Pisgah. What can be said? Honestly, where do I even begin? If you’re reading this, chances are you ride mountain bikes. If you ride mountain bikes, chances are you’ve heard of Pisgah. What is this mysterious place, the Pisgah? I’m a sucker for history, I love learning about the history of my passions. Mainstream mountain biking would have you believe if it weren’t for some long haired hippies in California on old clunkers we wouldn’t have this sport. And while there is some truth to that, it can easily be said that ever since there was the bicycle people have been taking them off of the paved roads. And Pisgah, just so happens to be one of those places people started venturing into the woods.
Pisgah National Forest lies in Western North Carolina (WNC), home to the highest peaks this side of the Rockies. Pisgah NF like all NFs is split into ranger districts, and when people speak of “Pisgah” they generally mean the South Pisgah Ranger District, headquartered outside Brevard, NC.
Brevard and not Asheville deserve the title of home to the WNC mountains (well, Boone too). Asheville isn’t actually that close to mountains (in a sense) and you can’t just ride out your door to the jaw dropping, butt puckering, riding that Pisgah has become synonymous with.
Highway 256 leads up and over the mountains, pass the Cradle of Forestry (yes, aptly named, this is where American Forestry began) and under the Blue Ridge Parkway which generally runs along the high ridges.
Back in my home, the White Mountains dominate ones perception of what a mountain is. The Whites, being the convergence of three large weather patterns and much further north, are generally bare summits and have a literal alpine zone. The Blue Ridge Mountains, while taller (about 60 peaks over 6000 feet, Mount Washington being the only peak over 6000 feet in the forth), are generally forested.
There are hundreds of miles of trails to be ridden and connected with gravel roads in Pisgah. Since my move to the Old North State I’ve had the pleasure of spending three days in the South Ranger District, and plan to spend many more. I'll detail these experiences in further posts.