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Nearest Accommodations: Mountain View

Location: Take Hwy. 5 north out of Mountain View. Drive for approximately 6 miles to the small town of Allison. In Allison take a left onto Hwy 14 and go for about 5.5 miles. The entrance to Blanchard Springs Recreation Area will be on your right. Turn into the entrance and follow the road all the way down to the big pavilion and park. You will have to do some ridding to get to the trail head by following the road to the north into the camp area heading toward the Upper Campground Loop. You will see a dirt road off to your right with a sign pointing you to the Syllamo trail. There are other trail heads for this trail but they are on dirt roads with exception of this one and the one on Hwy 5. See the trail map for the location of these trail heads.

Type: Single track / loops.

Distance: About 50 miles doing all loops.

Summary: Ride the Bald Scrappy Loop and the Scrappy Mountain Loop counter clockwise. When you leave the parking lot head across the dirt road and pick up the trail there. Right off the bat the trail starts a nice descent down toward Hwy. 5. There are a few precarious areas heading down but the descent is a blast. Once At the bottom you will meander in and out of trees for a bit until you start climbing back up. The climbs are really not to bad considering the elevation changes. There are a few steep areas but nothing that is really sustained or to tough. Most of the trail down near the highway is fairly smooth with a good flow to it. As you get toward the top you will ride on the side of the mountains. There is a lot of technical stuff here to test your ridding skills as well as some really nice scenic areas. Once you cross Green Mountain Road its a fast ride back to the parking area. I really liked the White River Bluff Loop, to me it was much more technical then the Scrappy Loops and the views from this trail are breath taking. From the get go the trail has you going over rocks that test your technical skills, it does not slack off until you get on down the trail. There is an overlook at one point along the trail that looks out over the White River this is a must stop area to ooh and ahh over. This trail is not all technical stuff it does give you a chance to set back and enjoy some of the beautiful scenery as you cruise along. There is one hill there that is a bit steep but not really to long. There is some ridge ridding on this loop. The descents are fast and have a good flow to them. The trail goes through some really cool looking rock formations which just add to the personality of this trek. This loop is not quit as hard or long as the Scrappy Loop but it was the one that stuck in my mind the most. The Jack's Branch Loop has some areas with technical stuff and a few climbs, for some reason this one seemed to wear me out more then the Scrappy Mountain Loop. The Bad Branch compared to the other loops was pretty tame I thought and would probably be a good place for a novice rider to get a little ride time in. Another great thing about this trail is Blanchard Springs Recreation Area. If you are looking for a place to camp this is it, with a spur trail that connects to the Syllamo Trail and one of the most scenic places to be, you just can't go wrong here. There is also the caverns for the whole family to explore and the Town of Mountain View has that little Ozark town feel to it. About the only thing that is bad about this trail is its location. With really no major Interstates or highways running nearby it makes it a little difficult to get too unless you happen to be in the area, but it is well worth a weekend stay.

Recommended Route: From Green Mountain Road do the White River Bluff Loop clockwise and then head over to the Bald Scrappy Loop and do it counter clockwise. From there do the Scrappy Mountain Loop counter clockwise and then do Jack's Branch counter clockwise to Bad Branch doing it counter clockwise. Take Jack's Branch to Scrappy Mountain back to Bald Scrappy and back to the parking lot.

When to ride: Spring and Fall are always the best. Winter is good but it can get really cold. Summer is nice but sometimes some of the areas can be a little overgrown.

Rating: As a whole this trail is good for advanced beginners to advanced riders. There is a lot of technical stuff on some of these loops and some areas have sustained climbs. I think a novice would do ok on the Bad Branch Loop, they may have to get off the bike in some places. I would not take someone out there who does not have at least a little bit of a fitness base under their belt.

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