hurronnicane Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 While it may not qualify as a destination based on the amount of riding, Tyler State Park is a great place to camp, ride, and kayak if you have reason to be near here. Roughly five hours from Austin, it is a world apart. My wife’s family lives nearby and I have escaped into the woods to ride for the last 20+ years. The trail system has more vertical relief than you might expect, the trail surface is mostly sand or gravel, and the primary challenges are roots and trees (real trees with some girth). It dries very quickly after rains and seems popular with Dallas-area riders on weekends. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notyal Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 My wife has family in the area too (Lake Palestine). We usually spend our time fishing and wakesurfing, but I'll be sure to bring the bike next time we head up there during colder weather. Thanks for the reminder that these trails exist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chongo Loco Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 Been a couple of years, but I’ve been riding Tyler SP and Lincoln Parish Park over in Ruston for 25+ years. Always stop at one on the way out and the other on the return trip every time I head to the southeast. Beautiful piney woods and great trails to break up the drive. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St.Bernardo Posted September 30, 2020 Share Posted September 30, 2020 While you're up there, Lindsay and Faulkner parks have trails as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tip Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 Just back from two nights there so I'll add my input to this "resource" thread. It's a nice park. There isn't a lot of trail, but what there is was fun. Anyone reading this would do all of it in one ride like my ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/4969268839 I repeated a little because I missed a turn. The system consists of five loops that can be ridden without repeating. The easiest, meaning the least amount of climbing because none of it is technical (even the "most difficult" C loop), are the EZ loop and loop A. Somehow these felt all downhill. The climbs are switch backed in such a way that I just never felt like I was on a grindy climb. We did not kayak on the smallish lake because it was too cold and windy the day we had planned to. It would have taken about an hour to paddle the entire shoreline I think. But a super lovely setting to do so. Very pretty and pristine. We drove 25 minutes on the way out of town to Lindsey Park. We didn't do all of it because one of the two of us got tired of the climbing involved pretty quickly (ahem...clears throat). But if you are in the area make time to ride here. It was definitely made by mountain bikers. Several wooden features and lots of flowing trails with berms and little jumps. I was disappointed to not be able to do all of it. There is a very nice disc golf course in that park too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St.Bernardo Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 1 hour ago, The Tip said: Just back from two nights there so I'll add my input to this "resource" thread. It's a nice park. There isn't a lot of trail, but what there is was fun. Anyone reading this would do all of it in one ride like my ride: https://www.strava.com/activities/4969268839 I repeated a little because I missed a turn. The system consists of five loops that can be ridden without repeating. The easiest, meaning the least amount of climbing because none of it is technical (even the "most difficult" C loop), are the EZ loop and loop A. Somehow these felt all downhill. The climbs are switch backed in such a way that I just never felt like I was on a grindy climb. We did not kayak on the smallish lake because it was too cold and windy the day we had planned to. It would have taken about an hour to paddle the entire shoreline I think. But a super lovely setting to do so. Very pretty and pristine. We drove 25 minutes on the way out of town to Lindsey Park. We didn't do all of it because one of the two of us got tired of the climbing involved pretty quickly (ahem...clears throat). But if you are in the area make time to ride here. It was definitely made by mountain bikers. Several wooden features and lots of flowing trails with berms and little jumps. I was disappointed to not be able to do all of it. There is a very nice disc golf course in that park too. I think that I remember lots of sand at Lindsey. Faulkner was shorter, but in my opinion was more entertaining. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tip Posted March 22, 2021 Share Posted March 22, 2021 19 minutes ago, St.Bernardo said: I think that I remember lots of sand at Lindsey. Faulkner was shorter, but in my opinion was more entertaining. The park had just reopened that morning after the rains from a couple of days before so we didn't notice that issue. But all those East Texas trails can have that problem I think. I remember riding at Huntsville SP in October right after a rain and thinking how lucky we were because, "this could be bad if it's dry." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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