New Colony - Orange Road

Total Miles
4.9

Elevation

705.10 ft

Duration

2 Hours

Technical Rating

Moderate

Best Time

Spring, Summer, Fall

Trail Overview

New Colony is a point-to-point trail running through the Cardigan Mountain State Forest. New Colony can be accessed and run from either direction. The terrain consists of rock, dirt, and weather-dependent mud. You can expect to encounter deep ruts, frequent washouts, and obstacles over two feet. Downed trees are a frequent occurrence. The trail is one vehicle wide, pinstriping is possible, and there's limited to no space to pass or turn around at multiple points throughout the trail. Recovery gear such as winch and recovery boards are recommended.

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Difficulty

Expect uneven, rutted trail, loose rocks, and washes. There are obstacles over 2 feet and steep grades.

Technical Rating

Status Reports

I found this trail barely passable for our lightly-modified Gladiator Rubucon from Orange to Groton, generally downhill, but I would definitely NOT want to run it the other direction. The biggest obstacles were dozens of old waterbars that had eroded into large swales and berms, the worst of which were very steep, three to four feet high, followed by some deep muddy ruts. This run is better suited for a smaller, shorter wheelbase, lifted 4x4 that is less likely to high-center. Good experience with a few added boulder crawls, but its unlikely I'll run it again. No pinstriping, and that great sigh of relief when you know 'out of the woods!'

Fun rewarding ride with nice views. A couple of sections were muddy two days after rain and required some momentum have to spin tires excessively when going uphill. Ran the trail east to west.

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