Fire roads and other easy rides around Peters Mill Run?

[CarolinaGladiator]

So the wife and I will be riding/camping in the Peters Mill Run area this coming weekend. What other roads or light trails can we do in the area? I have no problem with anything but she is scared to death of anything more than a rated 2 or 3. I'm trying to help her get used to it so she will go with me in the future but for the time being I either go alone or we ride forest roads and rutted up two tracks. I'm not exactly sure where we will wind up but we're leaving central NC Friday morning and will be gone till Sunday afternoon. PMR will definitely be a destination but anything else within reason would be a welcomed suggestion. Camping locations would also be welcomed.

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[Wolf Island Diver]

I like the area around flagpole/reddish knob/Switzer dam. It’s outside of Harrisonburg up 33. There’s some toughish trails but you can go up the fire road instead and there’s plenty of open camping. Tons of trails to explore in the area. You can pick up the MABDR from this area, although that’s mostly on road until you get to PA.

Flagpole Knob Trailhead (fireroad)
N38° 28' 56.5" W79° 13' 15.1"

Switzer lake road: This heads past the lake. This road eventually turns into a moderate Jeep trail and heads up all the way to flagpole.
N38° 34' 43.4" W79° 08' 12.2"



Big Levels outside Waynesboro/Wintergreen used to be my old stomping ground but there’s too much broken glass off the Jeep trail so I don’t recommend that anymore

 

[CarolinaGladiator]

Thanks. I've done Big Levels before as well as Potts Mtn. and Bald Mtn. I'm not sure the wife would be comfortable with any of them though. I'll check out the other two. Are they both two way traffic in case she changes her mind half way through?

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

Thanks. I've done Big Levels before as well as Potts Mtn. and Bald Mtn. I'm not sure the wife would be comfortable with any of them though. I'll check out the other two. Are they both two way traffic in case she changes her mind half way through?

The track coming up from Switzer is single vehicle but there are pull offs. Not a lot. I’ve encountered Jeep clubs going the other way. If you come in from the Flagpole side, that’s all fireroad. If you cross the road at the entrance to the Flagpole trail. The one I marked. You can drive up to the Reddish Knob overlook. That’s paved. But there’s a turn off up on that road that’s another long fire road. There’s fireroad all over that area.

I also like driving up what we call “Warbler Road” it’s off the BRP. That’s a nice fireroad. It’s the wrong time of year but there’s lots of warblers there, hence the name. That’s down near Peaks of Otter lodge. Honestly just the BRP with the top down is nice.

 

[m-l_johnny]

Here's a link to the forest service interactive map. Zoom in and click on a feature of interest and a window will pop up with more info. Good for see ing what fs roads are seasonally open.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/ivm/index.h...886&maxx=-8506411&maxy=4706372&exploremenu=no

 

[Alpine Warthog]

I'm driving home to Pennsylvania next week and was thinking I'd try to hit Peters Mill Run on the way through, The BOH app calls it a 2-4 on the difficulty scale. Is this something I could make a detour for and how long would it take to run it?

 

[CarolinaGladiator]

Definitely something you could do while close by. I think it took us a couple hours total but we went really slow and there was no traffic other than bear hunters training dogs. I aired down for comfort but its not needed. The good thing about it is that it's not terribly far from 81 so not too far out of the way. I think the 4 rating would be a stretch even when covered in snow.

 

[Alpine Warthog]

Definitely something you could do while close by. I think it took us a couple hours total but we went really slow and there was no traffic other than bear hunters training dogs. I aired down for comfort but its not needed. The good thing about it is that it's not terribly far from 81 so not too far out of the way. I think the 4 rating would be a stretch even when covered in snow.

I ended up hitting it Monday afternoon. I got dark by the time I got done with it. The first mile is the only thing that would even push it to a 2. Didn't need 4wd for any of it. However, it's the worst trail I've ever run. not one second break from the cheese grater. Holy hell it was just rocky enough that you couldn't blast down the trail and going slow just kicked you around the cab. It was 3 hours of horrible. Now, I know thats partially my fault, I didn't air down and I'm only running 35s. 38s down to 10 pounds probly wouldn't have been half as bad but still not worth the trail. I have no idea what the requirements for a BOH are, but this trail was for the birds....

 

[CarolinaGladiator]

yeah it's definitely not a fun trail to ride. My wife is scared to do most trails and even she was bored.

 

[Minty JL]

I just did Peter Mills on Friday, its a 2 at best.

I completed the whole trail in 2HI and it was raining.

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