Featured Ride: Rattling Creek IMBA Epic, Pennsylvania

Photos and information from MTBProject.com.

The Rattling Creek IMBA Epic offers a mix of rocky singletrack, woods roads, punchy climbs and flowy singletrack. The 22 mile route is fun in both directions. Riding the system in a counter-clockwise direction will give you a chance to see the general order in which the trails were built. Riding in a clockwise direction will allow you to save the Rattling Creek and Doc Smith trails for last.

To start the IMBA Epic route on the Rattling Creek trails, park at the trailhead on Lykens Road just off Powells Valley Road. Ride back across Powells Valley Road to access Stone Cabin and Rugged trails. Start with Stone Cabin to ride in a counter-clockwise direction. This short loop is a good introduction for what the riding is like throughout the trail system. After the warm up ride back across the road, continue through the parking area and look for the Hopback trail marker (the start of the main loop).

The trails are a labor of love of Keith Whitcomb, a life-long resident of the area. Beginning in 1999 with his friend Mike Mace, Whitcomb began building a loop based on the lessons of sustainable trails that were just then being espoused by IMBA, but he aimed to keep the East Coast flavor of the terrain.

Local Club: Susquehanna Area Mountain Bike Association.

Land Manager: Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.