Brant Lake Bike Park Expands
The Hub in Brant Lake will have a brand-new mountain bike trail next spring, as owner Drew Cappabianca continues expanding the Brant Lake Bike Park. The new “Golden Carrot” trail on Bartonville Mountain, directly behind The Hub, will add more than a mile of new riding to the 3.5 miles of existing trails that opened in June of 2018.
Cappabianca has been regularly adding new features to The Hub since he opened in July, 2014, in the former Horicon Town Hall building just a mile and a half east of the Chestertown exit (exit 25) on I-87. The seasonal business offers food, wine, local craft beers, and live music from early May through mid-October. There’s even a bike shop in the building offering repair and tune-up services for riders who are taking advantage of road, gravel, and mountain biking in the area. There’s also access to a launch point for kayaking and a one-mile nature trail to a summit overlook that offers spectacular views of Brant lake.
In 2016 Cappabianca bought the 207-acre parcel that included Bartonville Mountain and hired professional trail designer Steve Ovitt at Wilderness Property Management to assess the property and design trails that would take best advantage of the terrain.
The he began gathering volunteer help to build the trails during the 2017 season. On June 10, 2018 the Brant Lake Bike Park opened and Cappabianca says the reaction has been very positive.
Early this year he started a Kickstarter drive to once again hire Ovitt to construct the new trail and make some additions to the original hand-built trails. The new Golden Carrot “flow” trail is wider and less technical than some of the other routes, giving riders an additional style choice. Some rough spots in the current trail system were also modified to make the entire trail system more accessible to a wider variety of riders.
When the Covid pandemic hit, Cappabianca worried that he wouldn’t be able to hit his $25,000 fundraising target. But he was gratified that bike park supporters stepped up to send the total over $26,000.
“I have to say a huge thank you to all our donors,” he says. “2020 has been a tough year for everybody, and the fact that we were able to pull this off in the middle of a pandemic is just incredible.”
Cappabianca stressed that riders need to be patient until spring, since all the trails are closed for the winter.
“This winter we closed them on purpose because of the new trails. They need a winter freeze cycle and to completely dry out next spring before they’re suitable to ride.”
For the future, he envisions a six-mile multi-use trail connecting Brant Lake with Chestertown on a route that’s already mapped out. Three additional public parcels along the trail route would allow more single-track options for visitors.
“The idea here is that we want to connect the communities of Brant Lake and Chestertown with an off-road trail. It would be a multi-use trail, and ideally it would be double track that’s accessible to more off-road riders. Where’s there’s a will, there’s a way.”
For the latest news from the Brant Lake Bike Park:
- Visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/brantlakebikepark
- Visit their website at http://www.thehubadk.com/
- Drop Drew a note at thehubadk@gmail.com and get on the mailing list for his Hub Bub email newsletter.
