Fountainhead Black Trail // VA MTB 

That's awesome, were you on the DV9? Seems like that would be a perfect bike for Fountainhead.

@@jonphauser Yep. DV9. Great fun on that bike but I stayed off the bigger drops. Don't know how hard I can hit that rear triangle and some of those drops get pretty big. My buddy was killing it on an older Specialized S-Works hardtail without a dropper post. He wore me out trying to hold off the e-bikes that came up behind us.

Haha, yeah the entrance to Black Trail is not my friend. Overall Fountain Head is a great trail system. Probably not the best for riders just starting out (Lorton would be better for that), but good for intermediate riders. In my opinion the trail favors short travel, light, trail/ XC bikes with around 120mm of travel. If you do all three loops (Green, Blue, Black) it comes in around 15 miles, which you definitely start to feel on heavier bikes. My favorite part of the trail is on the back side of the Black Loop at 5:26. Awesome section that has some rock jump/rollers and a bridge you can gap. Don't really like the climbs, but that's just because I am terrible at climbing. Hope that helps, thanks for the comment!

Yes, unfortunately my GoPro died between the last wood drop and the rock line @5:28. Those two rock drops are awesome.

@@jonphauser any insight as how you would rank 3 drops difficulty wise and drop over the rock is it bigger / difficult compared to wood ones ? I have managed 1st drop and only have ride Black loop twice .. more off in exploring mode. Thx

For me the second drop was the hardest to mentally commit to. The third wooden drop isn't bad it just looks weird because it has a rise mid way through. The rock drops are actually rollable, when I ride them I just shift my weight to the rear and aim more toward the right of the features. The left is pretty washed out. It's an awesome place to explore.

Thanks!

my ranking is FThead, Lake Ffx, Wakefield/Accotink, Meadowood, Laurel Hill. Each one is a noticeable step down (or up if you start at Laurel), imo.

You'll appreciate the shade, but I still take a cool shower with my gear on before hitting the trail in July, ha ha.

Fountainhead is a good place to work on drops. Blue trail has a small drop before the step up that is perfect for working on technique.

To get to the Black Trail, you need to take the Green Trail until you meet the Blue Trail (Where you go under the bridge). When the Blue trail goes down to the creek and picnic table, go left, you should see a small bridge and technical climb. There is also a sign saying it is the start of the Black Trail.