Well my shins are all pretty colors of the rainbow (not colors skin should be)…. and my thighs indicate a favorite past time of rolling around in pricker bushes. But holy geez. Sign me up for me for more abuse!!! All the amazingness it offered in the winter, is in full force for summer, too. Not only can you ride for days on epic trails, but now there’s swimming after, camping, a campfire, and drinks and snacks served while in route (didn’t this time, but maybe next!). And it’s soooo green, and warm!! LOVE. Did I mention its East Burke, my favorite little VT town. EVER.
If you have a fatbike and are somehow under the impression its only good for snow, you’re living in Crazytown. I was shocked at the number of people that stopped on their Mtn bikes and asked me about riding it without snow! What am I missing?!! Why not? That thing plows over just about anything. I’ll add, if you are into any kind of Mtn biking and think the drive to KT isn’t worth the trip, you live right next door in Craziertown… This place just flat out kicks pure ass. And lastly, if you’ve thought about trying mtn or fatbiking. Go play here 🙂
So I was supposed to go Tuesday, but waking up @ 3:30am feeling like someone is
wrenching out your insides due to eating speckled white berries (no, this is not a new berry variety, they were blackberries that grew into white speckled berries), I didn’t make it until Wednesday. I decided to leave the yellow guy behind. There are doggie day care facilities that actually cater to the bikers (off the beaten path was highly recommended), but my first time, and being stuck inside with bad berry syndrome, bad mommy wanted mommy bike time. Don’t hate me.
Stayed @ Burke Mountain campground. Its a great little campground at the top of Burke Mountain with 26 sites, some tent, some lean-to. Its small, bathrooms available. I hear it can be quiet the party in the midst of summer, but random Wednesday night was not so jamming. 
I think I was one of 3 sites taken. Check-in didn’t open until 4-8pm, so got a good 5 hours of rompin around prior!! YES!!!
Alright, so these trails. Wait, sorry, first we have to go back to Burke and Kingdom staff. LOVE THEM!! In case I havent mentioned in prior posts and don’t mention in all future posts. THIS TOWN ROCKS. I was all ready to head to the heated yurt up on Darling Hill that I called home this winter. Noooooo grasshopper. The actual KT welcome center is right in Burke next to the well known Publick house, and tiki bar, and Country store… and of course East Burke Sports…
OK.. I know! Sorry, I get sidetracked. So much fun and good!! Once you pull into that sweet little town you’re golden. The folks @ KT will hook you up with where to go, lay out a good plan for you based on your level. If you’re hungry or thirsty, plenty around to grab. And I should mention, if you’re renting, you can do that right @ East Burke Sports, or even up @ the Bike Shop on Darling Hill. Everyone is happy and excited to help you get out on your biking adventure. Flying solo can sometimes be somewhat intimidating, but not here.
Ok… So back to the trails. Wait, sorry. I realize a lot of peeps dont even know what Kingdom Trails are… Here you go . Honestly, you can see and imagine why its kind of special. So the trails… They’re epic. As you can see from the maps, you can explore different areas, different trails. All kinds of levels. I rode 5 hours the first day, and 2 hours the second day and did not get bored once. Let alone, I didn’t even touch the service of the trail network…. All the reason to keep going back!!
So I bought a season pass. Realizing This will be my home away from home this summer (and winter), we’ll try to hit a few trails, places to eat, and other things each time….. Consider this your intro to awesomeness. You can thank me later. In the form of guac, only good guac. Please 🙂 This go around:
Stay: Burke Mountain Campground: You have the option of 26 sites, some with lean-to’s, some just a tent site. Note *All come with hungry mosquitos. Site 11 I’d take again. Its the last one in the row on the right, so it does have some privacy. Only thing if you take a site along that road (sites ), holy shite batman, if they are doing construction and the big construction trucks go hauling by @ 5am. Or the youngin VT’ers with their jacked up old trucks…. you aren’t getting much beauty rest. Next time I aiming for the one in the top right corner. No I am not sharing the #… Unless you want to share. Its mine 🙂
Trails: Favorite fun crazy ride was Tap n’ Die. Tie between that and Troll Stroll. Both go off Bemis Ridge which I just kept going back to. You could probably spend a day just tooling around in that area. Up and down, up and down… Tap n’ Die pretty much sums it up. Its a down hill, rooty, bad ass, twisty turny, holy shitting, all the way down.
And its longer than Troll Stroll. The whole trail Network allows for you to circle back multiple times to this Ridge with a good heart pumping climb in between (burmington bench). This section offers an array of flowy, uphill, or easy double track trails that have single track craziness just a steer to the left or right away. That climb up Darling Hill Rd is good for warm up.
Eat/Do: Northeast Kingdom Country Store and Heaven’s Bench Sunset: Grab some VT Kombucha and if you’re a pizza feene, word has it their flat bread pizzas are amazing. I just get the syrup and drink that 🙂 Dinner. Served.
Heaven’s bench sunsets, I am shocked is not like Cadillac for sunrise. You can walk or ride up, and just take it in. The mountains in the background, the greenery of VT, the barns, and of course the sun so peacefully setting into those mountains. 
Amazing. I didn’t get a good sunset this time, but there is one from winter sunset… Next time.
If this damn rain would just let up I’d get up there tomorrow. So until then, I just put on my Stars and Stripes Darn Tough VT socks, and play in the mud dreaming that I am there…
EAT.DRINK.PLAYOUTSIDE! 
Leave a comment