Two-Heel Drive, a Hiking Blog

It was so hot this past weekend I couldn’t muster the ambition for an ambitious hike; best I could do was 4.6 miles on the mountain-biking single-track at the park across the road.

Tanglewood Park has a raft of amenities, among them an antebellum mansion/B&B, arboretum, horse stables, championship golf course, several ponds and a path along a lazy river.

And then it has these three mountain-bike single-tracks. Two of them are fairly mild, but Track No. 3 is an impressive 4.6-mile tangle — more labyrinth than trail in many parts. It’s built expressly to give mountain bikers a place to practice their moves, a bad-ass bunny slope compared to MTB tracks in the real M’s. It has obstacles, a few jumps, countless hairpin turns and the very real prospect of getting hopelessly lost.

Normally I avoid mountain-bike tracks because I think the paucity of bike-specific trails obliges generosity from those of us with far more options. I certainly stay off Tanglewood’s MTB tracks when they get the most use on weekends or evenings after work. (more…)

I had to run a few errands this weekend so there was no time for a long drive to the mountains. Had to make do with a few hours in Tanglewood Park, a mostly flat and only mildly interesting hiking locale with one major advantage: I can get there without burning an ounce of gas.

As it happened, the park drew a rather large crowed of gas-empowered citizens to the 45th running of the Tanglewood Cup, a steeplechase horse race last run in 2002. As this local blogger puts it: “The break was required to figure out how to keep spectators from getting too loaded and taking off their clothes.” Story of my life: I always get there after the Baring of Breasts has been banned.

I spent most of my time avoiding the Steeplechase, which required a minimum investment of $35 for the right to bake in the sun for several hours and watch maybe a half-dozen races that lasted about 4 minutes apiece. This could be amusing if an acquaintance were providing a proper supply of free beer and cheeseburgers; perhaps by the next running I’ll be able to find somebody gullible enough to supply these requirements.

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Latest example of how things around here aren’t like the Bay Area: a week with no rain will not dry up the mud situation (the Winter From Hell does seem to be on its way out of town, though). I knew there was no point driving a long way to get all gunky so I did a bit more exploring Saturday at Tanglewood Park.

I ended up in Tanglewood’s far southwest corner, which is about as close to wild as it gets in this suburban park. It even has a Genuine Southern Swamp — all it lacks is a few alligators.

Last week’s post included pix of all the major attractions; this week it’s “get some blue sky in the picture and hope for the best.” The local terrain proves what I suspected all along back in the day: in pretty scenery the pictures take themselves. When the scenery’s more scant, you have to do annoying things like wait for wildlife to so something interesting and think long and hard about how to pluck the telling detail from a tangle of brambles. Work, in other words, which I strenuously avoid on weekends.

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I spent a few hours Sunday getting to know Tanglewood Park, which was the main reason we chose to buy a condo in Clemmons, a bedroom burb on Winston-Salem’s southwest edge.

We closed on the condo last week, but Melissa’s idea of move-in condition departs considerably from the sellers’ (translation: every wall needs new paint and window treatments; all rooms must be clean enough for open-heart surgery), so it’ll still be a couple more weeks till we move in. It’s true that I locked in 30-year mortgage before steeping foot in the park, but I was up for anyplace where I could take my morning walks without fighting traffic or breathing garbage truck fumes.

So about Tanglewood: The park stretches over 1,100 acres — far too many are devoted to that game best described as “the perfect way to ruin a nice walk in the country,” but it’s not all fairways and water hazards. Among its amenities: three single-track mountain biking trails; abundant stables and horse trails; lake for fishing and paddle-boating; public swimming pool; horse-racing track; campground; annual Festival of Lights holiday extravaganza; amphitheater stage for outdoor; Arboretum full of fascinating plants; circa 1859 Manor House, now a bed and breakfast.

I’d be hard pressed to believe many counties in the Carolinas have better parks than this one. It’s certainly the equal of any individual county park in the Bay Area, though every hike around here is yet more proof that most Californians have no idea how good they’ve got it, parkwise. For every nice trail around here, you guys have 12.

Sunday’s stroll came in at about 9.5 miles. I saw horses, Canada geese, a few bike riders, and a guy teaching his 4-year-old how to fish (that could’ve been a blog post all its own).
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