Community Park is to the left of this picture.
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General Route Description
This is a pretty simple route to follow, as you take county route 5, Location Road, out of St. George and follow it to its end at the intersection with county route 3, Limestone Mountain Road. Take a left and follow Limestone Mountain Road back to St. George. In the first 8 miles, you will climb over 1500 hundred feet (188/mile), just short of crossing the highest point on the ride. In the next 8 miles as you do the rollers across the ridge of Limestone Mountain, you climb a little over 400 feet (50/mile). The final 5 miles you climb just over 160 feet (32/mile). From mile 16, you begin the steep 3 mile descent into, what was at one time an oxbow of the Cheat River, before the final cruise back to St. George along the edge of the river valley.
With 188 feet of climbing per mile to start, you will quickly get some great views West across Minear Run drainage to Limestone Mountain and back down the valley. Stopping to enjoy the views and taking a few picture is always a good excuse to give the legs a break. As you get nearer the top of the climb, the road switches over to the Horseshoe Run drainage, and you have wonderful vistas off to the East. You can see the windmills in the distance on Backbone Mountain. Crossing Limestone Mountain you have vistas both East and West, before returning along the edge of the Cheat River valley.
Don't let the first initial ramp out of St. George scare you. Once you round the turn, it settles down to five to seven percent. In the middle you have some flat and even a little downhill, before the final mile or so with will range between eight and 10 percent. Limestone Mountain Road is rolling with some short climbs, but overall, you are heading down hill. The final drop into the Cheat River valley is steep, so grab on to your brakes. You are basically doing in 3 miles, what you did in five miles on Location Road.
With the exception of "downtown" St. George, the whole route is on single lane county roads and none of the route has any significant traffic. As of 2012, the road surface was fairly good. They have put some new pavement on the upper portion of Location Road. Late Summer of 2012, they were putting some new pavement sections on Limestone MT. Road.. Tucker and Randolph County, because of the severe winter weather, use a lot of tar and chip sealant on their roads and that was what they used on Limestone MT. Road, new pavement with tar and chip as a sealer. Once it is worn in and the loose gravel is worked or washed off, it is an OK riding surface. If you happen to catch it right after it has been tar and chipped like I did in the late Summer of 2012, it can make for precarious riding.
I usually do this loop from camp at the Horseshoe Campground/Day Use Area, which makes it a 34 mile ride and adds another 850 feet of climbing. Bikemap.net of longer route.
