A new 11.5-mile trail network in Shandaken Wild Forest offers mountain bikers banked turns, gradual descents, and a 3-mile downhill ride.
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation announced the network’s completion on Oct. 23. The agency hopes the trails will encourage year-round recreation and bring business to the Route 28 corridor.
“Many visitors are expected to travel the Route 28 corridor to access the trailhead, where there are many options for gas, food, and other goods,” department spokesperson Dana Ferine said in an email.
Built by Ulster County’s Tahawus Trails, the network occupies the forest’s Giggle Hollow parcel near Big Indian. Seven miles are singletrack trails designed for mountain biking, and 4.5 miles follow former logging roads improved for recreational use. The trails are also open to hikers and cross-country skiers.
Visitors can access the network from the Lost Clove trailhead on Lost Clove Road or the Pine Hill Day Use Area at Belleayre Beach. The project was funded through the state Environmental Protection Fund.
Billy Denter, who owns Overlook Bicycles in Woodstock and Kingston, said quality trails can help draw visitors who also need food and lodging.
“New York State has been slow to recognize it, but this brings people in,” he said. “There are now six different mountain bike venues within an hour of each other. If you’re from out of town, you need adventure, but you also need good food and lodging. This makes for a multi-dimensional experience with more options.”
Denter pointed to Kingdom Trails in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom as a model. The trail association, which relies on private landowners to host its network, estimates its annual economic impact at $10 million.
Ferine estimated that the Shandaken trails drew 200 to 400 visitors a month between April and September, before the official opening, and said use was expected to increase.
A Smoother Ride
Denter, who grew up in the Catskills, remembered a time when mountain biking meant tackling rocky, unmarked trails often built without permission. He sometimes sent visitors into the woods with hand-drawn maps, wishing them the best.
“We were always riding illegal, renegade trails,” he said. “The barrier was previously very high. The trails were unkempt and highly technical. You had to be adventurous or know somebody to get your foot in the door.”
Marked trails, maps, and better drainage now make it easier for beginners and younger riders to get started, Denter said.
The Shandaken project took 15 years to complete. Denter said he first walked the property in 2011 with Bill Rudge, a former natural resources supervisor for the department. A draft concept plan followed in 2017, and construction began in 2023.
Denter described the trails as smooth and flowing, with optional jumps and banked turns. The main loop consists of a climb, a stretch along the ridge, and the 3-mile descent.
“It’s challenging to ride it from top to bottom without a break because you start to get fatigued,” Denter said. “There are some natural resting points.”
The department said the network was designed to limit damage to soil, waterways, plants, and wildlife. Limiting the number of trees cut was the biggest construction challenge, said Eddie Knight of Tahawus Trails.
Switchbacks and gradual descents allow riders to hold their turns without excessive braking, creating the sense of “flow” that draws mountain bikers to a trail.
“It’s not your typical Catskill trail making a beeline up the mountain,” he said. “It’s about the experience, optimized for mountain biking and created with two wheels in mind.”
The network could eventually connect to Belleayre Mountain, an expansion envisioned in the 2018 concept plan.
“Mountain biking as a sport has been growing quite a bit in the past 20 years,” Knight said. “Covid particularly highlighted the need to access open spaces.”
Knight said the growing number of trails in New York gives riders options closer to home, with the potential to support nearby businesses.
“What’s happening now is you don’t have to leave New York,” he said. “You can go 1½ hours up the thruway and you’ve got options. You start to see all the tourist-related industries booming. You’re going to have people not leaving, but also coming here.”
Sean McAlindin is a contributing writer. Send correspondence to reporting@theoverlooknews.com.
