Review Date
May 23, 2008

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: kimbroughton ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
I have been using the mountain bike trails at North Bend State Park as a race director for over two years. Our race was a triathlon with the extreme course biking 20 miles. You can see some course maps at http://www.runbikekayak.com/RaceDetails/RacePlace/Racecoursemaps/tabid/109/Default.aspx.

I'm not sure if there are any trails in the park closed to bikes but I think I may have seen a sign on one. The park superintendent is a mountain biker and can tell you the best trails to check out. He gave me several tours of the singletrack and helped us put together some great loops for the race.

Lots of climbing. Some fun technical sections and some fast sections. There is a goal to build an entire trail system around the new lake. It will be a 14 mile loop and the trails are expanding at a fairly constant rate.

Recommended Route:
I prefer to start at the main boat launch ramp in the park and take Fisherman's trail around the lake (super cool scenery), go up and over the dam. I take Southern Railroad to Nature Trail to Tanker Spur back to Nature (pretty scary exposures here on the section right before you drop into the campground). My husband loves it. It freaks me out :). From the campground I climb the paved road to the cabins and catch Castle Rock Trail here. Several options from here depending on how long of a ride you want but I always take Castle Rock Spur to get back to Jughandle from here. It has some pretty cool sections of rocks and roots and a cliff you can sometimes catch local climbers using.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Mountwood Park

Review Date
February 16, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 1 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 1 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: outdoornut ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
15 to 20 miles of singletrack? Most the trails in the park are off limits to bicycles. Talked to a couple guys I met on one of the few trails in that area and they said something about trying to get more of them open and doing some work however I haven't heard any more about it and those are some of the same guys who take care of the trails at Mountwood Park.

It is a great place to stay, good food and lodging. And if you like to ride the rail trails it is an excellent place to start. You can ride from the park out a dirt road for about a 1/2 mile and you are on the North Bend Rail Trail right at one of the tunnels along that strech. If you take a right toward Ellenboro it is about 4 to 5 miles to Ellenboro and through three tunnels. One of the nicest sections of the trail IMHO.

Good fishing there now with the new lake just three or four minutes away from the lodge.

Recommended Route:
Rated for the rail trail.