Figuring out the mountain bike trails at North Park can be a little daunting. There's a lot of single track out there but good bit of it is spider webbed. It's hard to tell if you are on the main route or just another spur. The recent marking (blazing) of some of the trails in the park have done a lot to make navigating them easier and if you know how to piece it together, it's easy to make one giant 18+ mile loop of single track around the park. You can ride this loop and at most only travel less than half mile a mile of road to piece it all together. (If you are really clever you can piece this together with barely any road all but I want to try and make the route as simple as possible).
It's going to take a lot of effort to explain this loop in the detail that I'd like, so for now I'm giving an overview and with a little investigation this should be enough to go on if you want to give it a go. The route is roughly outlined on this map:
North Park Outer Loop Map1. Start at the intersection of Kummer and Lake Shore Drive just off of Ingomar Road. There is some parking along Lake Shore right beside this intersection.
2. Head up the grade on Kummer and find the horse trail that parallels the left side of Kummer. Take this climb up to the golf course.
3. Cross Kummer and find the orange trail that goes right along the edge of the golf course and enters into the woods.
Take the orange trail counter clockwise half way around the golf course.
4. Before the church cross Walter Road and get on the green loop passing Flag Staff pavilion and the park administration building.
5. Cut across the lawn by the bathrooms and find the green trail trail head.
6. The green loop empties you out into the pavilion lawn after this you'll want to hook back up and finish the orange loop.
7. Make a right head down Walters Road and find the jeep track immediately on your left.
8. Make the climb and before the top make a right joining back up with the orange loop. You'll continue around the golf course counter clockwise.
9. Staying on the orange loop travel on the edge of the golf course around the cyclone fence
10. The trail ends dumping you onto McKinney Road.
11. Head up the hill and pass Pidgeon Pavillion and find the trail to your right just past the intersection of Kummer and McKinney.
12. As you travel on the wide trail skip the first right with the white arrow and then take the next right down over the hill.
13. In less than a mile look for a trail off to your right. Before the gas line make the right down the steep down hill. If you come to the gas line you've skipped a part just take the gas line down to the raod.
14. Take the gas line down to the intersection of Lake Shore and Brown.
15. Make a right on Brown travel a short distance to a T at the intersection of Brown and Pearce Mill. At this intersection make a right on Pearce Mill
16. Bike down Pearce about a 1/4 mile to North Ridge Road across from the Hockey rink.
17. Find the trail behind the Olympia shelter. Here you'll enter several miles of fantastic single track on the red dotted trail commonly reffered to as North Ridge Bypass and the Bypass Extension.
18 Following the swich backs and climb towards the top.
19. After you climb a while you'll join with another trail. At the T make a right away from the road. If you go left it takse to a clearing beside North Ridge Road and you'll need to turn around.
20. After a couple miles and two bridge crossings you'll climb up to the lookout tower where the trail runs by North Ridge for a few yards. The trails takes you down a desent across a gas line and immediately across your 3rd bridge. After the switch backs you'll meet North Ridge Bypass, make a right. (A left will quickly take you to the trail head on North Ridge Road.)
21. This meanders for a quite a ways over roots and rocks on some of the best single track in the county. After several climbs it empties out at the Wisconsin shelter along North Ridge Road.
22. Cross North Ridge road at the Wisconsin shelter and make a right onto the bridal trail (solid red) and follow the red squares down to the spill way.
Cross Babcock at the Lake Shore intersection at the spill way. This trail comes out behind the ice cream stand at the intersection of Wildwood and Old Babcock,
Cross Wild Wood and head up Old Babcock.
Cross the small walking bridge across the ditch head up hill across the lawn and find the muddy trail off to your left.
Take this trail clockwise and eventually up a long climb. A network of single track circles the road around S ridge drive. Use your best instinct to keep yourself up top taking the trails that parallel the road.
Where S. Ridge divides into a single lane one way cross the road find the trail and make a left. This takes you behind the swimming pool and back onto south ridge.
Make a right on Hemlock at the intersection of S Ridge and Hemlock
Cross Babcock onto West Ridge Road. You'll find the trail on your left after you pass Koto Buki.
A mile or so later, you ride a fantastic downhill and then his trails dumps you across the street from the Police training center. Cross West Ridge road and find the trail to your left.
Finish up taking the trail from the training center to the intersection of Ingmar and Kummer.
About this time of year people begin asking about the Month of Mud race series. Don't fret, the Month of Mud has been going strong for over 20 years and there will be a 2009 Month of Mud series. The schedule usually doesn't come out till a few weeks before the series but MOM has a new web site and there is a little hint of what's to come. Schedule still seems tentative but the first race, The Bavington Time Trails, is set for Sept 20th, 2009.
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