Weekend at Michaux
A three-ride exploration of a Pennsylvania gravel riding mecca.
By Dave Kraus
Dave Kraus is a longtime area road and gravel cyclist, photographer, and writer in the Capital Region of upstate New York. He loves riding his bike and guiding cycling tours for Ciclismo Classico while also running his own freelance business at krausgrafik.com
“Lastly, don’t pet the rattlesnakes.”
These last words from my friend Chet didn’t sound encouraging as I prepared to head down to Pennsylvania for my first visit to Michaux State Forest, to explore the gravel-laced mountains with a group of friends last year in late April. He had already emailed our group the ride maps, and they looked intimidating enough. The easiest ride would be our alleged “warm-up,” on Day 1, with 95 feet per mile of vertical.
Ugh! This didn’t look good for my early season fitness (or lack of it). But, I loaded up the car and drove south because the lure of new gravel roads was just too tempting to pass up. Especially with the prospect of doing it with old friends, making new ones, and sharing good times in a new place under forecast sunny skies.
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Pre-Ride Logistics
Giving the group the low down on the upcoming route and what to expect.
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Early Spring Blooms
Early spring blooms meant beautiful flowers and great views.
Day one almost convinced me to turn around and head home! That “warm-up” ride started out with a nearly five mile climb up Milesburn and Stillhouse Hollow Roads. In addition to the strenuous climbing, my stomach started, uh, “talking” to me. The intestinal muttering gradually built into a frenzied shout I could no longer ignore. Despite The awesome views to my left as I reached the top, the only thing I could focus on were the blessed pine trees to my right. These would offer some early spring concealment as I dropped my bike and sprinted toward them.
Some interminable time later, I managed to rejoin my friends, who were wondering about me, at the Ridge Road turn. I let them know the space aliens had returned me to earth after a quick probe, and I was now good to go. Fortunately, the rest of the ride was great, and though some of the climbs were indeed challenging, the early season lack of leaves exposed some great views.
The next two days continued with more great rides across this historic state forest. Michaux covers 85,000 acres across four Pennsylvania counties and offers mile after mile of unpaved roads. While most are in great shape, others are not. Despite that, we didn’t find any that were unrideable. I had no trouble on my 40mm Vittoria Tirreno Dry semi-slicks.
The forest here still offers signs of its historic past–and near demise. The land that is now Michaux State Forest was once owned by several large iron companies. Those companies used the old growth forests of South-Central Pennsylvania to fuel and fire their iron furnaces, leaving behind a wasteland of bare ground and stumps. Colliers gathered the harvested wood and created charcoal by slowly burning the logs in massive kilns that dotted the Michaux landscape.
That legacy is now evident in spots in this largely second-growth forest. The original kilns still stand at multiple locations, and in others, the gravel roads pass through large meadows where the forest has yet to recover. We rode through stretches of open meadows and other areas where recent fires had burned and cleared away the undergrowth.
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The original kilns still stand at multiple locations.
The forest’s past misfortune makes for some great present-day riding, including some scenic form-building spring riding on beautiful forest roads.
Our other rides added attractions like riding on “Rattlesnake Run” (we didn’t see any), and on day three we took a short but exciting detour down a local mountain bike and ATV downhill trail with banked turns and rollers that gave us a chance to grab a bit of air.
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Banked Turns
Day three included an exciting detour on a local mountain bike trail.
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Hard Pack
Most of the roads are hard-packed and well maintained.
If you’re headed to Michaux, keep in mind that while most of the roads are hard-packed dirt and well-maintained, there are a few that are rough going, including forested double-track sections with the expected baby-head rocks at unexpected spots.
Some pre-trip research for available motels, inns, and rentals will pay off, as well as a visit to Gearhouse Brewery over in Chambersburg to, uh, lube your gears!
MICHAUX STATE FOREST
MIchaux State Forest, named after French Botanist André Michaux, is a thriving 85,500 acre second growth forest just east of Chambersburg on the South Mountains of south-central Pennsylvania. Michaux is a managed “working” forest and is open to a myriad of recreational activities, including, among many others, cycling and mountain biking.
Chambersburg, just West of the forest is a location that has been involved in major events in American history. Chambersburg was a stop on the underground railroad, a staging area for John Brown’s raid on Harper’s Ferry and a victim of the Civil War, when confederate troops burned the center of town to the ground.
Chambersburg’s present and future are bright. The city has a charming downtown filled with local eateries, boutique shops and Victorian architecture. All the city’s amenities can be enjoyed with ease as it ranks in the top 10% of the country for low crime.
The Routes
The three routes we followed during the trip. are included below.
My bike:
Lynskey Pro GR
Ultegra 6800 group
Boyd carbon wheels
40mm Vittoria Tirreno Dry tires.
Front: Absolute Black 30-46
Rear: 11-36 SRAM cassette that plays nice with the Shimano
Dave at Minnewaska State Park in New York in the Shawangunks