A proper full lap of Nockamixon involves going all the way around in a clockwise direction, making right turns most everywhere there is an option. No crossover or duplicated riding. (one exception, noted below)
The trail map at ridenox.com helps greatly in following these lap directions.
Start off from the Tower Rd parking lot, do the Cold Spot and Hammer loops by staying to the right at the first split. Early on, you'll come to a four-way intersection with another trail -- keep going straight, that other trail is just access to the lake for the fishermen/fisherwomen. Soon after that, the trail comes to something like a "T", where you need to make a right turn. Making the left skips the 1.4 mile Hammer trail -- see the Caveats below.
Coming across the stream at the end of the north trails, take the right and do the short section of trail that does not have a Strava segment. (I informally call this one the "DMZ", although it's technically the lower part of the Haycock Run loop.) This puts you onto the connector trail southbound, which dumps you out onto the "Sidewalk" stream crossing with the big flat rocks.
That leads to the South loop, officially two loops, Jaywalk and South Park. This is the biggest segment.
At the end of the south loop, you re-cross the stream at the "Sidewalk" crossing. This is the only place that you ride the same trail in both directions, but only to the entrance of the Eastern Woods trail northbound. Eastern Woods takes you to Haycock Run uphill which leads you back to the stream crossing. (watch for the right turn after the stone buildup over the big log) Cross that, ride to the split before the parking lot, and you've just done a full loop of Nox! You are now free to revel in your awesomeness.
Have fun, ride fast, but ride safe. Sightlines at Nox can be very short, and if you run someone over because you're chasing segments, or don't help someone who needs it for the same reason, you're a twatwaffle and should stop riding.
Caveats:
The trail map at ridenox.com helps greatly in following these lap directions.
Start off from the Tower Rd parking lot, do the Cold Spot and Hammer loops by staying to the right at the first split. Early on, you'll come to a four-way intersection with another trail -- keep going straight, that other trail is just access to the lake for the fishermen/fisherwomen. Soon after that, the trail comes to something like a "T", where you need to make a right turn. Making the left skips the 1.4 mile Hammer trail -- see the Caveats below.
Coming across the stream at the end of the north trails, take the right and do the short section of trail that does not have a Strava segment. (I informally call this one the "DMZ", although it's technically the lower part of the Haycock Run loop.) This puts you onto the connector trail southbound, which dumps you out onto the "Sidewalk" stream crossing with the big flat rocks.
That leads to the South loop, officially two loops, Jaywalk and South Park. This is the biggest segment.
At the end of the south loop, you re-cross the stream at the "Sidewalk" crossing. This is the only place that you ride the same trail in both directions, but only to the entrance of the Eastern Woods trail northbound. Eastern Woods takes you to Haycock Run uphill which leads you back to the stream crossing. (watch for the right turn after the stone buildup over the big log) Cross that, ride to the split before the parking lot, and you've just done a full loop of Nox! You are now free to revel in your awesomeness.
Have fun, ride fast, but ride safe. Sightlines at Nox can be very short, and if you run someone over because you're chasing segments, or don't help someone who needs it for the same reason, you're a twatwaffle and should stop riding.
Caveats:
- You have to make sure to stay to the right when you get to the Hammer - otherwise, your lap is bogus and if you get the KOM, you're totally lame. (unless you're just out having fun and happen to accidentally match the full loop segment because Strava's segment matching is pretty crappy, in which case, bummer.) If you get a bogus KOM because of shortcutting, don't be surprised if Bob Eichlin comes out and scorches the earth trying to beat you.
- The "Bump Track" on the South Park loop is not a favorite of some, and some shortcut it. Technically you should do it if you want an honest "full lap" but I don't find it particularly interesting, and most GPS units aren't good enough to reliably report if you actually did or not sooooo...
- I've done crossovers to change things up every now and then, such as riding the Hammer trail in the CW direction, then continuing on when you get back to the Cold Spot. It'll still match, and if anything, it'll make your full lap time slightly slower. The key is to hit all the trails.
- Going in this direction, you will very likely miss the "Gnome Home" on the South Park loop, unless you know where to look. It's just after a fairly large log over which is built up on either side with dirt.
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