Review Date
May 20, 2013

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: r. s. ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Steep climbs. I mean really steep. Also pretty overgrown. A few downed logs that cause you to carry your bike. There are also a few eroded points on descents that make it a bit technical. Between the overgrowth, the downed logs and the incredibly steep climbs I spent a lot of time walking my bike. There are a couple really cool bridges though and the scenery is pretty good, reminded me of Lord of the Rings in a few areas. I went at the begining of spring after/during the rain season. It was really humid and the forest was very lush. It sort of felt like I was in a jungle/rain forest. If the trails were groomed and you avoid the steepest climbs this place is a pretty fun ride. Definately a work out!

Recommended Route:
I say take the BLUE route. From what I understand the BLUE route was designed by Lil Ade's so it was designed with bike trail riders in mind. The YELLOW route has most of the extremely steep ascents and seems to be designed for hikers.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Indy in Marquette Heights. Farmdale Resevoir in East Peoria.

Review Date
October 16, 2012

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: MrMatson ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
I've only been to Dirksen once so take this with a grain of salt but overall I did not get a good impression. The trail was poorly maintained, with logs and spider webs everywhere. It was poorly marked and I ended up lost and turned around several times. All that said there were several short sections where the trail had some very nice flow to it, the problem was these sections were punctuated with long frustrating periods of being lost, spitting out spider webs and carrying my bike over downed logs in the trail. Overall I think there are better options in the area. Indy for example is right down the road, much better maintained and overall a better ride. Maybe I'll have to go out an give it another chance next season.

Recommended Route:
Not the one I took!

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Farmdale Reservoir, Independence Park (Indy), Wildlife Prairie State Park, Jubilee College State Park, Black Partridge Park

Review Date
September 16, 2012

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: hey_poolboy ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
I've been at Dirksen three times in the last week. It is a great ride. Almost all of the trails are cleared. There are a couple of downed trees on the blue line, but the yellow is clear. Last weekend we managed to clear two downed trees off the trail. This morning I rode the whole park and only found one spot that was in NEED of a saw.

I'm still quite new, and still find this park lots of fun. Not overly technical, but enough to stretch me and help me learn. The Spline kills me every time!

Recommended Route:
I park at the archery range and take the hill down to the awesome bridge. Turn right and go out to Kevlar, go East to the meadow and up to the blue line. After the long bridge jump on the cliff trail and take it back to the meadow.
Depending on my legs I'll run through the flying W and hit the blue line North. After you make the loop and get back to the bottoms I go back up Kevlar and take the blue line back across!

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Independence park

Review Date
June 4, 2012

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: dgw2jr ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Trails were overgrown in many areas and there were some trees down. We rode about a mile and decided to go back to the parking lot.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Indy, Black Partridge, Wildlife Prairie State Park

Review Date
April 10, 2010

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: XCR STU ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
APRIL 10 2010 Yellow trail in really good shape, no downed trees or blockages, only a little soupy in a number of places due to springs bubbling to the surface. Blue trai also in great shape with no blockages. GET OUT AND RIDE BEFORE THESE TRAILS ARE GONE FOREVER DUE TO HOMES BEING BUILT ON WHAT WAS PARK GROUND.

Recommended Route:
We usually start from the archery range and cross the creek over the big bridge and head right or east to climb Kevlar hill and will either follow the yellow trail or blue depending on amount of tim ena dhow the legs feel.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Independence park and if your old school enough try McNaughten which is just accross the road from Dirksen. Watch out for horse poop.