Trip Report: Good Water Loop

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Trip Report: Mountain biking; Goodwater Loop, Georgetown, Texas

Today is the second mountain bike trip report for Adventures With BeeGee.  Unfortunately, it is still too hot out for BeeGee to be out on adventures, but I did grab Jack for the trip.  This trip had problems from the beginning and I made a few mistakes.

The first issue being I didn’t prepare fully for the horrible traffic while driving across Austin.  We left from Lockhart around 6:30 AM and the heavy traffic resulted in a 2-hour drive instead of the normal 1 hour.  The second mistake was not researching the trail fully.  I read that the trail had some rocks, but I completely underestimated how rocky the trail would be.  This made the trail extremely technical and required a lot of leg strength to ride up and down all the rocks.  The final and biggest mistake was that I took Jack to ride a difficult trail for his first real mountain bike ride.  It is essential to ease riders into the activity and ride at a level you are comfortable with.        

at good water loop
Example of the many rock gardens you will encounter

The Background

Location: 2100 Cedar Breaks Rd, Georgetown, TX 78633
Admission: $5 admission
Elevation: 790 to 950ft
Weather:  Sunny and hot, 84 to 96F
Difficulty: Difficult
Website: http://www.swf-wc.usace.army.mil/georgetown/Recreation/Trails/Hike.asp

Goodwater Loop is a 26-mile trail that loops around Lake Georgetown in Georgetown, Texas.  The trail varies from dirt path to rocky limestone and travels through juniper trees, oak trees, and grasslands.  In addition, the trail is the second longest available for mountain biking in Texas.  Furthermore, don’t expect too much climbing; however, there are a few short climbs.  Moreover, this trail is very technical with limestone rock gardens almost continually along the trail. 

at good water loop
The Crockett Creek Crossing at Crockett Gardens

The lake and trail are maintained by the Army Corp of Engineers.  In addition, there are multiple parks available along the trail with potable water available.  Furthermore, the parks can be used to create a shorter ride if the 26-mile trek is too long.

Good Water Loop

At Cedar Breaks Park
Good Water Loop Trailhead
We started our ride at the Cedar Breaks Trailhead and headed clockwise.   We rode out about 5-miles and came back on the same path.  The trail began with crushed rock and was mostly a smooth ride; however, the trail quickly became filled with limestone rock gardens. Also, the 1st mile rides through oak and juniper forest and the trail is almost doubletrack wide.  All the rough riding caused my rear wheel have some major issues early in the ride, which caused us to take at least 15-minute repair halt.  Because the trail was so rough and bumpy, my rear wheel took some punishment and lost its true.  To make matters worse, the rear wheel dropped out of the frame.  It took some time to get the wheel back in place and to realign the gears/brakes.  I then had to ride on a wobbly back wheel the rest of the day. 


The 2nd mile of Good Water Loop is where the trail begins to slim down and become singletrack.  In addition, it takes a very scenic route overlooking Lake Georgetown from Limestone cliffs.  Unfortunately, the lake is low on water and a no-fishing warning was issued.  

during a mountain bike ride ad good water loop
Lake Georgetown From a Cliff

The 3rd mile is more rock gardens and a few sections of grasslands.  In addition, we came across Crockett Garden and Crockett Creek.  Crockett creek is spring fed and environmentally sensitive, so there is no wading or trash allowed in the area.  Moreover, the creek runs down to Crockett Falls and feeds the lake.  Then we met the Sun City Hiker Club.  On our return trip, we stopped at Crockett Creek again for a break.  While stopped, we used Jack’s Sawyer water filter in the creek for a water refill.

during a mountain bike ride on good water loop
Jack Drinking from Crockett Creek Using his Sawyer Water Filter

The 4th and 5th miles were still more rock gardens. However, towards mile 5, there were more frequent grasslands and there was more flow in the trail.  Sadly, this is the point where we became pretty tired and started our long trek back to the car.

at good water loop
Jack Riding on a Natural Stone Wall

Final Thoughts

The Good Water Loop is truly an Epic ride as stated by the International Mountain Bike Association.  I will one day ride the entire trail and add it to my finished list.  Good Water is a scenic backcountry experience requires expert mountain biking skills.  If you are a little weak in your riding, I’d skip biking it for now and just hike it.  As far as hiking it, I would also love to make a two-day hiking trip out of it in the future.

If you have ever mountain biked or hiked Good Water Loop let me know about your experiences.  Also, if you like the blog please like us on Facebook.

 Jarrett Morgan

Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 8, 2014 at 11:36 AM

    Did you drink from the creek using the Jack's Sawyer Filter??






    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures With BeeGeeSeptember 8, 2014 at 12:39 PM

      I didn't drink directly from the stream like Jack did. He added a little water to the Camelback I ride with.

      Delete
  2. JenSeptember 9, 2014 at 5:57 PM

    I thought there were heavy metals in that water. My backpacking friends carried theirs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures With BeeGeeSeptember 9, 2014 at 6:22 PM

      We started out with water, but it ended up being such a hot day we ran out. I hadn't heard Crockett Creek had heavy metals in it because its spring fed. If does have heavy metals, I sure hope the filter did its job!

      Delete
  3. Backpacking EngineerSeptember 9, 2014 at 6:42 PM

    I had to laugh at the traffic issues. That seems to happen to me all the time here in New England!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Adventures With BeeGeeSeptember 10, 2014 at 10:28 AM

      Its crazy how traffic always gets you. One day maybe we will not let it get the best of us.

      Delete

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