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Wolf Den Run SP

Want to go for a DAMN Ride? So do we! :whoop:
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Twist
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Wolf Den Run SP

Post by Twist »

We "won" a house in Deep Creek Lake last fall at a charity auction and we're going to be there 6/28 - 30 with our bikes. We've got the ORV stickers for Gracie's bike and our reservation made for 3 days of riding out there and I'm looking for any intel on the trail system for what might be the most fun for us to ride. Has anyone here been out there yet and have any report on the trails and conditions?
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Re: Wolf Den Run SP

Post by UncleND »

Joker posted a good video about Wolfs Den on facebox under Maryland Trail Riders. Can't get it to link here sorry
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Re: Wolf Den Run SP

Post by Twist »

We're packing up and loading the bikes in the morning and headed out to Deep Creek Lake for the week. My daughter and I are taking the WR250R, her KLX 140 G, and the Sur Ron thinking we might want it along if we see some more challenging trails to explore.

I've printed the Wolf Den Run SP maps for the trails and it'll be an interesting experience for my daughter to get to ride on the street between the riding areas out there. I'll try to take some photos and report back after the week of riding there.
The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you figure out why. - Mark Twain
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Re: Wolf Den Run SP

Post by Bucho »

Ride report?
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Twist
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Re: Wolf Den Run SP

Post by Twist »

We could not have dreamed of having better weather or conditions for riding out there this week. A storm had blown through the day before which left us with some puddles to go splashing around through and no dust. The parking areas in the park were about a 30 minute drive from Deep Creek Lake where we were staying. It was 55 early and got up to the mid-70's during the day under near cloudless skies. I went ahead and got an annual car pass because it was only a couple of bucks more and sent in our reservations for three days, Tue, Wed, Thur. There's a ranger station for WDR that isn't very obvious but we found it and picked up our annual pass which covers everyone in the same vehicle riding there for the next year. He asked and we confirmed we had reservations which I get it, it was part of getting the MD legislature to approve all this, but we found ourselves the only people using the entire park for the entire week. Maybe it'll get busy on the holiday weekend?

There's three different disconnected parcels in the park: Huckleberry Rocks, North Hill, and the Potomac River parcel. Trailer parking is available at Huckleberry and Potomac but not North Hill though that section is easily accessible from the other two.

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It's nice that there were picnic tables and even some lovely picnicking spots back in the woods on the north branch of the Potomac. Unloading at the Potomac River trailer parking area:
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We spent the entire day first day riding at Huckleberry Rocks. Anything with "rocks" in it's name sounds ominous but turns out was pretty benign. There were several rocky slopes but it was mostly a wide trail that looped around through woods and fields and because I guess it gets a lot of quad traffic, plenty of ruts in places but we stayed mainly on the green trails and there was nothing my novice daughter had any trouble with at all - well, other than the couple of times she and I might have misjudged how deep the water was and ended up covered in mud from head to toe. There was this one rut that I told her on the intercom that I was going around on the right and I hear her go "Oh CRAP!" followed by whooping and laughing. I watched her in the mirror, throttle pinned, as a muddy bow wave went over her front fender and she just thought that was the coolest thing she'd ever done on her dirt bike. Some kids are just born to splash in puddles.

We took a break and hit the road that connects the parcels - just because we could and Gracie thought riding her dirt bike on the road was about the 2nd coolest thing she'd done on it yet. We scoped out the other places but went back to the truck to grab a drink and explore the rest of Huckleberry. It was about a 6-7 hour day out there and we were exhausted.

The next day we parked and unloaded down at the Potomac River section. There's some great places in the shade on the river to hang out and from where we unloaded to down town Kitzmiller is about a quarter mile. We really didn't explore the main riding area of this section and instead climbed up on to the connector path between the Potomac and North Hill parcels.

This is pretty representative of that connecting trail:
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It ends back on the public road across from the North Hill tract but we decided to take the paved road from there back down the hill and in to explore Kitzmiller.

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We went back in to the Potomac area and road for another hour or so and then packed it in after a bit more than a half day. I think Gracie was at the point were she felt like she hadn't had a bad off yet and didn't want to push it as the terrain got more challenging. That's cool, this was her first time out this year - leave them wanting more is better than regretting pushing it.

We went down and played in the river before loading the bikes and packing up:

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I think this would be a fun place to bring the family to spend the day even for those that weren't riding. It's really quite nice with picnic areas tucked back along a grassy trail off the parking area.

Our plan was to hit up the North Hill area on the 3rd day be came to a family decision to rent a pontoon boat and spend the day out on the water with Mom. The water was cool, clear and very refreshing and Gracie got to exercise her boating license (not that the rental place cared).

So we only explored about maybe a third of all the trails out there in the combined park and what we rode was comparable to the quad trails at Mountain Ridge. Nothing quite as easy as Gunner Run but you could find yourself at WDR in some deep muddy rocky sections more suitable to a very light bike than a larger dual sport. At one point I told Gracie to wait while I checked out "the wet area" on the map. I made it about 100' in to it before I got buried and bailed back out on my WR250R. There was no chance Gracie was going to enjoy that but I'd probably attempt it again if it was a little drier.
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Re: Wolf Den Run SP

Post by Twist »

We also brought along the Sur Ron which Gracie did ride a bit but she definitely preferred her KLX 140 to the e-bike. She thought the Sur Ron beat her up too much in the rocks where the full size wheels and better suspension on the KLX gave her more confidence. I've ridden both the Sur Ron and the KLX 140 around Phil's place in Emmittsburg and I'd have to agree, the KLX was more fun.
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Re: Wolf Den Run SP

Post by Laoch »

:thumbup:
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Re: Wolf Den Run SP

Post by Bucho »

Thanks!

If I followed your story correctly. You can ride your offroad only dirtbike on the road in certain places to connect trails at Wolf Den?
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Twist
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Re: Wolf Den Run SP

Post by Twist »

Bucho wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 8:59 pm Thanks!

If I followed your story correctly. You can ride your offroad only dirtbike on the road in certain places to connect trails at Wolf Den?
Correct. As a practical matter, riding in to the very small town of Kitzmiller is the benefit of that law - and connecting between the 3 different parcels of the park on N. Hill Rd. I could be mistaken but I think the law is that you can legally ride on public roads within 5 miles of WDR.

There's a restaurant in Kitzmiller but we were so nasty muddy from riding it wasn't an option for us.
The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you figure out why. - Mark Twain
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Re: Wolf Den Run SP

Post by smdub »

Thanks for the ride report.
Twist wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 11:33 am We also brought along the Sur Ron which Gracie did ride a bit but she definitely preferred her KLX 140 to the e-bike. She thought the Sur Ron beat her up too much in the rocks where the full size wheels and better suspension on the KLX gave her more confidence. I've ridden both the Sur Ron and the KLX 140 around Phil's place in Emmittsburg and I'd have to agree, the KLX was more fun.
Just means you need to put full sized wheels and upgraded susp on the SurRon :cheers:
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