Catoctin Mountain Cyclery
1896 Urbana Pike Unit 4 Clarksburg, MD 20871
Little Bennett Regional Park
Flowy Fun For All Levels
Being right across the street from our shop you'll find us on the singletrack at Little Bennett often. We also hold most of our shop rides here.
Any proper mountain bike will work well at Little Bennett including entry level hardtails with decent off road tires. If you have several bikes we would take your lightest and fastest one, Leave your watershed rig at home.
Well suited for beginners to experts Little Bennett offers more than 20 miles of twisty fun singletrack with lots of tree cover and beautiful scenery.
There is nothing really technical at Little Bennett. A few of the trails have some rock sections but nothing difficult at all. The climbs can be steep and punchy which is why many advanced riders like to train here. Take your time on them and enjoy the flow.
Speaking of flow, Little Bennett has lots of it and it's a total blast! The Sidewinder Trail is particularly good with twists and turns the whole way.
Little Bennett does hold water longer than many other trail systems and can be quite muddy in sections, especially in Spring. Ride it early when it's still frozen in Winter.
Little Bennett also sees lots of equestrian use so be aware at all times and stop when you encounter them to let them by.
Little Bennett has several different trailhead entrances and parking. Everyone has their favorite but we ride it right from the shop. We think you should too. It's about a minute away!
From our shop we ride the sidewalk South (down the hill) on Frederick Road. Once at the light at Old Hundred Road wait for the signal to cross safely across the road to your left. You will see a large parking lot by the Hyattstown Fire Station. Ride up the road (Hyattstown Mill Road) for just a few hundred yards and you'll come to a small parking area in front of a yellow gate. Go past the gate and you're there on the Western Piedmont gravel road.
Everybody has their favorite routes here but here is some instruction for a fun 12 miler with about 1200 feet of climbing that will show lots of what this gem has to offer. This is also the route we do on the Friday shop rides. This is just some basic direction, if you're looking for exact mileage and trail profiles use an app like Trailforks.
Once past the yellow gate mentioned above continue on the Western Piedmont gravel road for a bit. Note the Sidewinder Trail on your left, you'll be finishing up this ride there.
You'll cross a few bridges before reaching the Pine Grove Trail on your left (just before Earl's Picnic Area) Take a left anjoy climbing this great trail. After some punchy climbing you'll arrive at a junction with the Timber Ridge trail where you'll make a hard right on a rocky section and continue on Timber Ridge. Timber Ridge will connect with Tobacco Barn Trail. Stay straight ahead on this for some fun twisty singletrack. You'll pop out at a clearing (shown in the photo here) continue on the trail to your right for more twisty fun!
You'll eventually pop out onto Clarksburg Road and will need to get across safely to the Browning Run Trailhead Parking area just across the road to your right.
From this parking area you will take the Pine Knob trail. Pine Knob climbs steeply in a few sections. You'll pass Browning Run trail on your left (you'll be coming out here later in the ride) continue up Pine Grove until it meets Loggers Trail.
Here you'll go left up a steep rocky road. Stay on this a bit til it connects with Purdum Trail (also more of a dirt road) Go left at this junction. Pretty quickly you'll go left (the first left you'll see) onto another a dirt road. This is Browning Run Trail. This will turn into some fun singletrack real soon! Enjoy the fun, twisty and rocky section here. You'll cross over a bridge after a bit and eventually pop out back on Pine Grove trail where you were earlier. Go right onto Pine Grove and you're back at the Browning Run trailhead parking lot.
From here you'll want to safely cross Clarksburg Road and you'll continue on the Browning Run trail almost directly across from the parking lot. Cars move very fast on Clarksburg Road. Please pay attention and cross very carefully.
Browning Run now has some punchy climbing, then some fun flowy sections mixed in with a few little tricky sections that hold some mud often. Just stay on Browning Run (do not take Tobacco Barn or Windy Ridge) until it eventually spits you out back on the Western Piedmont gravel road.
From here go right, down a steep hill until you're back at the Pine Grove trail again this time on your right. You climbed this earlier and now you'll climb it again. This time you'll continue past the Timber Ridge trail junction and stay straight ahead on On Pine Grove until it spits you out the large Prescott Road horse trailer parking area.
stay straight ahead, cross the parking area and you'll want to take the Dark Branch trail. Dark Branch is a loop. You want the one straight ahead, not the one to your right. Stay on the Super fun Dark Branch trail until it connects with Sidewinder trail. Make the hard left onto Sidewinder and enjoy the fun ahead!
Sidewinder climbs a bit but eventually finds its flow and will spit you out back on the Western Piedmont gravel road where you started. Go right and you'll be back at the yellow gate where you came in. Retrace your ride across Frederick Road and back up the sidewalk with a short but steep climb back to the shop.
You did it! A fun 12 miles or so of some of the best singletrack Little Bennett has to offer. High fives all around!
More Little Bennett information here
Frederick Watershed
Rocky, rowdy tech riding with beautiful views!
The Frederick Watershed is one of our favorite places to ride. Located about 20 minutes north of our shop it's easy to get to and super fun. The riding here is rocky and rough and is not suited for beginners
Solid Intermediate to very advanced riders will have a blast.
The Frederick Watershed has many trails and linking them up usually requires some planning ahead via Trailforks or riding with friends who know the trails well. If you have not ridden here before the Newer trails off of Hamburg Road are the best place to start.
There is an upper and lower parking area for the trails off Hamburg. The upper lot has many more spaces to park, the lower lot has very limited parking.
One of the best rides to do if you are starting out is to Park at the upper lot on Hamburg Road. There is a trail kiosk here with a good map. Take the Catoctin Trail out of the lot. This will be rocky, technical trail with very little up or down until it eventually meets a hub with the Three Saws, Boundary Line and The Nose Trails. This hub is a popular spot to gather and you'll often see riders here planning their next run.
From here The Nose is a good place to start. It is steep in parts and very rocky. It will connect with the Three Saws Trail after some rocky fun!. Go right (up) Three Saws for a nice climb back to the hub where you just were.
Boundary Line is the next Trail we'd try. Its a bit flowier than the nose and has many berms and tabletops on the way down along with some spicy rock sections. There is a steep rocky downhill right at the end where it meets the bottom of the Three Saws Trail near the Lower Hamburg Road lot.
From here go left (up) the Three Saws Trail and settle in some for climbing over a few miles. It's never real steep but is challenging with many switchbacks. Three Saws is the "climbing" trail and it's best not to do any downhill runs on this one as you'll likley encounter riders working their way back up.
Once back at the hub take the Catoctin Trail that you came in on back to the lot on Upper Hamburg Road. It's once again technical and rocky. Ride carefully.
There are many more trails and trailhead areas at the Watershed. Explore and study the maps for more fun.
Some advice on bike set up for "the Shed"
It is very rough and rocky and although it can be ridden on hardtails a full suspension bike with at least 140mm of rear travel is best. Wider (2.5 or so) tires with extra sidewall protection (Maxxis exo plus or double down) are advised. Many riders also run Cush Core liners for extra rim protection.
Slacker headtube angles help in the steep rocky sections and most modern trail and enduro type bikes will do well.
Pedal strikes can be a problem in the rocks and shorter crankarms (155-165) are becoming very popular.
Bashguards to protect chainrings and chainguides to keep the chain on in the chunk are advised.
Full face helmets, elbow and knee pads are a good idea at the Watershed.
Many Watershed riders have a dedicated Shed Bike that they may also ride at bike parks like Bryce and the George Washington National Forest in areas like Stokesville. The bike that works great in the Shed is probably not going to be ton of fun pedalling Little Bennett or Ten Mile Creek. Enjoy the bike you have though and do your best to always make it fun!
As always, wear proper protective gear and ride within your abilities. If you are unsure about any features stop and inspect them first.
More information on the Frederick Watershed can be found here: