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Review of Timberline Resort near Davis, WV

Just finally got home after a great day of downhilling. I want share my experiences of riding at Timberline Bike Park with my fellow East Coast Monkeys. :D

A few pre-emptive facts...

I'm not being paid or somehow getting anything free/discounted from Timberline.

I'm an intermediate (sometimes intermediate advanced :rolleyes:) rider and wannabe racer-boi. I've been riding dh 10+ yrs and have ridden at most lift-served resorts up and down the East Coast. No expert by any means, but just alittle background about me.


Timberline is located about 12.2 miles south of Davis, West Virginia. Near Junction of rt 32 and 93. Took me about 2hrs and 45min driving from Alexandria, VA.

The bike park office/lobby is fairly modest. Small bike work-stand area, a few displays of bike essentials (tubes, helmets, gloves, pads), and ticket counter. The ski lodge is modest, but houses the typical ski lockers, bathrooms, changing area, and lunch tables.

The lift is a fixed grip type, 3 person chair. Every other chair has a padded hook to hang your bike. The lift attendant manually slows the lift down to a crawl to load. The lift is the main one and serves the entire 1000 vertical feet. It takes about 12 mins to get to the top

The terrain...

90% natural fall line terrain. True DH orientated trails, not bike park groomed at all. Due to rain today, dirt was loamy in the heart of the woods. Tacky to pasty on the entry and out on the few short ski slope traverses. The trails are populated with roots, some shale in spots, plenty of rock gardens to keep things interesting. 70% single track in glades with surrounding ferns. fun rollers to pop and gap, with subtle berms to push off and corner, linking one section to another. Great flow, almost no need to pedal if you wanted to. Man made features are take off jumps, lips mostly send you out and not super radiused. A good mix of gaps, stepdowns, and hips. There are go arounds for everything. Of the main trails we rode today, there were only 2 notable wooden ladders and jumps.

This place reminds me of Plattekill but less shaley and more tacky dirt. I cracked a huge smile about 200yds into the first run of the day. And didnt stop grinning until my last. To say that we were surprised is an understatement. We were blown away. Cliches be damned but this is a hidden gem. If you are a DH rider in the mid-atlantic, within a 5-6hr drive of Davis, you owe it to yourself to come here and check it out. You will not leave disappointed.

Heck, if you're just a mountain biker, you should come here. The canaan valley along has well over 100miles of XC trails to rip around besides the DH offerings at Timberline.

Lift prices are cheap, 21 dollars and frankly a steal for the terrain that is offered here. We were the only 2 DH riders here at the mountain. They have the terrain and trails already for a fun day on the hill, but Timberline relies on word of mouth and could use a more polished internet presence. Their website is nonexistent.
 

rocketmatt17

Monkey
Sep 10, 2007
270
0
Sweet, I love to see great things happening in the state i grew up in. I wonder if they are planning any races
 

46chief

Monkey
Jun 12, 2007
296
0
Sweet, I love to see great things happening in the state i grew up in. I wonder if they are planning any races

One for sure, possibly two, sorry I don't have the details. One the weekend of the Revenge of the Rattlesnake XC endurance race

Another Oct. 8 & 9 Big Kahuna super D and DH

Where do you stay there? I'd like to give it a shot on my next SS trip.
Several hotels in the area, including one on mtn, condos, A couple bed and breakfast places, camping sites are plenty and there is a bunkhouse that is super cheap, but has a shower and roof to keep you dry.

Check out Vics site for tons of local information regarding recreation food and lodging: Visit Canaan

Or the Tucker county Visitors Bureau
 
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whale

Monkey
Apr 23, 2004
750
0
Silver Spring, MD
awesome review and write-up, neil!

i had the same experience on my first trip earlier this year to timberline. it's definitely resort that needs a lot more exposure and riders!

i posted the following review of the area to our local (more XC oriented) forum back in 07/10/11:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

i made my first trip to Timberline this past saturday for a day trip and they have a great network of all natural terrain with a nice variety of roots, rocks, drops, some jumps and good old WVa mud! we wanted to escape the NoVa/DC HEAT and the temps were PERFECT! lift tickets were only $21, the pub had some good beers on draft with cheap burgers and the locals were AWESOME hosts! the local bunkhouse has lodging for only $16/night and there is FREE camping! :eek:

with the new extension of 55/48...we made it from the safeway off of nutley street to Davis, WV in 2.5 hours!!! it will be even quicker once the rest of the the highway is finished :thumbsup:

thanks to JR, his son, and locals Brian and Vic for showing us around on the trails! an updated and detailed trail map, trail signage would VASTLY improve the place, but we lucked out with our tour guides! they also need to improve/redesign the website to help out with marketing which right now relies (old skool stylie) on word of mouth. it was cool to ride with you guys and i am definitely going to hit up Timberline again this season and try my best to get more people to venture out to support your resort.

if you haven't been to Timberline, check it out! :thumb: the whole canaan valley area has a TONS of XC, great local bars/restaurants, spectacular hiking in dolly sods, amazing views in black water falls, and relatively cheap cabins for rent.

didn't get any ride pictures from this weekend (too busy riding), but i have some pictures from a trip my wife and i made out there a few months ago to do some hiking around dolly sods and black water falls with the dogs staying in a nice cabin.

hellbender burritos (amazing burritos and good beer on draft):


purple fiddle (live music, good beer on draft, desserts, and homemade falafel!)


black water falls state park:


black water falls:


------------------------------------------------------------------------

they have produced a map, much signage, and added a few more sections of trail since i have been and i will hopefully be making it out there again this season! go to timberline and support a resort that has a lot of potential to grow into a spectacular local to NoVa/DC/MD/WVa/etc... riding spot!
 

Cant Climb

Turbo Monkey
May 9, 2004
2,683
10
Great people running the place.
Trail are mostly DH singletrack......not overbuilt, not underbuilt.
Atmosphere is real relaxed.
Town is great.

Going to head back down again soon.....:thumb:
 

Caussiecan

Chimp
Mar 9, 2012
59
0
Over the hill.
Spent Friday 6/29/12 at Timberline with 3 friends, cannot recommend this place highly enough. Trails are well above my expectations. Steep fast and very natural. Some very good ladder work at the top and down the slopes. i read somewhere it was the "anti snowshow" this is quite correct.
JR was a real trip, he was so animated about the trails and has a passion for the place and it shows, he showed us around and pointed us in the right direction. We will be back again soon
Zinger at full speed was a highlight, Twisted Sister and Gnarnia, I could go on and on
 

BigBoi

Monkey
Oct 31, 2011
310
50
Long Island, NY
Took a friend there for the first time 2 weekends ago and he was amazed.
After our first run, he said "I totally underestimated this place!"

The DH is definitely worth a day trip.

It kind of reminds me of Hot Tub Time Machine, except for bikes
 
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BigBoi

Monkey
Oct 31, 2011
310
50
Long Island, NY
what does that mean?

I've been to snowshoe a few times and have my opinion of the place, what does this mean?
A couple of dudes I rode with there said the same thing. They seemed to think that Timberline was what snowshoe used to be, before it got groomed, had big crowds, and you could party/camp in the parking lot.
They sounded like they really missed the "old snowshoe"

Hot Tub Time Machine?
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
A couple of dudes I rode with there said the same thing. They seemed to think that Timberline was what snowshoe used to be, before it got groomed, had big crowds, and you could party/camp in the parking lot.
They sounded like they really missed the "old snowshoe"

Hot Tub Time Machine?
Hmm....I think snowshoe is pretty fun, it would be super cool if you could still party/camp in the parking lot, and I could do with out too much grooming, sounds like maybe this timberline place may be worth a road trip to check out....long drive, but if its a low key snowshoe I may be in for sure....
 

BigBoi

Monkey
Oct 31, 2011
310
50
Long Island, NY
Not quite sure how far the drive is for you but you can hit Timberline, Wisp, and 7 Springs in 3 days.

7 springs
---
--- 1 hour
---
Wisp
---
--- 1 hour
---
Timberline

From Timberline, you can get to Wisp if you drive exactly 1 hour North.
From Wisp, you can get to 7 Springs if you drive exactly 1 hour North.

Personally, I love Snowshoe but I don't get there often (something always gets in the way of my plans) and would therefore rather go to Snowshoe.
But if you are tired of Snowshoe or looking for something different, you can make a cool weekend (or long weekend) by checking out Timberline and 1 or 2 others.
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
Yeah I was just looking, snowshoe is 9 hours for me. Seven springs is about 6.5 hours. But I'd rather drive the extra couple hours and go to snowshoe, to me it was just a **** ton more fun than seven springs.

Never been to wisp, how are the trails there?
 

BigBoi

Monkey
Oct 31, 2011
310
50
Long Island, NY
I think Wisp is worth a day. It's not amazing but it's got a few good trails.

But yeah, if you could swap wisp with Snowshoe, even better.
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
haters will hate...but don't waste your time with wisp. snowshoe to timberline to 7springs would be a hella fun time i'd think.
is wisp worse then 7 springs?

I know I'm being a bit of an elitist prick considering I live in the metro flint/detroit area and the closest option I have is a sand dune 4 hours north, but 7 springs wasn't all that awesome to me. Also if I am gonna pay to ride the chair, the least you can do is put a hook out back for my bike!

It sounds like this timberline is worth hitting up though.
 

Jim Mac

MAKE ENDURO GREAT AGAIN
May 21, 2004
6,352
282
the middle east of NY
is wisp worse then 7 springs?

I know I'm being a bit of an elitist prick considering I live in the metro flint/detroit area and the closest option I have is a sand dune 4 hours north, but 7 springs wasn't all that awesome to me. Also if I am gonna pay to ride the chair, the least you can do is put a hook out back for my bike!

It sounds like this timberline is worth hitting up though.
Dude, hardly elitist at all!
 

BigBoi

Monkey
Oct 31, 2011
310
50
Long Island, NY
is wisp worse then 7 springs?

Wisp is totally different than 7 springs.
Wisp has a lot of long natural trails, with roots, rocks and a few features. And the chairs have hooks for your wheel.
There are usually only a dozen bikers there and the runs are twice as long. However, the chair is considerably slower.

Also, wisp has a new fleet of '12 Glory's w/ Marzocchi and Muddy Mary's if you are bringing anyone else along.
wispresort.com

I dig it.
 

kickstand

Turbo Monkey
Sep 18, 2009
3,441
392
Fenton, MI
a slow chair never stopped me from getting enough runs in, i usually get tired anyway....wisp sounds like it would be worth checking out. Maybe do a wisp/timberline snowshoe trip, that could be fun.
 

simontac

Chimp
Jul 29, 2010
96
0
Hi,

So been posting on another thread about the Chomolungma Challenge at Snowshoe. Several of us from Ontario, or are coming down for this race on Sat 25th August.

Question is, after reading this thread, should we add a day at Timberline, or spend it all at Snowshoe.

Maybe Thursday at Timberline, Fri at Snowshoe, Sat Snowshoe race, then Sun either Snowshoe or Timberline?

Any help? Those who have ridden at both, what do you think, we plan on leaving Wednesday (10hr drive roughly) and then riding somewhere Thur/Friday with race on Sat...

We are decent riders, Bromont, Plattekill, Whiteface and the old Diablo were some of our trip spots. How can we best get the most out of our trip?

Thanks
Simon