Review Date
September 25, 2008

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: dave_n_va ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
If you are looking to do a long, sustained cardio workout, this is the perfect place! There are 50 or more miles of fire roads where you can really push yourself at a steady pace. There terrain is, for the most part, flat to genty sloped, though there are some sections with steep, short climbs.

There are 20+ miles of singletrack trails, most of which are beginner to intermediate level. The trails are very well maintained & mostly smooth, so you can get some real speed & have a blast weaving your way through the forest.

Remember to bring extra tubes on your ride, during the 3 weekends we were there, we averaged a flat per day. There is one reason for the excessive number of flats, briers - they are everywhere and they are all looking for some soft rubber to dig into.

Also watch out for horses, especially close to the stables & the red loop section. For some reason, many horses seem to get real nervous around bikes - I recommend getting off your bike to let the horses pass - its safer for everyone involved.

If you want gps tracks of several of the loops, check out http://www.gpstrailsource.com/ You can download all of the loops that the park has marked with blaze colors plus several of our favorite loops.

Recommended Route:
There are many great loops here. One of our favorites is the South Park loop. Park at the Appleton Road parking lot. Ride the ridge trail down to the fenced in section called South Park. This corner of the park has the feel of a nature preserve. It is a heavily wooded section and hillier than most of the other trails in the park - absolutely beautiful and serene. Ride back up the singletrack trail close to the stream to finish the loop.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Patapsco (Avalon)
Greenbrier

Review Date
December 29, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: bh3733 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
The first time i rode here it kicked my butt! Since then i have come to love the place! the park is absolutly huge and if you get off the marked trails you are in for a gret time. We got on an unmarked trail south of the yellow trail, called south park, it was some of the best singletrack i have ever ridden, several switchbacks, some narrow trails just a great area to ride. While on this trail, we came accross a park maintenece worker who was telling us about another singletrack area also located off the yellow trail called crackhead bob. This trail was insane! several areas where insected with fireroads and horse trails and nothing was marked except no horses allowed. there also several areas where you pass through trees and can barely get your handlebars between them.

Deffinatly a great time and someone could spend several days riding all the trails. can't wait for spring to head up there again!

Review Date
August 20, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: snowhoss ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
WOW, this place is huge! I believe the website actually says there are 75 miles of trails covering over 5,000 acres of land. I went here for the first time on 8/18/2007 and it wasn't too difficult to learn your way around "some" of the property. Very wide open and fast is what I can say about some of the trails. I only saw one other rider on the trails and met several nice equestrian trail riders, yes they are out there.
The single track was very well maintained, riding through the cross country course(equestrian) was interesting. The stream crossings are nothing to be afraid of, water level has been low recently. No brutal hills to kill your energy like Loch Raven, but enough rolling hills to keep you breathing heavy. Just when you think you can't take it you begin your descent.
Anyone coming from the Baltimore area can expect the trip to take about an hour to get there and $5 toll after you cross the Sussie. I expect I will make it up there once a month as long as the weather is good. Enjoy!!

Review Date
April 16, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: Victor61 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
The thing that disginguishes Fair Hill is it's size. I can only guess at the total mileage of rideable trails, but you could certainly ride there for a very long time before duplicating sections.

Highly technical sections are infrequent, which makes it excellent for single-speeders and hard tails. Some sections sections are so tree lined they make you want shorter handlebars. I've hit my handlebars more than once. There are climbs to be had, but they tend not to be rocky.

The trail map is helpful (purchase one at the park office), but it's not going to help you on every turn. Nevertheless, if you're going there for the first time and don't have someone who knows the trail system, it's nice to have one so that you can get a general sense of the place.

It's my favorite place to ride my full rigid, ss, 29er because of the rolling, well-groomed, high-quality trails.

Don't let the lack of technical trails deter you. No matter your level of conditioning Fair Hill, if ridden long enough, will exhaust you.

Recommended Route:
Too many to even specify. It has multiple parking lots and points of entry.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
White Clay Creek is even smoother and faster, but maybe not as large.

Review Date
November 2, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: desurfer ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Tons of fun! There's easily 25+ miles of fast singletrack, and you can make it as easy or difficult as you want. Not too much technical stuff, but there's just so much terrain it's perfect for a day of XC. Watch out for horses.

Recommended Route:
Go to the Delaware Trailspinners website and find the map of the Fair Hill Race. The long loop is about 23 miles and it's a great workout. I start from the North Appleton parking lot.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Middle Run (DE), White Clay (DE)