As the season heats up and the trails harden, more and more are considered ready to ride.  ​Shoutout to the volunteers who have been working on these trails to get them raked, cleared, and tuned up for the season. Thanks in part to your help, we can add Cobble Hill, Blueberry Hill, EBCT, Flobus, and Fowler's Crossing to the lineup already. We love to see it.

Please remember that we're only bringing you a snapshot of our latest info -- let us know if you visit a trail and our report is no longer accurate, for better or for worse. Gentle reminder to #ridewithgratitude and turn back if you're leaving ruts.

You may be wondering to yourself, "Why are some of the trails ready to ride but others are not?"  I'm so glad you asked.  There are may factors at play, including:

LOCATION – Weather patterns (especially the amount of rain) can vary a lot from town to town because of the mountains around us.  Additionally, the trails’ location on slopes can have a big impact; north-facing slopes get more shade than south-facing slopes.
SOILS – The sandy soils of Wilmington, Elizabethtown, and Keene will typically dry out faster than the silty and clayey soils of Saranac Lake and Lake Placid. This also affects freeze/thaw cycles, and the waterlogged clay can be very prone to damage during these cycles.
MAINTAINENCE – If a trail needs a lot of TLC -- clearing blowdown, fixing features, etc. -- we won’t say it’s green yet.  If we will be actively working on a trail soon, especially with heavy equipment, we won’t mark it green for the safety of both trail crew and rider.

Hope that slaked your curiosity.  Have an awesome weekend everyone!!

We've received word from local trail adopters that the entirety of East Branch Community Trails is green at this time (04/22/2025 -- Happy Earth Day)!  And I quote, "The trails are in perfect condition and would benefit from some riding traffic ASAP. The dirt is perfect today." -- Patrick, our Board President.

​To recap with the conditions reported last week, Three Sisters (except Flobus) and now EBCT are considered green and Hardy Road is sitting at yellow.  The rest of BETA land trails are still considered red -- please do not ride.  

Have you seen otherwise?  Leave your observations in the comment section. 

Our next full-fledged conditions report will go out later this week so everyone can make their weekend plans with sustainability in mind. Cheers, y'all!
​- Megan 

​Spring is in the air and we're all itching to hit the trails. Most of our riding areas are still waking up from their winter slumber and are not ready for riding yet.

While we wait to ride, there are a few things we can spend our time doing instead:
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VOLUNTEER. If the mud isn’t too bad, head to your local trails with a handsaw, loppers, or rake to prep them for the season. BETA trail work days are slated to kick off in May; stay tuned for more info.

A berm at East Branch Community Trails (EBCT) whose smooth surface was recently scarred by a set of bike tires. In order to restore this berm to its proper smooth status, the BETA trail crew or local volunteers will spend dedicated time fixing it this Spring. If they were not held up fixing preventable damage like that pictured above, the trail crew and volunteers would have spent that time working on other projects (like the as-yet-unnamed enduro-style trail being built at EBCT).

If you've visited EBCT, you know there are lots of beautiful, skillfully-formed berms -- how many of them will need help this Spring because of mud season damage? The answer to that question depends on how many people misjudge or ignore the trail conditions and visit before the trails are ready.

Please do you part in protecting the trails by waiting until the tread has hardened before hiking or riding this season.

Mud season has arrived in the Adirondacks. We want to ride bikes as much as anyone, but this is the season to be patient and avoid single track trails until they have dried and hardened.  Our trails are wet, muddy, and still covered with snow and ice in many places. 

Spring is a very sensitive time for trails. Riding or hiking on wet and muddy trails can cause lasting damage very quickly. If you are leaving ruts in the trail surface, the soil is definitely too soft to be riding on. Call it a day and wait for better conditions -- they will be here soon and we'll keep you updated with new condition reports.

​Ride dirt trails, not mud trails -- help us keep them in great shape for you and others to enjoy!