Dan Casey

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One of my all-time favorite places was the fun house at Palisades Park in northern New Jersey. It was a multistoried maze that giggling children and adults navigated on foot. The floors were cockeyed, shifty and rigged with switches that set off sirens, bells and whistles to startle us. Jet streams of air from above and below blew up our shorts or down on our necks as we haltingly felt our way through mirror mazes and the turning corkscrew tunnel.

Sooner or later we'd make it out, laughing, a bit off balance, overstimulated and squinting in the bright sun. I'd want to tackle its disorienting challenges again, convinced I'd be better prepared on the second run -- knowing all the time that it was controlled and mostly safe fun.

That's the way I felt after a recent jaunt on a trail out at Carvins Cove outside Roanoke It has been suitably named the Fun House by Dick Howard, the granddaddy of two-wheeled trailhounds on the 12,000-acre watershed.

Splendor in the woods

The Cove, in southern Botetourt County, is home to miles and miles worth of broad dirt roads and tricky single-tracks. It's become a favorite of Western Virginia mountain biking enthusiasts. Unlike nearby national forest land, no hunting is permitted here, making it ideal for late-fall riding on weekdays and Saturdays.

Although mountain biking isn't officially sanctioned on this city-owned land, nobody patrols it. Closed gates and signs at the beginning of some roads suggest that the land isn't "recommended" for cycling.

This may change in the future. The city has hired a land use consultant to make recommendations on whether the property can be officially opened to hiking and biking. For now, there is no blanket prohibition, and the city's informal policy is, "Don't ask, don't tell."

Besides Howard, I was joined there on a November Sunday by Ron Glowczynski, owner of American Flyers bike shop on the Roanoke City Market; two of his riding partners, Aaron Dykstra and Tom Evans, and Mark Taylor, outdoors editor of The Roanoke Times.

Afterwards, we rounded out the ride with a 1,000-foot climb up the stunning Brushy Mountain fire road, then a hair-raising zip down Hi-Dee-Ho back to our cars.

One of the striking things about this ride is that it features just about every type of trail that a mountain biker might encounter in Western Virginia. At the same time, there is ample opportunity to quit part-way into it if you find that you've bitten off more than you can chew.

The four trails

The ride begins and ends near commercial fish ponds at the watershed's rear entrance. It is moderate to difficult, and should take you 2-3 hours, including breaks. There were four very different trails on this 7-mile jaunt through the watershed. None of them are marked, at least yet. So pay close attention to the map at the end of this page if you wish to duplicate all or part of this ride.

First is the dirt Carvins Cove Road around the crescent-shaped reservoir. It gently rolls and is wide enough at some points for cars to pass each other -- if there were any, which there are not. Even the most novice trail rider wouldn't be intimidated by it. We rode along it for a bit more than a mile.

Under normal circumstances, the most extraordinary section of this road cuts a swath through an old-growth white pine grove, where towering trees block the sun's light and a thick blanket of needles covers the forest floor. There are few spots in Western Virginia's often-logged mountains where one can find conifers this large.

But this is Year Two of the Roanoke Valley's drought. That presented an eye-opener a short way past the pine grove: A huge dry bowl where the reservoir used to fill out its northern tip.

With no water in sight, deer now play in the overgrown thicket of this once-submerged great expanse. Glowczynski took a roll into the thicket, only to be rewarded with prickly burrs all over his clothes.

Next, there is the Fun House. Howard calls this trail a beginner's single-track. To the extent that it has no major climbs, that description is correct. But more experienced riders shouldn't get the idea that it's unchallenging.

At roughly two miles long, the trail is narrow and tire-deep in leaves at some points. It rolls through the watershed's property, up and down, left and right, and sports short climbs, spots with tight threads through trees and three tricky stream crossings. You can handle these easily on foot, as I did.

The Fun House brought us back to Carvins Cove Road. We backtracked toward our cars, just before the closed gate, we cut left up the Brushy Mountain Fire Road and its famous 1,000-foot climb. It's a good spot to call it day if you're not up for some tough climbing or tricky descents.

This fairly well-groomed road snakes up Brushy Mountain for roughly 2.5 miles. It's broad but steep enough to give your legs and lungs a workout. Howard had offered a jar of his homemade sauerkraut to the last person up. (That was me -- but I was so far behind -- with a very patient Glowczynski -- that Dick gave it away to someone else before I'd even finished).

The fire road runs the ridge of Brushy Mountain and passes the beginning of The Gauntlet (on the left). A short distance beyond is the top of Hi-Dee-Ho on the right. This single-track may be named for the yelps of delight experienced bikers utter on the way down, or indignation for mostly-road riders like myself. About a foot wide in the narrowest spots, it hugs Brushy Mountain on the way down as it zigzags across the mountainside, cutting past groves of wild laurel.

Dan Casey | The Roanoke Times

Mark Taylor takes a spill at this creek crossing along the Fun House trail.

Related

Map

• Map of Brushy Mountain

Take this one slowly. There are four 180-degree switchbacks coming down Hi-Dee-Ho, steep and quick bends that only experienced bikers should attempt to negotiate. After these, it's pretty much straight down the mountain back to Carvins Cove Road. Take a right and you'll soon be back to your car.

Notes

There are no facilities on this side of the cove, so be sure to bring what you need -- water at the very least, and sunglasses to keep twigs out of your eyes.

Finding the Fun House is tricky. Here are Howard's instructions: From the Bennett Springs entrance, ride down Carvins Cove Road for slightly more than a mile, until you come to a 4-way intersection known as the Bennett Springs picnic area. You'll see the reservoir (or the dried up cove bed) on your right. Turn left here, go gently up hill, and look for a culvert with wooden sides. Cross it, continue on about 10-20 yards, then turn left into the woods.

Like the late New Jersey amusement park's Fun House, this one can been disorienting, at least from the standpoint of directions. But don't worry. It'll lead you back to Carvins Cove Road, closer to the gravel gate. Turn right and you'll be heading back toward your car.

Getting there

The starting point is about 15 miles from downtown Roanoke. To get there, take Interstate 581 out of the city, head south on Interstate 81, and take the first exit. It's marked Salem - New Castle. At the end of the ramp, take a left on Route 419, go to the bottom of the hill, and take a right on Route 311. A couple miles down 311, take a right on Bennett Springs Road. At the next intersection, make a right on Carvins Cove Road. Follow it until just before the pavement ends. You can park on a wide grassy swath next to the fence on the right just before you enter the Carvins Cove property.