Review Date
June 21, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: mtb05grl ,  Racer

Summary:
Wow. That basically describes this trail. I've heard a ton of good things about the trail but didn't make it up to ride them until I had been riding for 3 years. These trails were awesome. I've ridden trails in Colorado before. The Decorah trails reminded me a lot of a few of the trails out west. Long, steep climbs and super fast decents. This trail is technical and fun. I wouldn't recommend if for beginners. These trails are by far the best trails I've ridden in the midwest.

Recommended Route:
Follow the numbers and arrows.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Sugar bottom, Lake Geode, Dehn's

Review Date
September 16, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: tunashorts ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:

Although this area has some novice ready trail (River Trail), I would consider it more ideal for the serious mountain biker. Quite a bit of climbing and some quite technical areas. Credit to those who work this trail. They are clear so you can see what you might want to walk but you will not have to walk much. Many areas roll nicely.

They guy at the LBS was very helpful.

I drove six hours (there and back) to ride these trails and it was worth every minute of driving. I love Fred Trail.

Recommended Route:
Start with River Trails. There are two sections East (Palasaids Park) and West. Intersections are numbered and well marked. Maps available at LBS.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Sugarbottom

Review Date
September 10, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: DLine ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Decided to check out these trail when I had a free afternoon in NE Iowa, and glad I did. Great fun - more climbing than you can find anywhere around here, with more technical challenge too. Good steep uphills with some length lead to tight twisty downhills. Logs, roots and rocks scatter here and there to make it interesting. There's even a log-ride stunt for those with solid handling skills.

I dropped into town with about 2 hours to ride, and stopped by Decorah Bicycles. I had just walked through the door when the guy behind the desk piped "who's the guy with the MTB bike on the rack?" Travis greeted me warmly, and was quick to hook me up with Trevor, a shop employee who was just about to head out for an after-work ride. A guided tour - Iowa hospitality at its best.

A general note - when the local who's agreed to show his trails shows up on a singlespeed, you're in for some pain. I tried to keep up with him, but got smoked - didn't really matter that much, I was having such a good time. I thought that coming from Colorado, I wouldn't have a problem with the Iowa hills, but like I mentioned, they were steep, and often off-camber following a quick descent - you have to anticpate shifts to carry momentum (or, if on a singlespeed, carry lots of speed and mash hard). Towards the end, I started to leave the shifter alone to stand up and mash my way through stuff, which seemed to work better than spinning a lower gear like I'm used to

The bottom line is these trails are a fine example of midwest riding, but with some decent hills thrown in to the mix. The trails are well marked and maintained. If you're lucky enough to ride with, or even talk to one of the locals about their system, you'll find a friendly, enthusiastic advocate for the sport and their trails. This is a must-do for anyone in the surrounding area, or anyone driving though the area.

Recommended Route:
I coudn't tell you what the trail names were or in which direction I rode them. I was just trying to keep up. When we got back to the shop, they showed me what we had ridden - pretty much everything except for Palisade Park. I'll hit that one next time I'm in town, but I'll still stop in to see if someone wants to go for a ride. There's no better way to experience a trail than through someone who knows it like the back of their hand. Thanks again.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
FDR in Dudbuque, Ulrich in Cedar Falls, but nothing is even close to as good as this.

Review Date
July 11, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: yagamon ,  Downhiller

Summary:
Wow this group of trails are a hidden treat! Special thanks to Decora Bicycles/Travis for the maps and tips. This trail system has everything from burning climbs to loose chipl'ns, roots,edge runners,and screaming downdaddies plus 25 miles! I also wanna give a shout out to Da Capt'n. These trails are better than sleeping infor thoes lazy mofos. After a good huckle stop by T-Bocks fer sum burgers and booze!........and no Hearns

Recommended Route:
Follow the numbers!

Review Date
October 9, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: hoosierboy ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
I am 44 years old and have not been in peak shape for several years. I was a Luther College student 20 years ago so am familiar with the area. I currently reside in the Chicago area which is important since everything is relative when giving a difficulty rating. I have ridden several trail systems in the "flatland" Midwest: Palos in the Chicago area including Swallow Cliff before it was closed to mountain bikers, Outback in Portage, IN, the Winona Lake Trails near Warsaw, IN, Ft. Custer near Kalamazoo, MI, and a decade ago out by Boulder, CO Walker Ranch, Sourdough, and Hewlitt's Gulch near Fort Collins.

The Decorah trails make the Midwestern trails which are ranked "intermediate to advanced " look like beginner paved bikepaths. I was humbled by the experience. I rode most of the trail system twice. There are severe climbs which are long and steep with no runup. I had to walk many of them due to loss of wheel grip or sheer fatigue. There were several downhill sections such as on "The Fred Trail" and coming off of Wold's Peak which I walked because of a sharp switchback off a very steep descent and in the latter case because of a 2 foot dropoff from a steep descent into rocks and logs.

I found the trails more intimidating than the Western trails I had ridden a decade ago because they were narrower and cut into a steep hillside in many cases. If you don't hold a straight line you could roll down a rocky hillside for quite a while. And these hillside sections often were rocky,very narrow, and by no means level. The trails I rode out West were often rocky but there was more room for error as they were generally wider.

I couldn't find a few of the trails in VanPeenen? Park but I was pretty well exhausted at that point and didn't go looking for them.

I found "The Fred Trail" to be the most challenging and dangerous (other than the section coming down off the Wold's Peak.) I rode BOA (my favorite), Backside, Randy's Trail, Dead Pet and Middle and Upper Palisades, Wold's Peak, and the River Trail.

These are awesome trails. I do think that they could be marked better and would suggest arrows. I would also suggest that Decorah Parks create a required direction of travel. On some of the trails there is no bail point except falling into a ravine or tumbling down a hill and two riders going in opposite directions could have a fatal result.

Recommended Route:
Start at Dunning Springs on the River Trail. It was described as an 'easy warmup'. This is true for about 400 yards. There is a section called the Toilet Bowl that would be "advanced" in many other trail systems and a nasty rooted section by the Upper Iowa River. Then ride the paved road to Palisades Park, get on Dead Pet, go up to Middle and Upper Palisades, then ride the road out of Palisades to Quarry Rd. Turn left by the dump trucks and go up the Backside Trail. Turn right at Randy's Trail and follow it to the Fred Trail. Go up the Fred until you come to grassland. There are other trails after this that I could not find. Come back down the Fred, backtrack on Randy's, and get back on Backside where you left off. Go up Wold's Peak, go down the dangerous downhill to the BOA trail. Follow BOA to the Backside, reverse your course on Backside to Quarry Rd. and reverse course on the River Trail.