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Berrien Springs
13 reviews
3.92 of 5
You do a 1/4 mile singletrack. It dumps you into the "corkscrew", a fast DH section that banks you back and forth and is great. Then you get to the "bowl". It is a huge raving cleared out, with bigggg gap jumps, tabletops, spines, etc. Huge, huge, huge air. NO ?S ASKED. the rest is all DH, with the exception of the hills you have to climb to get to the downhills, of course. You get going so fast that when you hit the jumps on the way down, you clear 40 feet of ground. AWESOME, WELL WORTH THE DRIVE, YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.
Get on US 31 until it ends.Bypass the exits for Berrien, you won't need those, just go until it ends. You will get off the highway and be at a church. go behind the church to the retirement home and your there
Summary: I second the previous post. I rode this trail probably 10 years ago and the big bowl seemed to be more of a challege back then, but still fun now.
There are several new areas on the trail. This was my first MTB trail I had been on and it is well worth the trip.
And yes, the trail is very poorly marked. Otherwise, the locals have done a great job!
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Summary: Some of the older reviews may not be accurate anymore- so here's an update. This trail is a mountain bike playground that skirts around the edges of a bowl-like ravine system that is around 90' deep. Its trail is a ribbon or singletrack that takes you around, up and down through a relatively scenic forest area and even pops you out into some patches of prarie. Even though its unlikely that there are any hills with more than a 100' of elevation change, it still really feels like mountain biking! Some of the decents into the ravine are really steep, and some are long and gradual with great rhythm and curves to rail. The trail is punctuated by some really cool features as mentioned in previous reviews- but contrary to the extreme, it is no longer that hardcore. It seems that it may have been at one time, but the larger dirt jumps seem to have eroded since then and are smaller but still fun. The roller coaster it a blast, the banked ravine at the begining is well planned- Lots of fun and rare to find wallrides like this in the midwest. The trails are almost all singletrack with the occasional log corssing and ladder bridges. (small) For an experienced rider, the challenge is more just good fun than the kinda feeling of pushing the limits, but its a great place for skill building or bringing an intermediate rider to practice and inspire confidence on atypical riding conditions. The issue mentioned before about no trail markers and complaints about how its hard to know where to go?????? I rode it once and disagree. Ride the most warn trail and take the direction as you circle the bowl of the ravine that would seem to take you farthest away from the retirement home / trail head. Its intuitive, and not even worth mentioning as a problem. On these grounds, I am rating this trail a 5 to raise that unfairly low score. (Its a solid 4) For many, it could be more of a 4.5 because of the overall fun factor. Truely smile inspiring! I drove 2 hours to get here, and will likely be back soon.
Recommended Route: The directions to the trail are a little sketchy. Get off 31 at the Berrien Springs exit. (Exit 15) The retirement home that is also the trail head parking area is across from a BP gas station. hit the little patch at the back of the parking lot, and take the immediate left. Its easy to figure out where to go from here- anyone complaining about this difficulty likely has problems finding almost anything.
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Summary: This trail has it all. Just may be one of southern Michigan's best kept secrets. Great mix of tight singletrack, fast sweepers,climbs,decents,and most of all JUMPS!!. This trail speaks to all skill levels and riding styles. On the down side, there can be a little bit of confusion on your first visit reguarding which route to take, either hook up with one of the locals or ride on the trail most worn. You will see signs every so often. Just have fun and explore.
Recommended Route: The graveyard loop is no to be missed. Lots of good climbs and turns with a few tree roots thrown in for your riding pleasure. An optional downhill with several 1-3 ft jumps spaced 50-100 ft apart (BIG AIR).
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Review Date October 22, 2003
Overall Rating 5 of 5
Aerobic Difficulty 5 of 5
Technical Difficulty 5 of 5
Ridden Trail: Once a week
Reviewed by: Jim Rickel
,
Weekend Warrior
Summary: Updated Directions: The New US 31 Bypass is now complete, so you can get off it coming from either direction at the Old US 31 Berrien Springs Exit. Right there at the end of the Exit ramp look south, you will see a car dealership on the right and a church on the left. Go left on the road the church is on and follow it all the way (approx 1/4 mile)until it dead ends in a retirement home parking lot. Go to the very end of the parking lot and you will see a grassy pathway leading into the woods. Follow the Signs, my riding team has just spent the last two weeks (Oct'03) putting up a very thorough series of signs which will guide you through the 7 mile course. Follow the grassy pathway through the wooded clearing(approx 100 yards) until you get to the Start Sign which will be to your right marking the entrance into the woods and the Start of the Trail. This is the Easy side loop which is approximately 1 mile long and has some nice technical areas, this is a great warm up loop. You will exit this Easy side loop back where you first entered the grassy pathway where the first signs are located. As you come out of the woods continue staight on the path, this will take you to the left side of the grassy pathway which is the Difficult 5 to 6 Mile loop. This is where the fun starts. You will almost immediately enter the Half-Pipe which is a gully carved out of the ravine allowing you to manuver a series of up and down moves the same as a snowboarder. At the bottom of the Halfpipe run take a right and follow the old river bed road for approx 1/2 mile until you see the signs to turn and start climbing. Many great Hills to climb, and some very difficult downhills. The course winds around for a mile or so until you reach the Fishbowl, a BMX and MTBers dream. Many radical hills, jumps, ramps, and stunts, Lots of Air, Lots of Fun. Continue on going to the right of the Fishbowl, follow the signs, this will take you to what is known as the Backside. Many long and winding Hill climbs, very technical ravine traverses, and even a couple of narrow Bridges to cross if your into Black Diamond difficulty. After winding back around for approxamtely 3 miles you will come to a very technical section followed by a straight run consisting of ramps and jumps. This brings you back to the Fishbowl.
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Review Date July 3, 2003
Overall Rating 2 of 5
Ridden Trail: Ridden Once
Visitors rate this review 1.00 of 5,
1 votes
Reviewed by: Tim
, from Grand Rapids, MI
Summary: Could be a very cool trail with some sense of organization. THERE IS NO DIRECTION and very few signs or arrows (therefore the low rating)! Would be much better if there was a definite loop. The trails just weave in and out all over the place. Some very technical stuff here on the downhills and off camber stuff. As for the soup bowl - cool if you are a BMXer or like stunts. Nothing of interest there to me. Oh yeah, take a full body suit with long sleeves unless you enjoy your flesh being ripped by thorns hanging from the side of the trail in many places.
Recommended Route: old folks home and to the north
Other recommended trails in the same area: TK Lawless, Ft. Custer, Yankee Springs
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3.92 of 5
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