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411 on BLORA/Miller Springs


Dean
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Hi bikers, I am new to the site, had a question about riding locales.  Just got back into riding after 20 yrs with a new bike with all the trimmings (pads, gloves, etc).  I was wondering if anyone could advise on trails/riding experience on Miller Springs Nature Center (Temple) and the Fort Hood trails (BLORA).  Since I am getting back into this, I am not ready yet for black or black diamonds, mostly green-ish, greenish-blue and blue.  Spider mtn is on my radar but not yet.

Thanks,  Rider side up.

Dean

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I don't think anybody's regularly maintained BLORA in 15+ years.  Even then it was a PITA if you didn't know the trails.  They had the signs on posts that the longhorns like to use as scratching posts so they'd get knocked all around.  It was hilarious that you'd go into the building to pay and if you weren't paying for lake / picnic access they'd look at you with this whatever good luck with that attitude. LOL 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I was reading the Dana Peak Facebook page and there was chatter about work days to maintain the BLORA trails. People were talking like it was getting enough traffic. I didn't have time to check it out while we were up there but all that chat makes me want to try it out.

We did ride Miller Springs Nature Center. I had never heard of it but we were camping right across the road from it so it was a low investment to check it out. It turned out fun enough that I say it's definitely worth a drive to try it out. When I looked at the Strava Global Heatmap right before we started exploring I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed because there was lots of recorded traffic. It's different and very scenic.  It's only 20 minutes from Dana Peak which is the other good place to ride in the area.

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11 hours ago, The Tip said:

I was reading the Dana Peak Facebook page and there was chatter about work days to maintain the BLORA trails. People were talking like it was getting enough traffic. I didn't have time to check it out while we were up there but all that chat makes me want to try it out.

Using Strava's Heatmaps (and trying to maintain zoom level for apples/apples), BLORA isn't getting near the traffic of Dana Peak, but it gets a lot more than Thumper, for example. So folks are riding there a bit. Probably just the locals. At only 18 miles from Dana Peak, so it may be worth checking out with a quick trip if, for example, some folks tried to fill 2-3 days of riding with Dana Peak. 

 

BLORA:

image.png.1d205024e71e2f889c6cee5126be6fb4.png      

Miller Springs looks more popular, but smaller:

image.png.cc019111d95e84a62ac398d3e187cc2f.png                                                            

Thumper is ice-cold:  

 image.png.2a6994ca848eb7dd4f60429effe3f286.png

 One hot snipet of Dana Peak for comparison: 

image.png.e0f6be0fd53b40656390c6c0ef3cf6f2.png

 

Heatmaps are fascinating. I also found a bunch of squiggly lines just south-west of DP...Google maps shows it to be CTOR (CenTex Off Road), a private motorcycle park that doesn't allow bikes (according to their FAQ). So either bikes are riding there, or folks are recording motorcycle rides as bike rides--which isn't that uncommon.  

image.png.f81114fec69f843b80d1f86757adc3fa.png

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
1 hour ago, June Bug said:

Is Miller Springs Nature Center confirmed for mountain biking? All the online reviews refer to hiking and trail running. 

Look at Barry's heatmap of it above. Those are mountain biking heatmaps. So it gets lots of mtbers. There are some sort sections that I don't think anyone could ride, at least up, but it didn't diminish the experience too much. 

The campsite is very convenient to BLORA too. We didn't get a chance to check it out though.

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