So, you know that one spot where the horse jumps are down in the huge Greensfelder valley? Right there where you’re cruising on the crushed gravel Eagle Valley trail where it curves left and you wonder where that single-turning-to-doubletrack goes off to the slight right?
Come help GORC next Saturday and let us open your eyes to parts of Greensfelder you may have never traveled.
Taking a worded tour, I’ll fill you in the best I can.
Well, steer off to the slight right and ride up and over a weird knoll in the middle of the woods. That fast roller is what remains of a lake that used to be on the Greensfelder property over 100 years ago. It lasted something like one or two years before blowing out during a hard rain. Yep, that’s a manmade feature in the middle of what appears to be virgin woods.
That camera is going to cost you – one knee should do. I pray you aren’t on the one gear.
Now, stray to the left and cross the creek. Going right – before crossing the creek – would take you up a jeep road (maybe it was singletrack once???) that will break your heart. It climbs and climbs and then shoots up the last 200 feet. At the top is the Greensfelder Scenic Overlook that gives you a great view of the valley you just climbed (or walked) with your bike. But anyway, cross that creek I mentioned. Continue and stay on the singletrack trail that veers slightly right. Going left takes you up another, um, death by hill. That drops you off on Allenton Road where you can hitchhike back to town since your legs may be smoked by then What was I saying? Oh, stay in that valley, veer slight right and you’ll be continuing on Green Rock. This is a trail the Boy Scouts built many, many moons ago that goes all the way from Rockwoods Range through Greensfelder and wraps up deep in Rockwoods Reservation. Well, the Boys didn’t have GPS gadgets back then and they ended up on private property. Boundary fail and such. Well, it was brought to St. Louis County’s attention and they are tackling this issue and plan on having it resolved as quickly as possible.
That’s where GORC, your local 501-c3 (tax-deductible!) non-profit trailbuilder extraordinaire, comes in.
The reroute offers a mix of fast dirt, karst technical, and climbing turns.
We’ve realigned the northern portion of Green Rock that crosses boundaries so that it will now be completely on County property. With the help of St. Louis County Parks we will be closing about a .5 mile of Green Rock and replacing it with almost a mile of new trail to reconnect both ends of Green Rock that are on Greensfelder’s property.
Camera phone pictures nearly always fail at capturing depth. This climbs is deceptively boring in appearance. Wait till it opens to tires…
The new reroute will feature some rocky vistas, technical tread and some sweet descents. A short, original portion of Green Rock will remain to gain much-needed elevation and it is a crank bender. It is definitely rideable as I usually ride the Fixed Monkey out there in the winter months. Think Chubb steep with Chubb rocks and you’ll have a good idea.
This GORC-built reroute, when complete, will tidy up the northern end of Green Rock inside Greensfelder’s boundaries. This trail is considered an out-and-back because you have to turn around at the large Rockwoods Reservation sign if you are on your bike or horse.
Dropping back down into the Green Rock valley (just before the SoD) it’s hard not to be impressed by the depth of the valley, the size of the trees and the amount of water that flows during heavy rains.
For the near future (as in years) this trail will be Greensfelder’s only northern trail. Possibly, someday, in a galaxy far, far away, we may expand on this singletrack and assess the feasibility of connecting it to Melrose completely on Greensfelder’s property or to make a lollipop/loop at that end of the park.
But for now, the tour is over, turn your bike around and descend back to the horse jumps. The park trails go in all four directions.
Which way will you go?