Metro MnTB Trails
There are a bunch of sweet MTB trails throughout the Metro for everyone from the newbie to the sender. It is an embarrassment of trail riches, in no small part, from organizations like MORC, Loppet Foundation and various trail builders. A huge shout out to them along with the multitudes of volunteers that maintain, build and expand our rad trail systems. Check your favorite trails Facebook page for opportunities to help out. >> Click the “+” below for trail details.
Battle Creek : St. Paul
Location: > Map Link : 75 Winthrop St S, St Paul | Length: 10.8 miles | Experience: Intermediate-Advanced | Parking: Tons | Bathroom: Port-a-biff
Battle Creek is one of the longer trail systems in the Metro area and although this is an older trail, MORC has been doing a lot of improvements to trails with added features, new sections and lots to play on. Although mostly singletrack, there is a few short sections of double track, bike path and road to get to some sections of the trail. It is pretty hilly by metro MN standards – not super long but sometimes punchy.
The trail signage is getting better every year but if you are new to the trail, having a trail app or buddy who knows there way around is a good idea.
Bertram Chain of Lakes : Monticello
Location: > Map Link : 9842 Briarwood Ave NE, Monticello | Length: 17.8 miles | Experience Level: Intermediate | Parking: Yes | Bathroom: Biff
Beltram is a combination of 3 loops with a mix technical features, small hills, and nice lakes for a quick rehydration break. The trail features the signature wooden wall-ride drop, aptly named “Huck Harbor.” Easily the most advanced features and obstacles you’ll find in the greater Twin Cities metro. Half of the trail features sweeping flat corners and straightaways without much climbing. The other half is more progressive, with bike-park style features (all rollable). Things get spicy when you factor in Bertram’s numerous technical features, which range from elevated skinnies to large drops. All are optional, making Bertram ideal for all abilities.
Bethel Haunted Forest
Location: > Map Link : 23249 University Ave, East Bethel | Length: 4.2 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Intermediate | Parking: Lot | Bathroom: Port-a-biff ???
Bethel is a mix of easy and intermediate trail with a few short off shoots that are more advanced.
There are old haunted forest attractions on trail and some have been made into MTB features.
This trail is on the shorter side but if you want a weird trail that fun, fast this may be your jam.
Carver Lake : Woodbury
Location: > Map Link : 3175 Century Ave S, Woodbury | Length: 4.2 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Intermediate-Advanced | Parking: Large lot | Bathroom: Port-a-biff and shelter bathroom
Carver is a fast singletrack trail that is mostly intermediale level riding with some off-shoot advanced technical feature lines. It also has a newer skills park designed mostly for newer riders and groms.
Excellent groomed fat biking in the winter.
Cottage Grove Bike Park : Cottage Grove
Location: > Map Link : 7050 Meadow Grass Ave S, Cottage Grove | Length: .8 miles | Experience Level: Intermediate-Advanced | Parking: Large lot | Bathroom: Port-a-biff
Cottage Grove Bike Park is all about the jumps, drops and pump track. There are some easier features for the intermidiate rider but also a bunch pretty gnarly big stuff. If you want to work on your skills off the ground, you should head this way but be ready to put on your big (preferred pronoun) pants.
Eagan Bike Park : Eagan
Location: > Map Link : 1157 Lexington Ridge Ct, Eagan | Length: 1 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Intermediate | Parking: ?? | Bathroom: Port-a-biff ??
This is a very short pump track and dirt jump park with 3 levels of dirt features from beginner to advanced.
Elm Creek : Champlin
Location: > Map Link : 1688 W Hayden Lake Rd, Champlin | Length: 12.4 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Advanced | Parking: Yes but it can get filled up on the weekends | Bathroom: 2 + Biff
Elm is a really fun trail with a nice mix of singletrack. The first section is fast and flowy, full of railable corners. After that, the trail is a mixed bag of prairie, some tight trees and the more advanced section of Grizz Land. There are ride arounds for all difficult features so intermidiate riders should give Grizz Land a go.
Winter: Groomed trails : excellent snowy goodness
Hawks Ridge : Chaska
Location: > Map Link : 1085 Pioneer Trail, Chaska | Length: 4 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Intermediate | Parking: No (park at the school on the weekend) | Bathroom: ???
This is a mostly beginner-intermidiate trail with one short advanced section. It is a good spot to bring out the kiddos and get them some easier singletrack action.
Hillside : Elk River
Location: > Map Link : 10801 181st Ave NW, Elk River | Length: 6.7 miles | Experience Level: Intermediate-Advanced | Parking: Smaller lot | Bathroom: Port-a-biff
Hillside is a fun singletrack trail divided into four sections of mostly tigher single track along with some interesting technical features – jumps, drops and teeter-totter. Hillside has it all: Smooth flow peppered with tabletops and jumps, rock rolls, steep roots, wooden features, and technical climbs. Ride the advanced offshoots for even more adventure. Beware of sandy corners.
Lake Elmo Park Reserve : Lake Elmo
Location: > Map Link : 1515 Keats Ave N, Lake Elmo | Length: 14.4 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Intermediate | Parking: Large lot | Bathroom: Port-a-biff
This trail has a mix of easy-intermediate terrain with a mix of easy to steep climbs, some pretty fun downhills and pretty exposed singletrack.
Lake Rebecca : Rockford
Location: > Map Link : 9831 Rebecca Park Trail, Rockford | Length: 14 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Intermediate | Parking: Large lot | Bathroom: Port-a-biff ??
Smooth and mellow singletrack that meanders through Lake Rebecca’s Big Woods landscape. Expect a decent amount of climbing. An XC riders paradise. If you’re looking to get miles, this is the place to do it. Pedaling for daaaayyyys.
Lebanon Hills : Eagan
Location: > Map Link : 4801 Johnny Cake Ridge Rd, Eagan| Length: 10.8 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Intermediate-Advanced | Parking: Large lot | Bathroom: 2 large bathroom/changing rooms
Leb is one of the most popular and sometimes crowded trails in the metro area. It has a skills park as well as multiple trail loops ranging from easy/newbie friendly to fast and flowy single track to technical feature heavy sections (including log piles, drops, technical rock gardens, and uphill log step-ups). The trail is well marked and easy to navigate with more complicated technical features at the start of the advanced loops. If you can’t get through the intro bit, you ain’t ready for the next bits.
Winter: Groomed trails : excellent snowy goodness
Lone Lake : Minnetonka
Location: > Map Link : 5800 Rowland Rd, Minnetonka | Length: 15 miles | Experience Level: Intermediate-Advanced | Parking: Smaller lot at the trailhead but lots of park parking available | Bathroom: Port-a-biff
Lone Lake is a fun and mostly fast single track ride. It starts with a bit of climb to get the heart pumping and then takes you on a mix of roller coaster, twists and fast downhills. It is a momentum trail and when you get it right, you can fly. There is one climb near the end of the trail that many have cursed. It is super short but super steep and in a spot with little momentum behind you. Make sure you do the short off shoot section off the bike path about mid way through the trail.
Winter: Groomed trails : excellent snowy goodness
MN River Trail : Bloomington
Location: > Map Link : Bloomington (Multiple entry points – link is to the Lyndale Lot) | Length: 11 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Intermediate | Parking: Multiple lots | Bathroom: No
The River Bottoms trail has a few personalities depending on your start point and direction. From dead flat double and single track to the swiss family Robinson style hand pull bridge to sandy stretches to punchy climbs – the trail certainly mixes it up. There are multiple access points along the river to jump on trail and you can put in some miles from Bloomington Ferry Rd. down to Mendota Heights.
Fun winter fat biking – especially for night riding.
Monarch : Waconia
Location: > Map Link : 6920 Springview Drive, Waconia | Length: 10.5 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Intermediate-Advanced | Parking: Large lot | Bathroom: Port-a-biff
Monarch is a newer trail with a nice mix of single track to keep you wanting to come back for more.
There are 5 loops through wetlands, grasslands and woodlands on one of five trail loops within the singletrack. There are some longer climbs, fun steep drops in to a nice jump and sections of fast downhill berm goodness. It’s worth the drive.
Winter: Groomed and fun
Murphy-Hanrehan : Prior Lake
Location: Map : 15663 Murphy Lake Blvd, Prior Lake | Length: 10.1 miles | Experience Level: Intermediate-Advanced | Parking: Large lot | Bathroom: 2
Murph is a staple Metro single track trail and one of the faster, more open (relatively speaking) trails in the metro. By comparison to the XX and XXX sections at Leb, the XX section at Murphy is only moderately technical. The climbs aren’t overly steep and pay back on the descents with fast, railworthy turns.
Murph has the longest wood skinny in the Metro and it is over 3′ off the ground, so don’t mess that one up.
One on my favorite parts of Murph is the bonus trail in late summer/early fall. There is a bird sancuary that can only open in certain parts of the season and it is one of the fastest and flowiest sections of trail in the Metro.
Winter: Groomed trails : excellent snowy goodness
Salem Hills : Inver Grove Heights
Location: > Map Link : 1642 Upper 55th St, Inver Grove Heights | Length: 4 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Intermediate | Parking: Large lot | Bathroom: Port-a-biff
Salem can seem a bit like the red-headed step child for those who have been riding here for a while. I will give props to MORC for reviving the trail over the last few years by adding some fun features, jumps and keeping it smooth and fast. It is a shorter trail that is on the beginner to intermidiate side but with some more advanced jump lines thrown in for good measure.
Sunfish Lake : Lake Elmo
Location: > Map Link : 3554 Kelvin Ave N, Lake Elmo | Length: 5 miles | Experience Level: Intermediate-Advanced | Parking: Large lot | Bathroom: Port-a-biff
Sunfish is another newer mostly single track trail that has a lot to offer riders from newbie to gnarled. It is on the shorter side but has enough variety to be worth some laps.
This trail inspired our section – sketchy feature. With some tall skinny log drops that you really don’t want to mess up. There are fun downhill sections with jump lines and nice berms. The trail has some climbing but the climb to reward quotient is high.
Terrace Oaks : Burnsville
Location: > Map Link : Terrace Oaks East 12650, Parc Dr, Burnsville | Length: 4 miles | Experience Level: Intermediate | Parking: Yes | Bathroom: Port-a-biff
Terrace Oaks is the Axl Rose of local trails – short, snakey and a jungle. This is one of the older trails in the Twin Cities area and has a very old school trail feel. It is mostly tight single track with a few open mixed use sections. There are lots of roots and bumps and it can be challenging to find a fast flow with tight turns and smaller natural drops from large roots. If you are looking for lots of built up technical features, this is not your trail. There are some somewhat punchie climbs, old school charm and one of the more off camber short climbs I have been on in a while, it is still a fun trail when you are short on time or feel like doing some laps.
Theo/Loppet : Golden Valley
Location: > Map Link : 1325 Theodore Wirth Pkwy, Golden Valley | Length: 12 miles | Experience Level: Beginner-Intermediate-Advanced | Parking: Multiple lots | Bathroom: In trailhead building
Theo is the epitome of tight and twisty single track. It is an older trail but heaviely used and always being improved. There are a number of loops with bike paths connecting them. The loops range from beginner-intermidiate friendly to more advanced sections including a tech feature heavy off-shoot on the North loop and a tough technical section on the Brownie loop – and there can be a couple of “code brown” moments on that section.
It can get busy and parking can be scarce although there are multiple lots.
Winter: Groomed trails : excellent snowy goodness
West Lake Marion : Lakeville
Location: : > Map Link : 19720 Juno Trail, Lakeville | Length: 4.5 miles | Experience Level: Intermediate-Advanced | Parking: Large lot | Bathroom: Port-a-biff
WLM is a single track trail system which includes multiple switchbacks, berms and rollers. Although newbies certainly can ride some of this trail it is more of an intermidate trail with a few advanced features. It can be challenging to find flow on the rollercoaster of a trail but it is still a fun ride. It is probably the most compact 4.5 miles of trail you will find making it seem a bit longer than the milage on the map.
And then there is the skills park. Seperate from the main trail, the skills area is super fun with drops, jumps and features to get your off-ground groove on.