Kingdom Trails MTB Ride Guide
Memorial Day Weekend 2021: The destination was Burke, Vermont, a place we have been to on numerous bike trips. Perhaps somewhat unfortunately, all of those prior visits took place in early Spring when snow was often still on the ground or in one instance the forecast consisted of all-day freezing rain. These trips were built around the Rasputitsa gravel race and despite the weather we have fond memories of Burke.
And yet, despite racing Rasputitsa, I had somehow never ventured North during warmer weather to take in what really makes Burke special; the Kingdom Trails system, one of the best patches of mountain biking on the East Coast. A few weeks ago we decided to change that with four days of truly incredible riding in northeast Vermont.
I cannot speak highly enough of the experience - we certainly got lucky with the weather, and some lingering Covid travel restrictions at the Canadian border kept crowds to a minimum, but those four days of green VT riding rank up there with our France, Italy, and Colombia escapades in terms of on-the-bike fun (its hard to compete with those three on off the bike fun of course).
In preparation for the trip we had plenty of questions on how to best tackle Kingdom Trails. Thankfully we were able to crowd source a plethora of recommendations via social media and team slack, which combined with our first hand experiences, adds up to what we hope is a helpful guide to Kingdom Trails.
Tips for a Top Notch Kingdom Trails Experience
Trailforks - the Trailforks app was probably the MVP of the weekend. The more rudimentary ‘buy a map and bring a highlighter’ option definitely works as well. But for us it was great being able to pull up the app mid ride to quickly see the trail elevation chart or check the most popular direction of travel on a given trail. Plus the ‘record ride’ option nicely highlights your progress throughout the day and neatly saves it for handy future reference.
Ride, Eat, Ride some more - our daily strategy was some flavor of: get up, ride for a few hours, stop for lunch, then ride for a few more hours in the afternoon. This flow worked particularly well based on how, after some significant land closures on Darling Hill Road, KTA is somewhat segmented into several quadrants, each of which can be well covered in two to three hours of riding. If the temperatures were a bit higher, we would have squeezed in some mid-day dips in the river, but alas we settled for extra coffee and food instead.
Stay close to town - after a bit of searching, we wound up staying in an AirBNB mid-way up East Darling Hill Road. The location worked perfectly for us - close enough to town to spin in for dinner or drinks, but also close enough to every section of trail that we didn’t have to worry about driving. This in turn meant that we didn’t have to fight for parking spots at the trailheads, which we definitely saw fill up in particular at the popular O’Reilly’s Backyard.
How long to stay - four days, with three and a half days of riding worked well for us. This was enough time for us to hit every major trail section at least once, with a doubled up day on the Southwest section of trails (we did not visit Burke Mountain whose downhill trails were not yet open and this section only contains a few XC trails with some climbing we opted out of sampling). By the end of the fourth day we were about ready for some off the bike R&R, but your mileage may vary. One tip from a friend: aim for 4 hours, 40 miles, or 4,000 ft of climbing per day. We didn’t quite stick to this framework, but it was a good starting point for mapping out our daily rides.
Do your grocery shopping in Lyndon - this one is simple. Burke doesn’t have a large grocery store, so for any significant grocery shopping you are better off stopping in Lyndon right after you jump off I-91.
Some Kingdom Trails MTB Favorites - the trails
Black Bear - Kingdom Trails is full of memorable trails, but for us Black Bear was THE standout ride of the weekend. Accessing Black Bear requires a long climb up the ‘Haul Road’ trail, but the reward for that climbing is oh so sweet: 1.7 miles of swoopy, delightful, pump filled descending. Combine it with a fun little lap around BFR and you have a terrific ride from the summit. While it doesn’t quite rise to the same highs at Black Bear, the nearby Stormin’ Norman is also a good ride, that can also be combined with the upper section of Black Bear. By our count we rode Black Bear 2.5x, BFR 2x, and Stormin’ Norman 1x, and in hindsight we probably should have done at least one more round, climbing be damned.
Every single skills/bike park - whenever we wanted a warm-up or a bit of fun to cool down, we headed to the various bike parks sprinkled across KTA. Intermediate Flow in the Southwest quadrant (part of O’ Reilly’s Backyard which in and of itself was great fun to loop around) was enough fun that we rode it a half dozen times over the weekend. But don’t sleep on the three close to town options: Leap Frog Loop, Village Pump Track, and Shoots & Ladders. They’re individually smaller than O’Reilly’s Backyard, but in close proximity to each other so you can jump between each quickly.
Piggy Back and Bear Back - the Southwest quadrant of Kingdom Trails is perhaps the most popular area in KTA, and with good reason given the sheer density of memorable trails. While Piggy Back / Bear Back are not quite as unique as Sidewinder (see below), they are both fun and fast enough that we road them multiple times during our various excursions through this section of KTA.
Sidewinder - before we headed up to Kingdom Trails a friend gave us one piece of advice: “Sidewinder, and don’t touch your brakes.” We may not have followed the second part of that guidance entirely, but Sidewinder is definitely unlike anything we have in New York City and not to be missed. The repetitive G force is just something you need to experience to understand.
Jaw - we were admittedly a bit sheepish about the Jaw’s double black diamond designation. But the narrow bridges were more fun than fear-inducing, and similar to Sidewinder, quite unlike the trails in immediate proximity to NYC. The biggest knock on Jaw is that the other nearby trails are less memorable. We enjoyed sections of Rim and the views from Heaven’s Bench are well worth taking in, but otherwise this section on the East side of Darling Hill Road reminded us a bit more like home and didn’t strike as much of a chord during our trip.
Farm Junk / Skydive - we finished our first day with these descents, and they were both well worth the climb. Trailforks says Skydive is the more popular of the two, while we might have preferred the quirkiness of Farm Junk (the name is literal). Though honestly you can’t go wrong with either. When paired with the Good ‘n You Loop further up the hill, which has beautiful skyline views at the summit, you get nearly ~1.5 miles of descending on the way down.
The bottom line is it’s hard to go wrong making your way through any and all quadrants of the KTA and regardless of your skill level you are bound to have a great time. Be forewarned that you will probably leave yearning for your local trails to offer the same amount of variety and miles of well groomed berms, loops, climbs, and drops.
Some Kingdom Trails Favorites - Everything else
Mike’s Tiki Bar - this one is a Kingdom Trails landmark, with an improved and expanded patio, live music on weekends, and tons of delicious beer on tap. To top it off, two food trucks next door provide some tasty refueling options. We visited Mike’s on 3 of our 4 nights in Burke - the first two were mid-week when it was nearly empty except for a few locals and then again on Saturday afternoon when it was a madhouse with live music, a long line for beer, and a rush for every table that opened up. But crowds or not, this is a worthwhile stop.
Next Trick Brewing - late in our final full day of riding at KTA we found ourselves in the Northwest quadrant of Darling Hill riding when we dipped off the trails for the ~1.5 mile paved ride down US-5 to get to Next Trick Brewing on their opening day of the season. It turned out to be a perfect break from riding. The beers were delicious, the service was friendly, and the pretzels satiated our hunger. In fact, we even stuffed a few cans in our backpack to take home. As for the nearby trails, Upper Emma’s Sanctuary and Lower Emma’s Sanctuary made for a fun little descent followed by a nice stretch along the river. The only downside was that the climb back up along River Run (aka Emma’s Revenge) sucked the life out of our tired legs deep into a long day on the bike. Some of the river views along Pastore Point were also beautiful even if the actual riding was less memorable.
Cafe Lotti - we were warned in advance that Cafe Lotti can get a bit overwhelmed when the crowds descend on Burke, leading to long waits for coffee and food. But we made two excellent mid-week pit stops at the cafe and the food was excellent on both occasions. It also seems mid week not much is opened in town before 4pm (at least while we were there pre Memorial Day) so have this in your back pocket if you need a caffeine or maple sugar jolt before your afternoon ride.
The Wildflower Inn Juniper Restaurant - positioned right in the middle of the Darling Hills Road trails, we had a beautiful sunset meal on the patio at the Wildflower Inn. While we went for the dusk timing to enjoy the restaurant’s beautiful views, the adjacent SpokeEasy Lounge or nearby Village Sport Shop are both good casual post-ride beer options to enjoy the same vista.
The Kingdom Trails Photo Gallery
A New York City based cyclist and sometimes photographer. Part adventure rider, part crit racer, and fully obsessed with an English bulldog named Winifred.
Instagram: @photorhetoric
E-mail: matthew@tobedetermined.cc
