Jocassee Gorges Mountain Biking: A Detailed View

Jocassee Gorges Mountain Biking is the first guidebook dedicated to the incredible mountain biking in and around the Jocassee Gorges!

The book begins with an introduction to the Jocassee Gorges, with a brief history timeline from the first reported explorers in the 1500-1600's, to the native Cherokee and finally its exchange from Duke Power to the state of South Carolina. A ride index presents the basic beta for each ride in an easy to use chart (including difficulty, miles and elevation change) to determine which ride is best for you on any given day.

With 7 different trailheads, 31 main rides from 1-70+ miles, and around a dozen different variations of these rides, there is a total of over 350 miles worth of riding laid out for any one of any skill level to enjoy!

Some trailheads are very convenient and provide easy rides, like the Poe Creek, Shooting Tree Ridge, Peach Orchard and Howell Mountain trailheads, and others are tucked away deeper in the hills and provide tougher rides, like Laurel Valley, Laurel Fork Gap and Camp Adger.

Each trailhead is accompanied by an intro, driving directions and an overview map. Then each ride is presented with a field guide picture, a quick description, critical beta like mileage, elevation change, difficulty, riding surfaces and configuration, before a map of the ride and mileage markers to keep you found in this labyrinthine terrain!

Many of the rides visit popular attractions in the Jocassee Gorges, like Twin Falls, Eastatoee Creek, Jumping Off Rock, Lake Jocassee, Laurel Fork Falls, Horsepasture Road, Wadakoe Heritage Preserve, Long Shoals, Nine Times Preserve and the old Boy Scout Camp Adger...but some of the best rides are those that taken the less beaten path and enjoy the extreme terrain of the Jocassee Gorges!

Along with the historic information and all of the great rides for beginners to advanced, there is Trip Planner with additional information to guarantee a great stay in the area!!!

 

The Trip Planner rounds out the book with information on where to stay, where to eat, where the nearest bike shop is located, approximate driving times to the nearest large city, as well as beta on road biking, hiking/backpacking, and whitewater and flatwater kayaking that will make a trip to the Gorges a super fun and memorable experience!

Here is a breakdown of the book...
-155 Pages
-Historical information
-Rules and regulations
-Hazards
-Ride Index
-IMBA/SORBA information
-Keowee Toxaway State Park intro
-7 Trailheads...Poe Creek State Forest, Shooting Tree Ridge, Laurel Valley, Laurel Fork Gap, Peach Orchard, Howell Mountain and Camp Adger
-31 Main rides
-10-12 Additional variations on several main rides
-12 Rides with an Easy rating
-9 Rides with a Moderate rating
-6 Rides with a Serious rating
-4 Rides with a Super Serious rating
-Shortest ride = 1.0 mile
-Longest ride = 70.5 miles
-Trip Planner
-Black and White copy only $17...Click here to order here
-Color copy just $22...Click here to order

Jocassee Gorges Guides

Past:

Over the last 20+ years, I have been honored to have spent much of my free time exploring and becoming one with the Jocassee Gorges, a uniquely wild collection of labyrinthine gorges that feed Lake Jocassee and Lake Keowee, in the northwest corner of South Carolina. I've been lucky enough to hike, bike and kayak thousands of miles over this time in the Gorges, and over the last few years I've started recording these experiences and sharing them with friends, family and now anyone interested in these amazing places...thus the Jocassee Gorges Guides were born! After hiking and backpacking my way across mountains and in and out of incredible swimming holes in the plentiful creeks of the Jocassee Gorges, I began investigating these creeks by kayak, the vast network of roads by mountain bike and off road for boulders to scramble around on. In these activities I soon found myself and the clarity to help me focus on life. Since then, I have moved closer to the Jocassee Gorges and have only enjoyed them more and more as the years pass by!

The Upstate Bouldering Guide and Southern Appalachian Bouldering contain a plethora of quality bouldering routes in the Jocassee Gorges and nearby Appalachian Mountains...including spots like Little Eastatoee, Beasley Gap, Sasquatch, Sassafras and deep water bouldering on both Lake Keowee and Lake Jocassee, as well as great spots in Pisgah, Nantahala and Sumter National Forests in North and South Carolina and Mt Yonah in Georgia. These represent over 2 decades of awesome bouldering in these magical areas, by myself and several other dedicated developers that hold each and every boulder and route dear! Much of the development in the more recent years is documented and available over at Upstate Bouldering...check it out!

Present:

In the late 80's/early 90's I began mountain biking, places like Isaqueena and Pisgah became very familiar haunts, and eventually I began exploring the gated roads in the Jocassee Gorges. While in grad school at Clemson University, I was involved with a research project to GPS as many of the red gated (permanently gated) roads as possible and compare them to telemetry data collected on black bears...and my knowledge and intrigue of the roads and Jocassee Gorges grew and grew! I began riding many of the gated roads that explore deeper areas of the Gorges, growing very fond of several rides and creating my own mountain biking paradise, generally seeing no one else on most rides, especially when it wasn't hunting season. Finally, after taking a break from the boulders in the Gorges recently, I decided to put a collection of these rides together and published Jocassee Gorges Mountain Biking in May 2014!

Future:

The next guidebook, Jocassee Gorges Paddling: Jocassee Gorges Guides Volume 2, is already in the works and will include information and critical beta on the various lakes, creeks and rivers that create the Jocassee Gorges!  Flatwater paddling on Lakes Jocassee, Keowee, Oolenoy and Pinnacle, along with whitewater runs on the Eastatoee, Toxaway, Horse Pasture, Whitewater, French Broad, Silver Run and Chattooga will keep any paddler, of any skill level, happy for a while!  Expect Jocassee Gorges Paddling mid-Summer 2014!  Soon following this will be Jocassee Gorges Bouldering: Jocassee Gorges Guides Volume 3 in the early Fall 2014...a boiled downed essence of the collective bouldering spots in the Jocassee Gorges that are mentioned in the Upstate Bouldering Guide and Southern Appalachian Bouldering!  Besides that, I have 2 more books on the horizon for 2015, Jocassee Gorges Hiking: Jocassee Gorges Guides Volume 4 to include hiking and backpacking spots in the Gorges, and finally Jocassee Gorges Family Adventures: Jocassee Gorges Guides Volume 5 to spotlight super fun day trips and overnighters to share the amazingness of the Jocassee Gorges with the entire family!  Stay tuned for more details!!!  

Right Now! 

I'm excited to create this new website to serve the outdoor recreation community of Jocassee Gorges area!  PLEASE feel free to ask a question, send an e-mail, organize an outing or event or just try to learn more about the outdoor recreation here in the Jocassee Gorges and connect with the spirit that makes these mountains, creeks and lakes so special to so many people!