Download (PDF) Grand Tour Map

The Grand Tour of Moosalamoo was inspired by Merle Schloff, one of Moosalamoo Association's long-time board members. Every year or so Merle leads a group of friends on what he calls the “Grand Tour” which is a point-to-point, north/south meander through MNRA. The 14 miles of trail unifies and expands the trail network between the Branbury State Park, Widow’s Clearing, and Moosalamoo Campground.

This 14 mile tour highlights the diversity and wildness of MNRA on what is mostly intermediate single-track, though there are sections of U.S. Forest Service roads (FR32), which includes the only uphill climb of any significance (a modest 3-mile grunt) on a well-maintained gravel road. The Grand Tour is old-school point-to-point mountain biking that is more of a trek through the woods than single-track riding on groomed trails. In fact, there are no groomed features on these trails. There's mud, rocky stretches, small stream beds and a spot or two where intermediate riders may walk their bikes for a 100-yards or so, but most of it is easy to negotiate and a true backwoods adventure.

The Grand Tour is a great introduction to the amazing recreational resources we have within the MNRA, but even so it bypasses the two best known MTB trails in the MNRA: Chandler Ridge and Mount Moosalamoo trails, both of which are technically more difficult to ride with steeper climbing sections. The joy of this trek is that it would take a full day to walk this trek, but on a mountain bike it is easily covered in three to four hours—and that's with snack breaks to enjoy the views and downtime to chat.

Download a map of the Grand Tour here. 

Watch for the tree tags (image above) to guide you along the route. 

Funding for this project was made in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service. 

If you're interested in supporting stewardship of trails within Moosalamoo NRA, consider supporting Moosalamoo Association with an annual membership or donation.