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Purgatory Creek vs Madrone


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I have to be in Wimberly Saturday AM for a kid thing and was planning on going to Madrone, but I remembered there were trails in San Marcos.  Looked up Purgatory Creek on Trailforks and confirmed it.

 

Now- what are the thoughts?  Ive done Madrone twice- should I stay there or check out these trails?  Also concerned part of that loop is closed with GCW nesting until May, if thats the case I dont see it makes sense.

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Wimberley resident here. I prefer Madrone to Purgatory, but Purg can be fun too. Both are rocky, but Purg has more sections where the average skilled rider has to get off and walk. It is also an out and back with a higher number of hikers. It's possible to connect Ringtail Ridge and Spring Lake as a big loop around town, but it's too much city traffic and roads for my liking. I think they have been adding trails to Purgatory, so maybe it's cooler than last time I was out there, which it has been a while. And yes, there is definitely a section that is closed during Warbler nesting. On the other hand, it is always fun to check out a new trail!

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I think purgatory creek is fun ride, rocky in places and smooth in others but nothing too difficult. A good part of the trails are closed for the golden warblers or whatever which is why I don't ride out there till the nesting season is over. Madrone is also a fun ride and would probably do that of the two due to the partial closure of purgatory. Both are fun and not too difficult so I think you would have fun at either one. U

Sent from my moto g(7) supra using Tapatalk

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Dont forget the spring lake preserve area. They've been digging up there and have added some fun, flowy stuff with some actual downhill fun. IMHO, it's much better than purgatory which is one of the least enjoyable trail networks i've ever ridden. F purgatory and the cinder block rocks it rode in on. 

Madrone is great if you park at the marina, start from there, and finish with a margarita at the bar.

 

https://www.trailforks.com/poi/23856/

Edited by ATXZJ
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17 hours ago, ATXZJ said:

Dont forget the spring lake preserve area. They've been digging up there and have added some fun, flowy stuff with some actual downhill fun. IMHO, it's much better than purgatory which is one of the least enjoyable trail networks i've ever ridden. F purgatory and the cinder block rocks it rode in on. 

Madrone is great if you park at the marina, start from there, and finish with a margarita at the bar.

 

https://www.trailforks.com/poi/23856/

thanks for those thoughts.  Looks like both trails have closed areas with Birds.  Looks like another lap at Madrone.

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Since you're familiar with trailforks and have done Madrone in the past, I would give Purgatory a shot. 

As far as I know, the only trail shut down at Purg due to Warbler nesting is Paraiso. You can still take Dante's to the other side and back and add smaller side trails like Ovid, Limbo, and Malacoda. If you did go and made it to the other side - Upper Dante's is a neat, short little out and back. 

Don't get me wrong, Madrone is fun, but I think Purgatory is worth checking out if you have done Madrone before and want to try something new out. You can easily do a reasonably technical, fun 12-mile ride at Purg. 

I prefer Spring Lake for the area, which has way more elevation and descents that are awesome. Spring Lake doesn't look like much on a map, but two laps of everything could easily be around 10 miles. Unfortunately, since it isn't a large area, more of the fun trails are impacted by Warbler's nesting season, so I currently wouldn't recommend it.

I hope you have fun regardless of where you choose! I'd offer to guide Saturday morning if I didn't have plans already.

EDIT - I meant to note, in my opinion, it is best to take Beatrice in the direction heading back towards the lower parking. 

Edited by Schrute
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On 4/6/2021 at 3:10 PM, ATXZJ said:

Dont forget the spring lake preserve area. They've been digging up there and have added some fun, flowy stuff with some actual downhill fun. IMHO, it's much better than purgatory which is one of the least enjoyable trail networks i've ever ridden. F purgatory and the cinder block rocks it rode in on. 

Madrone is great if you park at the marina, start from there, and finish with a margarita at the bar.

 

https://www.trailforks.com/poi/23856/

No disrespect intended, but I'm curious why you dislike Purgatory so much? In my opinion, Madrone is just as technical, perhaps more so considering its more extensive elevation profile. 

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17 hours ago, Schrute said:

No disrespect intended, but I'm curious why you dislike Purgatory so much? In my opinion, Madrone is just as technical, perhaps more so considering its more extensive elevation profile. 

No worries.

My struggle with that place are all the rocks and lack of flow. Like anti-flow. There are a few scenic places along the ridgeline but as a whole it just seems to be pretty monotonous. I have friends that love that place. They also love government canyon, and both are not for me.

Madrone. The first 3rd of madrone has some good elevation changes and flow with a few drops thrown in to keep it interesting. Seems like when you cross over the road for the 2nd time it basically turns into purgatory for a bit but that doesn't last long. The rest of the climb back up to the parking is pretty fun.

Have any of you recently ridden the spring lake network? How about the newer stuff over at ringtail? 

 

https://www.trailforks.com/poi/23855/

Fair bit of stuff out here now worth checking out

 

https://www.trailforks.com/poi/32964/

Park here and take roadrunner down

Edited by ATXZJ
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Hijack this. My "ranch" is out in this general area (off purgatory rd). As my son is riding more, I would love some insights on a few trail options in the area. So when we spend a weekend at the ranch we can go for a local mtb ride. Right now he is most comfortable on stuff like Peddlers Pass, .6, etc. nice dirt singletrack. Any segments of Madrone or Purgatory Creek meet that? Anyplace else?

Also any pump tracks in the area?

 

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45 minutes ago, Mattlikesbikes said:

Hijack this. My "ranch" is out in this general area (off purgatory rd). As my son is riding more, I would love some insights on a few trail options in the area. So when we spend a weekend at the ranch we can go for a local mtb ride. Right now he is most comfortable on stuff like Peddlers Pass, .6, etc. nice dirt singletrack. Any segments of Madrone or Purgatory Creek meet that? Anyplace else?

Also any pump tracks in the area?

 

You'll love spring lake then. 

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On 4/8/2021 at 10:17 AM, ATXZJ said:

No worries.

My struggle with that place are all the rocks and lack of flow. Like anti-flow. There are a few scenic places along the ridgeline but as a whole it just seems to be pretty monotonous. I have friends that love that place. They also love government canyon, and both are not for me.

Madrone. The first 3rd of madrone has some good elevation changes and flow with a few drops thrown in to keep it interesting. Seems like when you cross over the road for the 2nd time it basically turns into purgatory for a bit but that doesn't last long. The rest of the climb back up to the parking is pretty fun.

Have any of you recently ridden the spring lake network? How about the newer stuff over at ringtail? 

 

https://www.trailforks.com/poi/23855/

Fair bit of stuff out here now worth checking out

 

https://www.trailforks.com/poi/32964/

Park here and take roadrunner down

Yeah, I could understand that. I guess I'm biased because I have seemingly eaten less shit at Purg, haha. 

There have been some awesome additions to spring lake since I started riding there. Centipede is so flowy and a perfect trail to start on if you start from Lime Kiln Rd. The new descent they built on Grey Fox is super fun. Like you mentioned in your post, descending from that trailhead down Roadrunner is super badass!

My favorite descent in the park is by far Blind Salamander. 

 

Edited by Schrute
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On 4/8/2021 at 12:46 PM, Mattlikesbikes said:

Hijack this. My "ranch" is out in this general area (off purgatory rd). As my son is riding more, I would love some insights on a few trail options in the area. So when we spend a weekend at the ranch we can go for a local mtb ride. Right now he is most comfortable on stuff like Peddlers Pass, .6, etc. nice dirt singletrack. Any segments of Madrone or Purgatory Creek meet that? Anyplace else?

Also any pump tracks in the area?

 

I don't know how old your son is, but McAllister in San Antonio is terrific for kids. My daughter was knocking out 6-mile loops there when she was 7. Purgatory is another option, but  I would stray away from the black trails on trailforks and probably Dante's after the Ovid loop. Other than that, all the green/blue stuff should be fun for a kid.

Same with Spring Lake. You could make two loops of Centipede and Blue Stem. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Rode Purgatory for the first time last week. The rocks were dry and I had pretty good grip. If it was a trail system that you rode regularly and memorized the best lines in the really hard sections, I can see a skilled rider blasting through it. I had a lot of fun and I also liked that some parts are in riding distance to the pubs for a beer. You don't get that at Madrone.

 

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39 minutes ago, Trailrider said:

Rode Purgatory for the first time last week. The rocks were dry and I had pretty good grip. If it was a trail system that you rode regularly and memorized the best lines in the really hard sections, I can see a skilled rider blasting through it. I had a lot of fun and I also liked that some parts are in riding distance to the pubs for a beer. You don't get that at Madrone.

 

Baja Icehouse is down at the marina. 

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