This trail is 5 miles long and we usually ride it two or three times. Each lap has roughly 243 feet of elevation. It has an intermediate level rating and while the majority of the trail seems to be so, there are definitely a few spot that we consider to be more towards the expert level. We generally walk these or use established shortcuts just off the main trail. The trail is a single track with mostly hard packed sand and a few serious rock gardens, the most serious one being at the finish of the trail. Bikes follow the signs in one direction and hikers in the other. The signs are well placed, easy to interpret at speed, and there are almost enough of them. We wish for just a couple (2-3) more in places where you essentially U-turn to stay on the trail. Overall, this is a very well signed trail though.
It starts with a formidable climb (every good trail has a qualifier!), which we manage to get 99% of the way up most times (which matches our experience on the rest of the trail, making the qualifier very accurate). You are then on the part of the trail where hikers start going in a different direction and break off onto another trail, they meet up and split off throughout the entire trail. There are great twists and turns, some steep climbs, long flowy parts (our favorite), and no tree gates that we can remember. This is our favorite after-work trail currently. There are many chances, if you want them, to break from the trail and follow the road back to the parking lot though, it can be tough to figure out the correct direction to travel. Having a trail map phone app can be helpful in this situation. You are rewarded with splendid views of the lake throughout the trail as well as some heavily wooded areas. There are a few creek crossings without bridges but, as long as the trail is open these are not too deep. There are a couple places where, to follow the trail, you must go onto the road and U-turn back off immediately to follow the trail. These are a little strange but manageable if you remember to look left and right where you don't see the trail directly across the road.
This trail is free to ride and also offers picnic tables, porta potties, fishing, and on the concrete trail/road a water fountain. There are trash receptacles as well, which we like because it's hard to get people to understand "Pack it in, pack it out". This area is kept clean and looks like everyone takes pride in keeping it nice and open. 2018 was basically a non-stop flood from August through December, this seems to be continuing into 2019, so please check that the trail is open before traveling to it. Don't ride a trail that isn't open, it ruins the trail and makes it take longer to finally open.
Here is a video that we shot of the trail, you can find all of our videos here.
Here is the trail map.
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