Trail One List: Avery Creek / Bennet Gap

The Trail One List is our guide to the best mountain bike trails in the world. We know your riding time is precious and travel is expensive. We want you to finish these rides with a giant smile on your face and a heart full of stoke, knowing the juice was worth the squeeze.

Pisgah National Forest in Western North Carolina is an overwhelming maze of trails. If you’ve just got one day to get out there and have fun, the high speed tech of Avery Creek and Bennet Gap will give you something to remember.

Usually trails fall into the "tech" or "flow" category, but the trails in Pisgah are a fantastic blend of fast riding with chunky obstacles the whole way down.

It is quite amazing how an old and eroded logging road can somehow be a perfect canvas for an amazing mountain bike trail. Pisgah Area Sorba works hard on these trails to keep them from falling into disrepair, but they also work to keep the rugged and raw charm of their trails.

Double check your bolts and brakes and everything else before you get out on this high-speed bone shaker adventure.

The two trails are mainly accessed by dirt roads, so the climbing is relatively easy even though there’s a LOT of it. Pain & Pleasure!

The Trails

Logistics

There is a decently big gravel parking lot at the start of the ride, park here. There is no water and no restrooms at the trailhead.

The lot gets very busy on weekends and holidays, so show up early. You most likely won't see hikers in the far reaches of the park, but when you get closer to the parking lot keep your eyes peeled and bike under control.

Nearby Rides

If you want to take things up another level you can hit Farlow Gap, which is the downright crazy techy downhill we named our slim grips after. Another big adventure is doing the "Full Black" route with a long road climb and some hike a bike to the top of Black Mountain.