The grass bank along Brodhead Creek at Dansbury Park usually has dog walkers and people heading out on the Levee Loop. On Saturday it gets course tape, one set of barriers and a run-up steep enough that riders get off and carry their bikes. The race is the Pocono Cyclocross Classic, part of Pennsylvania's PACX Series, and it is set up at Dansbury Park, 15 Day Street.
Eight days later the same park becomes the end of the Monroe County Veterans Day Parade, which leaves Stroudsburg High School at 1 p.m. on Sunday, November 1.
So the park hosts two very different crowds on back-to-back weekends. Each one uses a different part of the ground, and if you know which part, you can plan how you use the park on those days.
The Levee Is the Course
Dansbury Park sits low beside the creek, and the raised levee is the only real change in elevation. The race is built around it. The event page says the course "will be centered around a levee" in the park, mostly on grass, and that riders "will be challenged by elevation changes as the course navigates on and around the levee."
Here is what that means on race day:
- Lap length: about 2.5 kilometers, or 1.6 miles
- Direction: clockwise, after a short opening prologue
- Obstacles: one run-up and one set of barriers
- Surface: mixed, mainly grass
- Pit: double-sided, with space for up to 10 team tents next to it
Racers gather in the staging area next to the skatepark 15 minutes before their start. That puts the skatepark corner at the center of the day's activity.
The levee is also where the Levee Loop Trail begins. The borough lists the trailhead at Dansbury Park and describes the trail as 4.5 miles along Brodhead Creek. The Stroud Region Open Space & Recreation Commission says the trailhead opened in 2010, and the stretch between Creekview Park and Stokes Mill Road was revitalized in 2023. If you walk the Loop out of Dansbury on Saturday, your usual first stretch will be part of the race course.
Saturday's Schedule, Field by Field
Racing starts at 9 a.m. and keeps going into late afternoon. The fields with the most prize money come after lunch. BikeReg lists this schedule:
| Start | Field | Race length |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 a.m. | Men Cat 4/5 | 40 min |
| 10:00 a.m. | Men Masters 50+, 60+, 70+ | 45 min |
| 11:00 a.m. | Women Cat 4/5, Women Masters 45+, Women U19, Non-Binary | 40 min |
| 12:00 p.m. | Men Cat 3/4 | 45 min |
| 1:00 p.m. | Boys and Girls Juniors U15, racing ages 9 to 14 | 20 min |
| 1:30 p.m. | Women Elite Cat 1/2/3 | 45 min |
| 2:30 p.m. | Men Elite Cat 1/2/3, Men Masters 40+ | 60 min |
| 3:30 p.m. | Men Masters 40+ Cat 4/5, Single Speed, Men U19 | 40 min |
The two elite races at 1:30 and 2:30 each pay $300 across the top five. Most other fields race for prizes for the top three or top five. If you want to watch the fastest racing on the levee, go after lunch. The 1 p.m. junior race is the one where local kids are most likely to be on the course.
Tonight Is the Online Deadline
This post goes up Thursday, October 22, the same day online registration closes at 10 p.m. Eastern. If you've been thinking about racing, here are the rules:
- Entry fees: $40 for most adult fields, $15 for U19 riders and $11 for U15 juniors. Each extra race costs $10 more.
- Race-day sign-up: opens at 8 a.m. and closes 30 minutes before each race. It costs $10 extra, cash only, and race-day entrants start at the back of their field.
- License: every racer needs a USA Cycling license. A one-day beginner license is $15, cash only, at registration.
- Minors: a parent has to sign the waiver for any racer under 18.
- Refunds: none.
Race-day updates will be posted on the event's Facebook page, which the organizers name as the official place for changes.
The Classic is on the 2026 PACX calendar, which has nine named events across 10 dates this season. It does not appear on the 2025 PACX–WPCX calendar, so this is its first year on the series schedule. The event page thanks the Pocono Bike Club for local support. The borough's own 2026 event schedule also lists cyclocross at Dansbury Park on October 24.
November 1: The Park Becomes the Finish Line
On Saturday the action is on the levee. On parade day the focus moves to the park's lawns and parking. The Monroe County Veterans Day Parade begins at Stroudsburg High School and ends at Dansbury Park. The Pocono Mountains Visitors Bureau lists the hosts as the Downtown Stroudsburg Business Association and the Monroe County PA Veteran Association.
Details from the county listing and from the Pocono Base veterans group's calendar, which is marching in the parade:
- Step-off: 1 p.m. at Stroudsburg High School. Marchers enter through Gate 3 off Linden Street.
- Finish: Dansbury Park, followed by a closing ceremony and light refreshments for participants.
- Shuttle: participants who want to leave a vehicle at Dansbury Park can catch a shuttle from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
- Rain date: Sunday, November 8.
- Broadcast: the group's calendar says the parade is expected to be shown on local TV.
The rain date clears up a confusion. The borough's spring event schedule lists the parade on November 8, while the county lists November 1. The Pocono Base calendar, last updated October 1, gives November 1 as the parade date and November 8 as the rain date. If the weather holds, plan for the first Sunday in November.
That Sunday is also the end of Daylight Saving Time, and clocks fall back that morning. You get an extra hour before the 1 p.m. step-off, and it will be dark earlier by the time the ceremony at the park wraps up. The county listing runs the event from 1 to 4 p.m.
The 2025 parade was also on the first Sunday of November. It ran November 2, from the same high school to the same park. Ending at Dansbury Park is the regular route.
What the Park Holds When Nobody Is Racing or Marching
Both events borrow features of the park that are there all year. The borough lists these at Dansbury Park:
- A public pool and a playground
- Basketball courts, tennis courts, a soccer field and a baseball field
- The skatecourt, which is the cyclocross staging corner on Saturday
- Counterman Pavilion
- The Day Street Community Center
- The Levee Loop Trail trailhead
The race uses the levee, the skatecourt corner and the open grass. The parade fills the park as a finish area. On both weekends, the park's everyday spaces are where the event happens.
If Your Dog Needs a Quieter Saturday
If your usual morning walk is the Levee Loop out of Dansbury, Saturday's course tape will get in the way. The newest alternative is close by. The Stroud Region Dog Park opened in April at Brodhead Creek Park, 4002 N. 5th Street. 28/22 News reported that it is about an acre, fully fenced, and open from sunrise to sunset. The regional recreation commission places it in Stroud Township, even though it has an East Stroudsburg mailing address.
Your Saturday plan comes down to timing. Arrive before 9 a.m. or after the last race at 3:30 p.m. if you want the levee to yourself. Come at 1:30 p.m. to watch the elite women's race, the first of the two big-money fields. On November 1, set your clocks back before you leave, and be at the park before the parade arrives from Stroudsburg.
If you spend more of these two weekends at Dansbury Park than you do at home, you're not alone. When you want to talk about which streets put the park and the Levee Loop within walking distance, John D Keely knows this part of the borough block by block. Let's connect.
