Celebrating 12 Years of 6 Hours of Warrior Creek

Celebrating 12 Years of 6 Hours of Warrior Creek

Earlier this April, a mass of mountain bikers descended on the trails at Warrior Creek for the now infamous endurance race, 6 Hours of Warrior Creek. It was the twelfth time this race happened, but this year looked a little different, thanks in part to a few policies in place to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. While there might have limitations such as fewer racers, with staggered start times and break-out categories to keep the trails from getting clogged up, overall the race was a big success. “It was great just to be back out there,” says Jim Horton, organizer of 6 Hours of Warrior Creek. “We had to postpone last spring’s race when the pandemic first hit, so a lot of people had waited almost two years to get their shot at this one.”
 

6 Hours of Warrior Creek is the biggest source of fundraising for maintenance and expansion of the more than 45 miles of mountain bike trails in Wilkes County, including the trails at W. Kerr Scott Dam and Reservoir. But more than bringing in much-needed funds for the trails, the race also serves as a great way to bring new people in to Wilkesboro to experience the great things the city has to offer. “This race has definitely brought more awareness to our mountain bike trails,” Horton says. “Warrior Creek is probably our best known trail now due to this event, and a lot of people make the race into a weekend trip, riding other trails, camping at the lake, grabbing a beer and something to eat after the race.”

Meet the Trail Boss

Horton isn’t just the organizer of this race, he also designed and helped with construction on the Warrior Creek trails and most of the other mountain bike trails in our area. “I got into mountain biking through my college roommates, and it’s just something that stuck with me,” Horton says. A native of Wilkes County and graduate of Appalachian State University, Horton has an affinity for our area and enjoys designing trails that highlight the beauty of the natural terrain of the Brushy Mountains. These days he travels around the southeast designing and building mountain bike trails, but he’s always interested in coming back to his hometown to expand the trail system and keep Wilkes County one of the prime destinations for mountain bikers.

New Adventures

One of the great things about the mountain bike scene in Wilkes County is the diversity of experiences available. There’s a little bit of everything to appeal to the novice as well as the experienced biker, from rooty trails made with the rake and ride system of trail building to newer trails cut-in with a machine that provide a smoother ride. “We had some of the first trails in the country with a lot of berms, and helped invent that style of trail design and riding,” Horton says.

Headwaters Hub. One of the newest additions to the mountain bike trail system at W. Kerr Scott dam is the Headwaters Hub. “This one is really unique for Wilkes as there are a lot of jumps, and the trails spawn out from a central hub where you ride down and the trail brings you back up to the top,” Horton says.

Flow Trail. The other new trail at the lake is a wider trail with bigger berms and jumps that feeds into the existing Warrior Creek loop. “We’ve made it so you can do the whole Warrior Creek trail, or you can ride just this new Flow Trail, a shorter 2-mile lap where the first three-quarters of a mile is all downhill,” Horton says. “We expanded with this addition to attract a different group of people to the area, giving options other than the cross country trails where you don’t leave the ground as much. With the jumps on the Flow Trail it just gives us another marketable aspect to our entire trail system.”

Make plans to try out the new trails in Wilkesboro’s mountain bike arsenal, or just revisit some of your old favorites. Download the Trailforks app for the most up-to-date trail information, and check out W. Kerr Scott Dam’s camping options or other hotels in the area for a place to rest up after a long day of mountain biking.