Review Date
July 11, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: timweston1 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Awesome singletrack! The ascent, with 20+ switchbacks, is fun and challenging but not crazy. Once on the ridge, there is a lot of good rolling terrain with a couple of fun downhill sections before linking up with the Grassy Mtn section of trail. At that point, some more rolling trail leads to the final descent to Brackett Creek, which is rad.

As of this past weekend, there were still lots of wildflowers out, and the still-snowy mountains make for some great views.

The most difficult aspect of this ride is the length (not too technical, never too steep, no exposure).

Overall, just real fun riding.

Recommended Route:
South to North on the trail (finish with the descent to Brackett Creek). Save gas, make it a loop!

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Huffine, North 19th, North 7th.

Review Date
June 3, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: venom600 ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This is an excellent trail that can be ridden in a number of different sections/variations (as you'll see in my recommended route). Once you get up on top, the wide open meadows and surrounding views are excellent.

The trail itself is not particularly difficult, but is prime singletrack the majority of its length. Sections (or maybe all of) the trail are open to motorcycles, but they've never been a problem for me. The moto riders on this particular trail are more interested in the scenery.

Recommended Route:
For maximum fun and minimum effort, drive to the top of Olson Creek and ride into Brackett Creek. You can also turn this into a relatively easy loop by parking at the bottom of Olson Creek, riding up fire roads to the top, heading into Brackett Creek and then riding Bridger Canyon Road back to your vehicle.

For excellent views (beautiful meadows) and minimum effort, drive to the top of Olson Creek and ride into Stone Creek.

For a relatively 'easy' epic, start at Brackett Creek and ride all the way to Stone Creek.

For an epic where the last half is all downhill fun, start at Stone Creek and ride to Brackett Creek.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Sypes Canyon and Truman Gulch (both on the west face of the Bridgers) are great 'out-n-back' rides.

Review Date
October 4, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: Corvus ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Since the previous reviews are a little old, I thought I'd throw my 2 cents into the mix. This is a great trail in either direction. It's almost entirely single track of a moderate technical difficulty. A previous reviewer said it wasn't aerobically to challenging, which I think is all a matter of how hard you ride it. From north to south or south to north, there is a fairly long and continuous climb, surely enough to push most people into the aerobic / anaerobic borderlands.

Recommended Route:
I recommend doing the trail from south to north, with or without a car shuttle. Park at Stone Creek and ride up the dirt road about 1 mile to the trailhead. Then, enjoy an 1 hour + of climbing up switchbacks to gain the ridge. From this point you've got basically 15 miles of up and down heavenly nirvana. The descent into Brackett creek is, while not super technical, very fast. Look out for hikers with dogs for the last 2 miles. From Brackett creek, you can ride back to your car on the paved road - it's almost all downhill, except for a little climbing early on. There are many other options to loop back onto the trail via fire roads, and make it something of a lollipop circuit. Regardless of which way you do it, as far as trails close to Bozeman, this is some of the best for XC riding.

Review Date
March 10, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Visitors rate this review
2.00 of 5, 1 votes

Reviewed by: thatdownhillkid ,  Downhiller

Summary:
well me and my family were up there for a trip so me and my dad went to some ghetto bike shop and got a map and i pointed this on out. and man was it awesome!! the first part you just pedal like 4 times and then you can conquer the whole first two miles of it if you know how to pump it right

Recommended Route:
idk

Other recommended trails in the same area:
no clue

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Review Date
July 12, 2004

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 2 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: Greg b ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This trail, although not difficult technically, is still a great ride. The views are wonderful, over 15 miles of ridgeline riding, wildflowers, and semi-wilderness. Also this trail is a shining example of what the forest service and an enthusiastic trail contractor can put together. Parts of the Bangtail Ridge trail are legal for motorcycles and ATV's, so don't be offended when a throttlehead passes by occasionally. This is an ideal long ride for lower intermediate riders, yet more advanced riders can have fun playing with the clock, or doing balance stunts over the handlebars down the Stone Creek switchbacks. By the way, I think there is over 70 switchbacks on this trail. Even though this trail rates low on aerobic and technical difficulty, it rates a 4 overall because it is just a special feeling ride. Try riding this one by moonlight.

Recommended Route:
Start at either the south (Stone Creek) or the north (Brackett Creek/Grassy Mtn.), absolute beginners can drive up Olson Creek and ride the middle ridgeline portion.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Most the other nearby trails are secret, sorry. Come up and explore, you're welcome.