I happened to be in the area,
so I decided to scout out this loop. It's not what I would
typically consider a mounta bike trail, but it certainly is
mountain biking. The loop consists of primitive forest
service roads that are rarely visited by traffic.
If you start riding from
Temperance River Campground, the loop is approximately 19
miles. If you start from CR2 and FS338 it's about 17 miles.
The forest service roads
are marked on brown wooden signs showing just their number
'338' for FS338. Keep your eyes open, as missing the signs
can quickly send you in the wrong direction and easily get
you lost.
The road quality is pretty
good at the west end of FS338. As you drive east things
start to taper into a more primitive path. Look for FS1235
coming in from the left about 3 miles into FS338. There
wasn't any marking for FS1235, but there was a FS338 sign on
FS338, and a white trail map showing you the entire region.
Stay straight on FS338.
You'll see Erickson Trail turning off to the right shortly
after FS1235. Stay straight on FS338 (also called Pancore
Lake Road). Shortly after this point the gravel road
dwindles into pretty rough two track. My pickup truck didn't
have any problems driving the roads, but a passenger car
might not make it... Some of the rocks stick up pretty high.
A few more miles down the
road, you'll run into FS339. Hang a left here and stick with
FS339 for approximately 3.5 miles. FS1235 will come in from
the left. Once again, I didn't see any marker for FS1235.
However, there was a white trail map stapled to one of the
trees at the southeast corner of the intersection. FS1235 is
in pretty rough shape, and might look like abandoned two
track. It's times like these that you want to have a good
reliable map, a compass and a GPS if you've got one. (If
you're not confident about that being FS1235, stick with
FS339 and take it until it hits the main road approximately
2 miles up the road. Hang a left on this, cross temperance
river and look for CR2 in about 2 miles. Hang a left on CR2
and follow the road about 4 or 5 miles until you see CR338
and your vehicle. Temperance River Campground is another
mile down CR2).
Take FS1235 south
approximately 2.5 miles until you hit FS338. At FS338,
things should look familiar since you were here about an
hour ago. Take a right on FS338 and head back to your
vehicle.
Overall Impression
This ride isn't for everyone.
If you're a hammerhead and are looking for mindless training
on a packed down loop, keep searching. If you've got a sense
of adventure, don't mind being out in the middle of
no-where, and enjoy self sufficient riding, this is a fun
loop. You need to be careful though, because if no one knows
you're out there and something goes wrong, you could be in
for a LONG wait. I would recommend riding with a partner,
and carrying all of the essentials for self-repair. A map,
compass and cyclo-computer are good ideas as well.
I enjoyed driving this
route and am a little bummed that I didn't have enough time
to ride it. Next time I'm in the area, I'll definitely be
riding it.
- Reviewer Unknown
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