Continuing on with the 2020 Pisgah Stage Race route previews. Stage 2 is one of the more fun routes although it may have the most pavement in it.
The Sunset Motel’s Promised Land Route, 29 miles, 3900 ft of elevation, Winning time 2:14, Average time 3:35.
Stage 2 starts and finishes at the Lower Black Mtn Parking lot just inside the main entrance to the Pisgah National Forest. The start for this stage includes about a 6 mile section of pavement that is lead out by local authorities and generally kept relatively “Nuetral” before the race really goes live when we make the left hand turn onto the gravel of Turkey Pen Road. From here there is about a mile to a mile and a half gravel climb before we head into singletrack. So it’s sorting out time.
Through the parking lot at TurkeyPen onto the South Mills River Trail and down a super fun little chunky descent before hanging a left over a suspension bridge. The entrance onto the bridge can be a little challenging to ride but the exit isn’t bad. South Mills climbs a little bit before we veer Right onto Mullinax where the real climbing commences.
Mullinax has a few personalities, first it’s kind of double track climbing but still with some tech features, Followed by a pretty chunky section, before getting tighter and twistier. It’s a challenging climb but it does just keep getting prettier so it’s got that going for it. I will say that it’s a blast to descend.
There is a short little tricky downhill at the end of Mullinax before we hit the “star” of the day in Squirrel Gap. Once we get onto Squirrel it starts to become a lot more challenging to make passes. Hopefully things are pretty sorted out by this point.
Squirrel Gap may be my favorite trail in all of Pisgah. It’s mostly narrow bench cut single track that keeps you on your toes all the time. At times it’s barely single track it’s so narrow. Roots, rocks, creeks, and all kinds of things make this trail so unique and fun. It’s rarely excessively steep in any direction, it does climb and descend a good bit but at reasonable grades. Well, except for the first 1/4 mile….it’s really not that bad, just a hateful little section that’s probably more mental than anything.
For the most part Squirrel will climb up to Laurel Gap before starting to descend back towards South Mills. Once you’re through the gap the trail starts to trend downhill more but by no means is the work over, it is more downhill. After you pass Horse Cove gap on the right, there are only a few more rises and a few more ripping downs before the bridge at Wolf Ford. Over the bridge and start the mellow climb out of the bottom on South Mills River Trail to Buckhorn Gap. There isn’t too much to say about this one. It’s mostly mellow double/single track climb, a few tiny creeks, but it’s not too bad.
From Buckhorn Gap, we’ll head down Clawhammer road, an old gravel road, to where Maxwell Cove splits off and heads toward Pressley Gap. The aid station will be at that turn, but at this point you don’t have too much left. Maxwell is more of a gravel/double track climb that pitches up a few times before hitting Pressley Gap. At the gap we’ll make a right onto Black Mountain Trail. From the gap up to Hickory Knob there is a punchy little climb that I’ll surely be pushing my bike up. The knob starts the Enduro section for the day down the Black Mountain Trail.
This is kind of an iconic Pisgah Trail, the top section is pretty gnarly. Steeper, rough, and will make you work. There are a few tricky moves but all and all it’s just good old fashioned fun. About half way down the trail smooths out a little bit and gets faster. At this point it’s all about keeping the rubber side down and it’s all downhill to the finish at the Black Mountain Parking lot.
While stage 2 has a less than ideal start, it more than makes up for it with the amazing trails that it covers. This is our first look at Squirrel gap, a trail that we’ll see again in Stage 4 in the other direction.
