BKXC 50 State Shred - Vermont route

If the park is open, there is a shuttle van and lift service, no need to climb as much!

I've heard a lot about the Kingdom Trails, but when I rolled into East Burke I was pretty confused as to what route to ride. As I looked around Trailforks I saw the two double black trails off the top of Burke Mountain and thought they'd be a better way to spend the day. SO GLAD I picked these trails.

The terrain is amazing and very difficult. I believe these would have been trails included in the Burke EWS that was cancelled due to COVID.

The route is pretty simple. Park in the Burke Mountain parking lot and pedal up the Toll Road to the top. As of July 2020 Burke Mountain doesn't require a pass when you are riding Monday through Thursday.

The pedal to the top took about an hour and dropping into Rude Awakening was a great way to start the day. Tough and techy with some sweet rock rolls and janky roots. I rode it in the wet and still had a blast, but I definitely walked one of the sections. Apparently Richie Rude built this trail: https://www.redbull.com/us-en/episodes/richie-rude-mtb-raw-s02-e01

The only unsigned, confusing split is near the start of the trail (you want to keep right, left is the proline trail called Freeride). The end of Rude Awakening is slightly confusing as well, as it turns into a completely mellow doubletrack. Keep Trailforks at the ready when you get confused.

The first descent doesn't take you all the way down to the bottom, it connects back up to the Toll Road. The pedal back up is only about 30 minutes.

Once you get back to the top you'll find Upper J-Bar. This trail is a step up above Rude Awakening with a few more daunting rock slabs and weird off camber challenges. I walked a few more of the sections in the wet to avoid the green mossy rocks.

That said, the trail is tons of fun and eventually leads you into J-Bar.

After all the chilling tough tech, J-Bar feels like a mellow blue trail. Everything's relative!

There is one split on J-Bar that connects to Drawbridge that you can use to connect back into the park. The rest of a the ride on J-Bar is a little mellow, and if I was doing this ride again I would take Drawbridge and try to get on one of the park trails to finish the ride.

This ride is on par with the best riding in BC and Quebec. If they keep building trails like this Burke Mountain will be the next big thing.