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BFH9

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
We're considering a trip in a few weeks to Dupont to do some riding. In my reading about the area, I see horses are permitted on most of the trails open to riding. This raises some concerns for me based on my experience with horses in Pennsylvania because if a trail is open to horses here, it means horse manure covered trails that are basically un-rideable if you don't want to be covered in manure.

So, how common is horse manure on the trails in Dupont? Are the trails typically used by horses since it seems like there is a high amount of bike traffic?

Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Horses are allowed on most trails there. However, most of the manure I've seen has been on the service roads and not as much on the singletrack trails. Horse parking is prevalent at Lake Imaging and Guion Farms lots so you'll see more of them at those two lots and adjoining trails/roads.

Enjoy your trip. If you get a chance stop by Pisgah and get a taste of those trails too. Very different from DuPont.
 
#3 ·
Its extremely common, and likely, to encounter horses and horse manure in Dupont. Pretty much every trail and all the gravel roads can and likely will have horses on them on busy days.

Here in NC horses have the right of way in all scenarios so be mindful of that.

If you dont want to encounter horses or their manure I'd recommend riding the Big Rock/Cedar Rock area since horses typically dont go on those trails.

Otherwise avoid Dupont and ride otherareas horses are not allowed.
 
#5 ·
CORTH said:
FWIW, I've never seen a horse on Ridgeline. Don't let mixed use trails deter you from exploring and enjoying Dupont.
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I've never seen a horse on Ridgeline, but I've seen prints and poop there. Though I think at this point, most horse riders give Ridgeline a berth and they go up the gravel rd instead if they park at Lake Imaging.

As others have said, horses are far more common on the service roads. They'll use the singletrack occasionally, but in lower numbers and usually during the week, I think. Most horse riders who go to Dupont are pretty cool with multi-use scenarios and the horses are pretty good around bikes. As long as the bike riders are good with it. I saw some jerkoffs on bikes fail to give some horses space once, and one of the horses spooked.

But on the singletrack? I've never had a problem. Definitely least likely to see them anywhere near Big Rock/Cedar Rock area.

Dupont can definitely get busy with all user groups. Especially if it's a nice day during the weekend. Either show up super, super early or show up later during the day. Most people tend to leave during the heat of a summer day and I honestly haven't seen it get crowded later towards the evening, either. Arrive between 10am and 2pm or so? It'll be crowded. You may not be able to park in the lot you want. If I have no choice but to ride there during a busy time, I go with the plan of "park at whatever lot where I find a spot and figure out a ride I can do from there".

Most anywhere you go in Pisgah will be less crowded, but parking lots are much smaller so you still need to be flexible. Roadside parking is at least an option in much of Pisgah. Or, at least there are many pulloff spots you can use.
 
#7 ·
You are highly likely to encounter horses in DuPont and you will likely encounter horse crap on the trails too, but it's not so much that you can't ride around it or that it poses a problem IMO. The trails near the Guion Farms lot will be more likely to have some, but again, the trails are wide enough and it infrequent enough that I wouldn't worry about it. Most of the horseback riders I've encountered there were generally great and nice aside from one ***** who yelled at me because of something someone else did. TBH I've had more negative encounters with other mountain bikers there than equestrians.

Just please be respectful and don't be a dick. Remember, especially on weekends, you will share the trails with hikers, newer riders, families, horses, etc, so mind your speed and awareness.

As for parking, the forest completely screwed over parking in the two most popular mtb lots and reduced their capacity significantly, forcing people to park along a 55mph stretch of highway that is eventually going to get someone seriously hurt. If you plan on parking at Guion Farms or, especially, Lake Imaging: Get there early on the weekends or just go to Pisgah. I largely quit riding in DuPont on weekends because they made such a colossal mess of the parking situation.
 
#8 ·
Like others have said, it's common enough that you will see it on your ride but not so common that you're constantly dodging it. You should not let this deter you from experiencing DuPont's riding. But definitely go early for a better experience in lots of ways. I think most horseback riders who ride in DuPont understand that there will be lots of bikes; I've never had a bad encounter.
 
#9 ·
I've had a few negative encounters with horses, but they are the minority.

We had a large group get ahead of us on Ridgeline and refuse to let us pass for over a mile, we had to walk our bikes the entire time and they were pissy in general we were there despite being nothing but polite to them. By far the worst was some older lady on one of the gravel roads, I was across the road from her, dismounted, walked past, and she proceeded to yell at me the entire time because someone about 100yds ahead of me didn't dismount and rode past on the opposite side of the road. I did spook one that almost threw the rider off once, but I was walking past and he was skittish, the rider even commented it wasn't my fault and the horse needed to get used to it. As a user group, I've generally had very few issues with equestrians there or in Pisgah.

As much as I hate to say it, it's usually mountain bikers that are the problem: spooking horses, blowing hikers off the trail, yelling at their fellow riders for slowing down their Strava time, cutting through the forest because they don't want to stop for horses, ignoring forest closures, being dicks to new riders, etc. It's a more common problem in DuPont, I rarely encounter any of that in Pisgah, I think people are coming from areas like Charlotte, Atlanta, and Greenville, bringing their entitled dick behavior with them. It's part of the reason I rarely ride back there anymore.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
Thanks for all the responses.

Follow up question. Here in PA, many of our trails are overgrown/grassy and/or wet/muddy. Our soil is pretty much the same color as the manure too. On these trails, manure is pretty difficult to spot until you're on top of or in it. The few videos I've watched about DuPont trails make it look like they're relatively vegitation free and rather light colored dirt, basically what I'd call tan colored. So, is this accurate and piles of manure stick out visibly pretty far ahead?
 
#11 ·
BFH9 said:
Thanks for all the responses.

Follow up question. Here in PA, many of our trails are overgrown/grassy and/or wet/muddy. Our soil is pretty much the same color as the manure too. On these trails, manure is pretty difficult to spot until you're on top of or in it. The few videos I've watched about DuPont trails make it look like they're relatively vegitation free and rather light colored dirt, basically what I'd call tan colored. So, is this accurate and piles of manure stick out visibly pretty far ahead?
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the soil at dupont is of varying mixtures of sand/decomposed granite and clay. some rockier and others not so much. the rockier the trail, the less likely you will be to see evidence of horses, IME. it varies from pretty pale (more sandy content) to a light reddish (yay southern clay). the rockier parts tend to be more grayish. areas with more horse traffic tend to be more graveled. yeah, recent manure tends to be pretty obvious. Older manure less so. but the old stuff is less likely to get flung in your face if you ride over it by accident.

most trails at dupont are pretty heavily traveled in general, so the travel corridors are pretty wide. so if you do see some manure ahead, it's usually easy to avoid.
 
#12 ·
BFH9 said:
Thanks for all the responses.

Follow up question. Here in PA, many of our trails are overgrown/grassy and/or wet/muddy. Our soil is pretty much the same color as the manure too. On these trails, manure is pretty difficult to spot until you're on top of or in it. The few videos I've watched about DuPont trails make it look like they're relatively vegitation free and rather light colored dirt, basically what I'd call tan colored. So, is this accurate and piles of manure stick out visibly pretty far ahead?
Click to expand...
I'm not a big fan of horses or their poop, and to be honest with you it doesn't bother me that much and it's still worth riding at DuPont (although I definitely prefer Pisgah). You'll probably have to dodge some steamy piles on the services roads, but it's never been much of an issue for me on the singletrack. I was slightly annoyed one time when I passed some equestrians and they asked me to feed their horses a treat, pet them, etc...just stopping short of asking me to make sweet love to them. They were friendly and pleasant enough, but acted like I'm just there for the benefit of the horses.

I'm an out of towner who visits the area twice a year and I HAVE seen a group of equestrians on Ridgeline, so I feel pretty special.
 
#13 ·
bloodninja said:
I was slightly annoyed one time when I passed some equestrians and they asked me to feed their horses a treat, pet them, etc...just stopping short of asking me to make sweet love to them. They were friendly and pleasant enough, but acted like I'm just there for the benefit of the horses.
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I was once backpacking at mammoth cave national park and a horse rider wanted me to slam the lid on a trash can that was at the intersection of a trail and a service road. I was not exactly comfortable doing something like that with a nervous horse nearby...
 
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