails are well-maintained by the good folks at CLIMB (Concerned Long Island Mountain Bicyclists).
In conclusion, I would say this is one of the nicer mountain bike parks on Long Island and we look forward to riding it again.
If you would like to see the video we took while riding the trails, click here. I used a GoPro with a steadycam on a chesty mount, so the video is smooth and easy on the eyes to watch.
TRAIL MAP
If you would like a trail map of Glacier Ridge Mountain Bike Park, click here to download it.
DIRECTIONS TO GLACIER RIDGE MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAILS
The Trailhead start is in back of the parking lot of the Town Of Brookhaven Town Hall. Take the Long Island Expressway (LIE) to Exit 63N Rte 83. Head north for 3 miles to Bicycle Path Road. Turn right on Bicycle Path Road, then left onto Independence Hill Road. Follow to the end of the Brookhaven Town Hall parking lot. You will see mountain bikers loading and unloading their cars. The start of the Trailhead is to the left of windmill.
