roadtrip: White Clay DE

An hour drive straight up 95, White Clay has been on my list of trails to check out for years. I finally got around to making the trip over the labor day weekend. Conditions were perfect, dry & fast, but not dusty, weather was cool and sunny. Once in Newark, it took us longer to find some gatoraide & snacks for the trail than it did to find the parking lot & trailhead. It turns out that there's a convience store & pizza shop right by the trails, but we didn't know that at the time. The unoffical white clay trail map developed by Ken Cox is the best one I could find & gives details that the Park map does not. With map in hand we found parking in the Middle Run area & the trail head is right there. Even with the map, it's easy to get turned around. Trails run in loops in each of 4 major sections with some connectors & options off of the loops. Fast & flowy, we were able to cover a good distance in little time. Along the way, there are a couple of skinnies & rock piles, but 95% of the trail is a root free, rock free blast at speed with little whoops along the way. I like a technical trail, but it sure was fun to just go. Then there's the skills park with it's man made skinnies, bridges, and small drops. Its well laid out & very well built & fun to play around on. After the skills park we spent a few more hours riding fast trail, exploring the different loops, and finding our way back to the car. I've already been back once since and plan to head up with a group soon.