Laurel Mtn -> Pilot Rock

July 3, 2007 on 12:18 pm | In Mountain |

A very popular ride in Pisgah for tourists and locals is the ‘Laurel - Pilot Loop’ , which consists of basically riding up the Laurel Mtn trail and down Pilot Rock trail. Laurel Mtn trail is a great stretch of single track peppered with technical sections and one significant stretch of ‘hike-a-bike’. Pilot Rock is one of the best descents in Pisgah! The trail is a great place to test your technical skills on the many steep rocky switchbacks and major rock garden. Grab yourself a Pisgah map and seek out this route.

“In light of recent regimes, Memorial Day may have lost its meaning to much of America. But to disenfranchised free riders, it means one thing; singletrack.  9 of us met at Yellow Gap to share a few hours on one of our favorite advanced rides, Laurel Mountain Trail to Pilot Rock downhill. From the car, you can climb all the way to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Laurel Mountain is incredible, so it is usually the trail hit by people that live outside the mountains, but dream about them. Over the past few years, the trails condition has declined steadily, because people ride it wet. (Like any trail in WNC, please give it at least 36-hours after rain to let it run off.). Many people ride it out and back, but on this day, the intense descent off the front of Pilot Rock beckoned our group to climb all the way up.  The bikes varied a little bit, with a fleet of Bio Wheels’ Asheville’s Demo Ellsworth’s in the mix.  ‘Chachi’ from Endless Bikes rode the token hardtail. He was also kickin’ it old school saying “I don’t’ need a water bottle. It is in here!” gesturing to his swollen bare belly. (Before we finished our 2-hour ascent, the symptoms of dehydration set in).  Pilot Rock descent is awesome and has plenty of opportunities to die, or get seriously hurt. It is just over 1.5 miles long and full of switchbacks.  If you can locate Yellow Gap on the NG-780 Map, then you deserve to risk your life on one of the harriest still-legal downhills in the area. It’ll take your mind of the State of the Union. Here is the loop.

pics from our old site are here.