Review Date
April 18, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: nelsonpsu ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
there are two main trailheads, one by the RC airport (many miles of trails-hours) and the figure 8 trailhead (6 miles?-45 min). I always hit up the figure 8 trail because its fun to go fast on then come back on the fireroad. Roots, pine needles, short downhills and uphills. The other trail can get technical riding switchbacks and on the edge of cliffs. People DO HUNT HERE. Wear Orange in hunting season! Ive seen horses on the Fire Roads -Advice: GO FAST

Recommended Route:
turn right on the State Game Lands road across from the KNOWLTON building. Go down untill you see the No Motor Vehicles sign and go up the fireroad untill you get to the end. The figure 8 singletrack is off to the right(before the fireroad on the right) The fireroad boarders this trail. The other trail is down the road past the KNOWLTON building on the right. go down the BAD road and make a right into the parkinglot. The trailhead is off to the left of the lot

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Boyce-PA, Duff-PA, Coopers Rock-WV, Vultures knob -OH, Beans BikePark -OH, Mohican-OH, heartwood-PA,Zanesville(The Wilds?)-OH

Review Date
August 21, 2004

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: bacolmm ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
I’ve only ridden here once, but this place is great! Unlike most of the other places to ride in PGH, Hillman Park / Bavington State Gamelands is HUGE. Bring your GPS if you have one, I could see how you could get lost pretty easily. The other thing that sets this place apart is that it’s a pine forest. Pine needle covered singletrack is very, very fun! There’s some fast, wider singletrack where you can get some use out of your big ring and there’s some tight stuff where your bar ends will be flirting with the trees. I talked to some guys that ride there regularly and they said that in places the pine trees are so dense that you can ride there in the rain and not even know it’s raining. Everything I rode had good “flow’ to it and I did lots of pedaling and very little walking.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
South Park, Hartwood Acres, Settlers Cabin, Boyce Park. Get more info. here http://home.comcast.net/~s.farrar/

Review Date
July 29, 2004

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: marvgomez ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Miles of branching trails, easy to get lost. On former strip mining area. Reclamation efforts planted pines, so trails are soft and many don't get too muddy. Remote location. Gradual descents with moderate to difficult technical sections make these trails lots o' fun. Trails good for beginner and experienced riders alike. Good place to go with a group of friends with differing skill/insanity levels. Don't go alone...locals warned that some guy got lost for a couple days and the state police chopper had to find him..

Recommended Route:
Entrances off main road in Bavington area. Trailheads everywhere.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Hartwood Acres****, Frick Park***, Moraine St. Pk***, Arbuckle Hts(Erie)****(much of it gone due to development now), Rennerdale woods***, Settlers Cabin**, Schenley Park*