Rockport - Salem Advanced Level Mountain Bike Tarzan Adventure

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Rockport, MA, US

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Route Overview

All Day Adventures

Hiking, Cyclo-Cross, MTB, Fat Bike, Road Bike: in Eastern Mass, and New England www.AllDayAdventures.org

32 mi.

1,576 ft.

Tarzan Series Ride: Almost all Woods 24+ Miles of Very Rugged Trails.

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Route Details

The **Rockport to Salem Mountain Bike Tarzan Adventure Ride** is one tough day of mountain biking on the North Shore.  Part of the Tarzan Ride adventure series, this ride ranks with the same difficulty level of the other Tarzan Adventure Rides.  Expect 34+ miles and  5 – 8 hours for this ride at a pace of 6 MPH, slower if it is wet.

[**www.AllDayAdventures.org**](https://www.alldayadventures.org)

**About the Ride:**   This ride uses the MBTA commuter rail to either start or end your ride.  Starting in Rockport, you will pass through parks such as: Dogtown Forest (Rockport Quarries), Ravenswood Park, Mt Ann/Dykes Pond Forest, Cedar Swamp Woods, Wyman Hill Woods, Greenwood Ave Forest, and Sally Mulligan Park.  Each of these parks is well known for the very rugged trail systems.  I have picked a balance of rugged and fun trails, with fire roads or softer trails in between to help your cardio recover before the next on-slot of ruggedness.

**Ride Equipment:**  This is a Mountain Bike Ride.  Fat Bike, Hardtail, or Full Suspension.  Any other  bike will get broken. Bring 100+ oZ water, and a sandwich. No food/drink/bike parts on this ride. Bring 2 extra tubes.  Plan a bailout ahead of time.  Expect by the time you reach the woods at Wyman Hill, or Greenwood Ave, you would be too tired to continue, and possibly take a road route back.

**Riding the Route:**  Starting at the Rockport MBTA Station, you will be at the first @point[trail head](d,490.71) in less than 1 mile.  Right out of the gate,  you get 2 miles of great single-track as a warm up.  This will bring you to the first @photo[Granite Quarry](1786924) which you will circumvent before finding the next one.   Dogtown has some incredibly hard single-track trails. I suggest staying on the selected routes.

At **Mile 6** is the @photo[Big-Rock](1786925) meeting area.  A spot located at the intersection of @poi[cross park trails](2178151).

At @poi[**Mile 7**](2178152) is the location of the @photo[Babson Boulders](1517572) Trail.  A network of 29 @photo[Embossed Giant Boulders](1517573) constructed in the 1930’s.  While I take you near these trails, they are not considered ridable trails. But they are worth a site to see.

On exit from this park, a short 2.5 miles of road interconnects this park and Ravenswood, via downtown Gloucester.

At **Mile 11**, you are climbing Old Salem Road, and the trail head to @poi[Ravenswood](2178153). I have recently added in the @poi[Ledge Hill Trail](2178154), because it is a great technical challenge in this park. Fernwood Lake has a earthen bridge to get you across it, before you dump out on Rt 133.  On Rt 133, you will head Down-Hill at a very fast rate, watch out for the traffic at the @point[narrow bridge](d,23825.21) at the bottom.

Taking a left onto Magnolia Road, you will pass the @photo[Metal Horse Art](1786932) and many other pieces at a home on this street.  At Laurel Ave, look for the Trail Head at @poi[Mt Ann park](2178156).  This fire-road that circumvents @poi[Lily Pond](2178156) quickly turns into one of your favorite 3.5 Miles of single-tracks of the day.  Rugged and Challenging.

Exit from this area and onto School Street brings you to the @poi[Cedar Swamp](2184063) parking area. Great place to take a @poi[lunch stop](2184067).  There are some trails in this park to avoid.  I purposely keep you on the fire-road to circumvent Cedar Swamp to rest before the next 8.5 miles of single-track.  This ride does not get any easier as it progresses.

When you exit the Wyman Woods at @point[Mile 26](d,42474.37), it would be a good idea to have a road route planned for your return to Salem.  You could be depleted by now.  If you continue on, head over to @poi[Greenwood Ave](2184065), and up the hill.  I have selected some of the single-tracks in this park, to get you through the park and show you some fun.

If you have anything left, one more mile at @poi[Sally Mulligan](2184066) should do it for you. Hope to see you out there…

Rockport - Salem Advanced Level Mountain Bike Tarzan Adventure

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