High Bridge State Park | Super Bowl Ride

Each Super Bowl Sunday for I guess the last 20 years, there has always been a Super Bowl ride up Flagpole Knob. I have never made that ride because it is just west of Harrisburg and I would spend most of a day in the car making the trip. Mother Nature was nice to us non-football watching types with highs in the 50's.

With a late start and a Super Bowl party that afternoon, my riding partner Richard and I head to High Bridge State Park. Pulling up to the trailhead in Rice we are the only car. For whatever reason, we do not get many takers to go with us to High Bridge. I think most people are bored with gravel roads or rails-to-trails. I think they are just missing out because I have had some of my best adventures on those types of trails. This ride did not disappoint!

On our way to the bridge, we notice what looked like the cutting of an access road that takes you to Civil War gun emplacement. If you like Civil War history then go here and learn about the Battle of High Bridge.

It was not in our plan when we started, but we remembered that some single-track trails were put in during the past year. I told Richard that I thought they were between the bridge and Farmville. From the time we left the car, it took us about 50 minutes to find the trailhead to the single track.

Now Richard and I were not on our normal trail bikes. He had brought his Salsa Vaya and I was riding my MB-1 Bridgestone. But we would give the Early Mountain Bike Loop a try at only 1.8 miles.


Richard on the Vaya



The Early Mountain Bike Loop is rated as a blue diamond trail. As you can tell from the pictures above it is in a pine forest. Bryan the guy who worked with the park and cut all if not most of the trail himself did a fantastic job of using the topography developing a fun flowing trail. I would rate the trail family-friendly and for the beginner.

After that little taste, we were up for doing the Burnside Technical Mountain Bike Trail. This trail is rated black diamond


Once again great use of topography and flow. My picture does not do the trail justice, but what you are looking at is 6 whoop-de-dos. If I remember correctly there are two sections of these. The second set is deeper at about 4-5 feet.


Bryan did a great job on both of these trails. I did take a crash on the Burnside and I did find it harder to ride but I think that was mostly due to the gearing on the MB-1

After we finished riding both trails it was time for some lunch. I had carried everything in my Wingnut Enduro.


I had been wanting to do a ride and a lunch on the trail for some time and High Bridge is a good place to do this. During our time on the single track and eating lunch the temperature had warmed up and made for a hard ride back to the car. The top of the trail had thawed out causing the tires to sink a bit.



Maybe it was the trail or riding singletrack on the MB-1, but I felt like I had experienced mountain biking like it started out some 20 plus years ago. Riding then was about adventure and those that did not come out to ride with us missed it.







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