Review Date
March 9, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: rd1034 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
I ride this trail every weekend and I'm never disappointed, and I'm never bored. The minute you get bored with this trail is the minute it bites you in the ass. Three feet drops are common, and watch out for the sharp broken cedar tree limbs that have the ability to impale arms and legs if you clip a tree. For a beginner I would recommend conquering Barton Creek Greenbelt before tackling this beast, but in order to hold any water while talking about mtbing in Austin you'll eventually have to ride this course. By far the most aerobic, intense and rewarding trail in central texas.

Recommended Route:
Which ever gets you out alive.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
None compare, but the Barton Creek Greenbelt "Hill of Life" will give you a run for your money.

Review Date
February 7, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: sooner518 ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Just moved to Dallas from Colorado and have been aching for some technical fun in Texas. Rode Emma Long yesterday and it scratched me right where I itch. Lots and lots of technical sections, lots of rocks, lots of ledges and stepdowns, all interconnected with smooth single track. I rode alone and without health insurance, so I'll admit, there were a few places I walked down rather than risk an injury. Most of the technical sections give you lots of options for lines you can take ranging from easier to more difficult.

I didnt find it terribly challenging aerobically speaking. Maybe part of that is when you have to dismount to get up a rocky section every 5 minuites, that kind of serves as a break.

My only major complaint was I had no idea where the hell I was going and the trail markings are pretty pathetic. There was apparently a race going on the day after I rode it, so there were signs, tape, and markings everywhere. None of them made sense to me, especially in the beginning when I found myself riding an extremely rocky creekbed with no semblance of a main trail, just what appeared to be offshots every 20 feet. After riding around for 20 minutes or so, I found what appeared to be a trail and just kept going. I went in circles for about 30 minutes but somehow found ym way onto the trail and somehow finished the loop. I had so much fun, I did it again!

I'd love to do it again with 1) someone who knows the trail 2)health insurance 3) a longer travel bike than my 4 inch Superlight.

Recommended Route:
No freaking clue. I tried following the small black and white signs that said "Main Loop" and had moderate success.

Review Date
February 5, 2009

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: John Daetwyler ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Technically challenging, aerobically stressing, smile generating trail. Back in the day, I used to ride this on my full rigid single speed Spot, I would somehow manage to do just about everything out there. On the best of days I would ride down to ski shores, fill my jersey pocket with french fries and peddle back to CP for another lap. Now I enjoy it a lot more with five inches of travel in the front and back. Great drops, fast descents and curvy single track make this one of the must fun rides in Texas. I have lost more blood, gotten more stitches because of, broken more parts and gotten more flats on this trail than all others I have ridden combined. But, crazy as this sounds, this is the one trail I still get the giddy feeling every time I hop on my bike in the parking lot.

I would not recommend this trail to newbies, but eventually you need to get this one under your belt before you can say you have really mountain biked in Austin.

Review Date
May 21, 2007

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: mccartney7499 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Ha...when I first moved here I avoided this trail for months because of it's reputation. It does have some good technical sections including some really big and steep ledges that I'll probably never be able to get up (and I'd really like to see ANYBODY make it up some of them), but it's really a series of short "stunts" that are connected by mostly smooth buffed singletrack. It's not on the same level of say...Plantation Trail in Davis,WV...or even Noble Canyon in San Diego. It is a good, if short, challenging trail. Especially for being smack dab in the middle of Texas.

Recommended Route:
clockwise

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Barton Creek Greenbelt, Muleshoe, Walnut Creek, Lake Georgetown

Review Date
September 18, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: Gripshiftrules ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This is the best 5 miles of single track on the planet. I have ridden everywhere (more or less) and now live in Colorado where I ride Winter Park (the social trails, not the marked ones), Moab, Crested Butte and all the rest of rides you hear about, but nothing comes close to the 5 miles of pure fun of City Park. I rode this trail 4 days week from 1990 to 1994 on my fully rigid (no front or read suspension) Cannondale. In those 200 rides I would usually dab twice or 3 times, and I think I cleared the whole thing maybe 5 times. That would send me straight to the Shiner. The trail also sent me to the hospital about 4 times, my roomate and I had a City park stiches contest which he won when he almost ripped off his ear. Cool wreck. Anyway ride this trail, if you can clean it--usually after much pratice-- you can ride anywhere. There is nothing more fun than launching the drops and cleaning the climbs at City Park. Everytime I come back to Austin (once a year or so) I head straight there to get my fix.

Recommended Route:
Follow the signs, and keep on jumping the rocks!