We are coming up from central PA for a long weekend and usally ride 2 days at E-ville and a day at Golden Hill. This year we are thinking about checking out Sprauge Brook. So which would you rather ride, Sprauge or Golden? Any info on Sprauge Brook, such as starting point or direction of ride, how far from E-ville?

Thanks.

GH is hands down better than SB! Given the choice between the two I'd pick GH every time.

SB is about 30 minutes from eville. I would suggest checking out Hunters Creek though, its about an hour from eville and a very fun place with tons of variety.

I would just ride Eville everyday, GH does not do it for me at all, pretty boring. Hunters Creek is a lot of fun but some people hate it

although i will not disagree with the above comments...and would also rather ride in EVL everyday...i do personally fancy riding SBP often. i like mixing it up and creating my own loops and getting pretty much a double worth in...about 14-16 miles and chilling in the parking lot with a nice IPA...

look at the map at map central to see "majority" of the trails. a new modified race loop that is not "official" is bad ass to sneak through as well as working some "secondary" trails into the mix. some start at the ski hut, but i always start at the big lot by the bathrooms and go in either direction depending on which way the wind is blowing...

The question is, would you drive all the way to Central PA to ride a small loop like SB when there is a huge network of trails slightly closer with a great variety of riding? Including Golden Hill which is easily within riding distance from the EVL trails? IMHO I would go to HV, I drove up to SB once and I can't ever see going again, but if I lived up north then I would use it all the time just for the convenience.

I suppose there is at least one other factor when deciding where to ride. Sprague is not climby. Even if you drive to the top of McCarty there's still a fair amount of elevation change at EVL. Whereas with SB, you feel like you're getting your money's worth 'cause you're bouncing around trying to do 8mph and it's all fairly flat. I don't recall if you mentioned your fitness level but if you want to be a little less challenged in the power output department, check out SB. Also, you'll never be more than about 4 miles from your car unlike EVL where you could get like 14 miles away.

Sprague Brook and Hunters Creek are where we ride when we don't have time to drive all the way to Ellicottville.

I'd stay in E-ville. In a few years, we will also have lots of new singletrack in Allegany SP, too and then there will be even more destination options.

boogenman wrote:


I had a lovely conversation in the GH parking lot one fine day with a gentleman who hated Hunters Creek. Absolutely HATED it.

Of course, he had never been there, but he still hated it.

Come to think of it, he seemed to hate pretty much everything and everyone.

I'd devote your time to E'ville... come back up in August for the fest and hit Sprague... and as Jon said, perhaps a few years ASP will have some single track, and by then perhaps we will have enough mileage out at Harris Hill to draw some folks...

I have yet to try out golden hill, (ashamed to admit it), but from what I hear, if you are in the area, see if you can fit it in, I am told it's different and worth it.

When it is dry Hunters is a ton of fun. However, if you are not familiar with it, it can be no fun as you would get lost and probably miss the fun sections, even with the map. So if you are just breezing in from out of town for a day, it would not be the place to go unless you had a tour guide and good weather.

Plus Hunters is even further from E-ville than Sprague.

Jon Sundquist wrote:


I wasn't suggesting that the OP go to Hunters, just relaying a story about a silly person.

kb voodoo wrote:


Skidder