518 Road conditions

**wib** · 08-29-2009, 12:24 PM

I understand 518 has been repaved, and I am wondering about a loop from Huntsville, 2 to 518, over to Swords Road to 141. Can anybody confirm the road conditions? Any info is appreciated.

**shanekingsley** · 08-31-2009, 09:31 AM

i just did Swords road on Sunday and it has gravel sections on it. Each gravel section is the entire width of the road and is about 10/20 ft long, and there about 10 of them. Some of them are clearly marked in advance with signage and some are not. You can easily ride over the gravel as it's quite compact, but it prevents you from really enjoying the road as some of them are close to the entry/exit of a nice turn. You could always try Star-Lake Rd>>Turtle Lake Rd which is just a few km west of Swords Rd and might be in better shape. I haven't been on that road, though I see it goes from the 518 to the 141...

The western half of the 518 is freshly paved and is in great shape and somewhere around Sprucedale it changes back to the old pavement which is in decent shape as well. No sand or gravel yesterday and since it was raining when I was on it, it should be nice and clean now.

If you haven't been on #3 yet, which leads off the 141 back to Huntsville, that is a great road too and could somehow be incorporated into your loop.

Ride safe