Wheelerville Trails

By Josh Clevenstine

The 2024-25 edition of Ride On! magazine, a mountain bike trail guide to the southern Adirondacks, published in June. Here’s a revised and expanded excerpt from it on Wheelerville Trails for your reading and riding enjoyment.

The town of Caroga-owned Wheelerville Trails opened four years ago in Fulton County. It quickly went from the new kid on the block out by Gloversville, to a legit must-ride location that has now hosted two summer mountain bike festivals, enduro races, and winter riding, and lets riders scratch the gravity itch without shelling out the money for a lift ticket or waiting in long lines. Wheelerville has carved out a solid place for itself among the must-ride trail networks, not only in the Adirondacks, not only in New York, but in the Northeast. 

Eli Glesmann and Justin Vesp were the two lead builders during phase one of construction at Wheelerville. Affiliated with the Adirondack Foothills Trails Alliance, they were selected by Caroga’s town-employed Wheelerville Trails grantee and trail manager, Jeremy Manning, after he rode the flow trails the two built at Old Forge’s McCauley Mountain and fell in love with their work.

Wheelerville features a very quick, direct, and approachable climb trail, Saddle Up. I’ve seen plenty of climb trails that are simply long and boring doubletrack ascents that put me to sleep and don’t make me want to come back for more. Usually, these climbs have me wondering why I haven’t renewed my season pass to a lift-serviced bike park. Wheelerville on the other hand has a climb trail that is engaging. There are rock features to scramble over or jump off, there are skinnies to mess with, and there are turns that are deliberately made to keep a rider sharp and engaged. In short, the climb up is a challenge and part of the ride. 

A little over halfway up the climb riders are greeted with a midway terminus that has Adirondack chairs and two short loops. Double Barrel is a short but sweet jump trail featuring a massive wall ride, a wood drop, an optional double, three large tabletops, and a cross between a rock drop and a jump. Eagle Eye is a fast flowing intermediate friendly run that keeps you moving. Where these runs really come in handy is if you have a group of riders with various levels of conditioning. Some riders may favor a brief break in the Adirondack chairs while their friends do a lap on a short trail.

Pedaling the rest of the way up the mountain (not far), riders find more chairs and the rest of the trails. Not all the trails go all the way down the mountain, in fact, most don’t. The two that do go all the way down are Forever Wild and Live Free and Fly. Forever Wild is a berm and jump-filled fast-flowing machine-graded trail that has a few drops and many optional hits. It’s truly a trail that intermediates and experts both enjoy. Live Free and Fly is a rugged mix of loam, roots, drops, jumps, step downs and rock gardens. With each passing year this trail shows its teeth more and I wouldn’t have it any other way. The Ambush trail goes down the mountain about halfway, and is very rugged, featuring many downhill rock spines that riders can jump or roll off. It ends near the beginning of North Country, a longer climbing trail that’s more of an engaging technical uphill climb. North Country runs all the way to the top and can be ridden downhill as well. It’s worth a trip in both directions if you have the time. 

Deer Thirty is a loamy high-speed downhill run that mimics its bigger brother, Live Free and Fly, but without the drops and jumps, and it runs halfway down the mountain. Upper Eagle Eye is an extension of the same blue flow trail a rider can pick up from the midway terminus. Lastly, is Infectious Nature – this trail is special as it is a celebration of the legacy and life of a local rider who passed away too soon, Mike Morreale. He lived life to the fullest and brought out the same from those around him. As such, it is a true double diamond and a trail not to be taken lightly! Truly, the hardest part of Wheelerville is deciding which trail to ride next.

Wheelerville has grown steadily in both its popularity and its physical size. It now has two parking lots, one of which features a jump park with hits ranging from tiny dirt mounds to wooden ramp gap jumps that quench the thirst of the boldest park enthusiasts. The growth isn’t even close to being done. Caroga Lake’s goal in building Wheelerville was to stimulate healthy outdoor recreation and quality of life for its residents and to draw recreational tourism. Both goals have been met so well that the plan is to expand the network 1.5 miles south to the hamlet of Caroga Lake. Then, linking it to Peck Hill State Forest’s bike trail network, about nine miles farther south the hamlet of Meco, near Stump City Brewing and city of Gloversville. Caroga received a grant of $99,000 from DEC in May 2024 to expand existing trails and create five new trails, particularly for beginner and intermediate riders. Trail work is expected to begin in August and last at least two years.

Join the third annual Wheelerville MTB Festival on August 24-25 for a wild weekend of two-wheeled fun in the southern Adirondacks. It will feature a return of the Maxxis Live Free and Fly Downhill Race (single crown course) and new Enduro Race on August 25, plus Jump Jam, Height and Wheelie competitions, guided rides, skills clinics, food, drinks, music, and outdoor gear raffle. It will highlight new trails, a new skills area for kids, improved jumps, and a nice mix of local and national brands. The Pine Lake Lodge will be hosting this year’s after party on August 24 and feature food trucks, Common Roots Brewing and Albany-based band Mirk. The Enduro Race Series finale is on October 6.

I’m very grateful this great network exists. When asked what my favorite trail is, the choice between the fast-flowing berm-filled jump trail, Forever Wild, and the rugged, loamy, barely-hanging-on-by-the-seat-of-your-pants, all-or-nothing Live Free and Fly, I fight the urge to lazily say, whichever trail I’m on now, and thoughtfully give the nod to Live Free. I think it truly is the line between controlled chaos and two-wheeled anarchy… and for that, thank you! More info: wheelervilletrails.com. 

Josh Clevenstine is a truck driving Adirondack folk musician and trail/comm director for Saratoga Mountain Bike Association. When he’s not ripping around on his bike on weekends, you may find him strumming his guitar at venues in the Capital Region and Adirondacks. For gig and streaming info, visit: joshclevenstine.com.