Camping plus riding with Junior

[Garandman]

My 11yo son gets out of school this week, so in the next week or two we'd like to go someplace where we could camp out at night and ride a second day. I'm registering his bike for off-road in MA but would buy a NH or ME permit as necessary.

Suggestions? I plan to take a Chevy cargo van with the bikes, plus a tent.

I suppose it is possible to ride at the Oxford dam, and camp at a nearby state campsite?

[gixxer72]

Balsam Woods in Abbott Maine. Ride right from the campground on about a billion miles of trail. Campground is clean, quiet, has fuel and wash station, hot showers and heated outdoor pool. Nice place.

[Stoneman]

We've been trying to decide where to pull this off with our kids up in NH's North Country. A lot of places north of the notches have trails directly to & from, and many have private trails on their property that don't require regi's. I'll try to remember to keep you in the loop...

[Garandman]

Balsam Woods in Abbott Maine. Ride right from the campground on about a billion miles of trail. Campground is clean, quiet, has fuel and wash station, hot showers and heated outdoor pool. Nice place.

This sounds great. Where does one buy a non-resident off road permit in ME?

MY WR came with them but I'm sure the state wants their pound of flesh.

http://www.balsamwoods.com/

[Stoneman]

You can regi online for Maine. Don't have the URL handy though...

[Garandman]

The folks at Balsams sent me the link. They said you can register online and print out the receipt.

https://www10.informe.org/ifw/atv-snow/

[R7]

Balsam Woods in Abbott Maine. Ride right from the campground on about a billion miles of trail. Campground is clean, quiet, has fuel and wash station, hot showers and heated outdoor pool. Nice place.

My stomping grounds, love the area up there. I often stay at a camp just a mile up the road from Balsam woods campground, on Wetstone Pond. Fuel is your limitation up there, we've gone as far as 130 dirt miles in a day

The folks at Balsams sent me the link. They said you can register online and print out the receipt.

https://www10.informe.org/ifw/atv-snow/

Yup, you can register online, simple, no BS. It's best to do it a week or so prior to your trip so you get the stickers, but you can print out the receipt and hand it to the game warden after he stops you. The last few times I've been up there, it was getting gas in the towns where they would check.

[theothersean]

if you do go to balsam woods ,

you can get almost every where form the camp ground .
I recommend getting one of those maine gazateer maps
the trails are marked well , but you can get a better idea with the map what towns you can get to in a day .
I recommend taking a long weekend if you go up there as 2 days just isn't enough.

Kelly's landing in Greenville has good lunch and you can sit on the deck right on moose head lake
Abbott bakery has good everything .
Kingsbury dam is a good place to ride to for a swim if its hot .

as mark says fuel is your only limitation . We usually top off if we go by a place even if we don't need it . There have been places where they have been out of it .


In mass, the legal state forests down in Wrentham / franklin / foxboro are all close to each other and there is a resort camp ground down there Normandy Farms . You can't ride from the camp ground but it is just down the street .

[Garandman]

We have a family camping trip on the backside so two days is the limit.

Do you carry the paper Gazetteer with you? I have a Garmin Nuvi 550 that has road and topo maps on it.

[breakdirt916]

if you do go to balsam woods ,

you can get almost every where form the camp ground .
I recommend getting one of those maine gazateer maps
the trails are marked well , but you can get a better idea with the map what towns you can get to in a day .
I recommend taking a long weekend if you go up there as 2 days just isn't enough.

Kelly's landing in Greenville has good lunch and you can sit on the deck right on moose head lake
Abbott bakery has good everything .
Kingsbury dam is a good place to ride to for a swim if its hot .

as mark says fuel is your only limitation . We usually top off if we go by a place even if we don't need it . There have been places where they have been out of it .


In mass, the legal state forests down in Wrentham / franklin / foxboro are all close to each other and there is a resort camp ground down there Normandy Farms . You can't ride from the camp ground but it is just down the street .

holy crap! you're alive! (on nesr!)

where are all your dirt ride reports??

[Rambunctous]

I recommend Maine. It is so much rider friendly and not all like Massachusetts. But it is a haul.

[theothersean]

We have a family camping trip on the backside so two days is the limit.

Do you carry the paper Gazetteer with you? I have a Garmin Nuvi 550 that has road and topo maps on it.

yeh I fold it in half in my camel back , or I used to until we got familiar with the area . My zumo 450 just didn't show all the little tail / log roads like the gazeteer does . As I said the trails are well marked , its just nice to see the big picture of where you are headed .

[theothersean]

holy crap! you're alive! (on nesr!)

where are all your dirt ride reports??

Sad to report I have only been out on the dirtbike 2 times this year , once to go get an inspection sticker, and once last week around my property .
We have been doing more street bike rides this year than anything and those pic/vids just aren't as interesting as off road ones . So I don't film much .

[Garandman]

Is it camping if you have wifi?

Got here just at dusk. FYI, the closest grocery store closes at 7pm although the Rite Aid is open until 9. Roughly 4 hours from Boston.

We got the Maine Gazetteer at KTP, the local Barnes & Noble was sold out. They sell a $2 trail map that gives the grand scheme of trails, while map 31 has much more detail.

You put your bikes in a parking area so no one is riding around the campsite in one. There are mostly RV's and campers here: we have one of two "tent" sites. The sites are close together.

Wish us luck on riding and weather, there is a chance Thursday is going to be wet.

[R7]

Should have mentioned everything closes early, it's the same on weekends as well.

As Sean mentioned, head to Greenville at least once, ITS 85. If you do it early and the pace is decent, go even farther to elephant mountain to check out the B52 crash site, pretty cool history there..and a decent ride.
If you end up near Kingsbury dam (another nice ride), watch for signs, as one section is posted ATV only, no dirtbikes. There is a go around for bikes, just get on rt 16, follow the water for a bit and take a right at the next dirt road.

And if they are calling for thunderstorms, keep your eye to the sky. That area produces some of the strongest thunderstorms I have ever seen

[Rambunctous]

This thread is getting very good. Keep the info coming.

[Garandman]

And if they are calling for thunderstorms, keep your eye to the sky. That area produces some of the strongest thunderstorms I have ever seen

Great info. We got a few showers fro 3am and now it is raining steadily but I'm hoping this front blows through by mid morning.

Having done some "extreme minimalist camping", car camping rocks. I bought two cots for the trip and we have our 15 yo Eureka Sunrise tent, an inexpensive 8x8 with standing headroom. And an iPad and wifi - crazy.

My son has a total of about 20 hours experience. Looks like we can loop to the N or S. Is one direction easier than the other? The map we bought show the towns and trail routes, but no trail id's. And no map scale: a thumb appears to be 4 miles....

I should have thought to look for saved gps tracks, but after this trip I'll have some!

[Rambunctous]

How two wheel friendly is the campground. Can you ride the dirtbikes right from the campground?? I see on the site it says ATV UTV.

[GearHd6]

I don't believe dirt bikes are allowed on the ATV trails. I went on ATV's last year and there are wardens patrolling.

[Rambunctous]

I just called Balsamwoods Campground. He said no problem. Lots of trails. ATV's and snowmobiles are king up there but plenty of bike trails. In fact some trails are single track. Just bikes. When you register the bike it is considered a ATV.

[R7]

How two wheel friendly is the campground. Can you ride the dirtbikes right from the campground?? I see on the site it says ATV UTV.

Yes, you can ride from the campground, just as stated above, at that campground, your bikes/ATV's stay in a designated area while not in use...in other words, you can't bring it to your site to work on it, look at it, sleep with it, etc

I don't believe dirt bikes are allowed on the ATV trails. I went on ATV's last year and there are wardens patrolling.

The farther north you go, the more trails will be posted no dirtbikes. Most (only 1 that I know of) are clearly marked and there is usually a go around for it. If it's not posted not dirtbikes, and is still a designated ATV trail, you can ride them with your bike

[gixxer72]

Great info. We got a few showers fro 3am and now it is raining steadily but I'm hoping this front blows through by mid morning.

Having done some "extreme minimalist camping", car camping rocks. I bought two cots for the trip and we have our 15 yo Eureka Sunrise tent, an inexpensive 8x8 with standing headroom. And an iPad and wifi - crazy.

My son has a total of about 20 hours experience. Looks like we can loop to the N or S. Is one direction easier than the other? The map we bought show the towns and trail routes, but no trail id's. And no map scale: a thumb appears to be 4 miles....

I should have thought to look for saved gps tracks, but after this trip I'll have some!

The loop that brings you around to the bakery is pretty easy to start with. We're supposed to be clear in Augusta around 10 so might be a bit earlier where you are. Have fun!

[Garandman]

Trails are pretty clearly marked for ATV and or snowmobile. We didn't run into any with a 2 wheel prohibition.

Woke up this morning to light, then steadier rain. My son was initially despondent. Not five minutes later he said, "I came up here to ride and I'm going to ride!

We made a big counterclockwise loop from the campground to Guilford to Monson and back. Think it was around 35 miles.

First part near campground was really easy, then we hit and old rail bed that was faster. Trails were very wet, with many standing pools of water. My son was wearing MX boots and I was wearing my Danner Fort Lewis [combat boot style] boots. He had to wring out his socks at the end of the day, while mine were slightly damp.

We have the paper version of:
http://www.balsamwoods.com/templates...cal-trails.pdf and it blows. No trail #'s or minor trails shown. There are a lot of signs along the trails at intersections and we used then a lot. I didn't have the gps hooked up but will tomorrow as we took a "long cut."

My son offered three lessons for the day.
1. Don't let the rain get you down.
2. Some puddles are way, way deeper than you think.
3. CRF100 flies!

I asked him if today was his "best day ever" and he said "Top three!"

Btw as far as I can tell his bike got around 40 mpg.

[gt_pedaler]

A group of us just did the camping riding thing up at Jericho Mtn state park in Berlin NH. Second time for my friend and I but a first for the other 5 guys. Altogether an awesome place. The state has set it up so that its out in the middle of nowhere and caters specifically to riding. check this out...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=S5Ewkn-eupY

[Garandman]

Raining like crazy and supposed to continue tomorrow. Not taking any chances with this old tent, I split three contractor size garbage bags and covered the rain fly with them. We have a tarp over the bikes.

I'm going to try to extend our stay to Saturday so we can get a clear day.