Review: These trails are unreal.You better bring your climbing legs if you ride these mountains,but there is equally as many downhills that flow forever.simply amazing trails.

Review: Rode Jake Mountain trail the other day. Alot of fun even though I crashed landing face first. I'm a newbie to mtb so the trail had some climbs that I had to stop and catch my breath a couple of time before getting to the top.

Review: One of the best trails I've ridden... and it pushed my limits for good! Went with a friend that knew his way around and we ended up doing a good 18 mi - 2 loops: around bull mountain and a little bit of Jake coming back the service rd. really tough climbs at some points and the weather wasn't helping any- snowing, 34(feels like 21) with winds of 22mph. But It was a great ride anyways... even with my front fork and front derailleur frozen :-)

Review: This trail can be very confusing. Know your route before you embark on your ride! * Review edited 11/5/2012

Review: We did the Bull and Jake Mountain trails this past weekend. We stopped in Dahlonega at a bike shop and the guy at the shop gave us really good advice. He said if there are some relative newbs to mountain biking, do Jake Mountain first. Glad we did. Jake Mountain trails were some of the best I've done, and aside from some fast downhill, it is great riding for the newbs and also for myself. It looked like they had done quite a bit of trail maintenance on these trails and it definitely showed. We did Bull Mountain the next day, a completely different animal. The first mile or two of the trail had quite a bit of maintenance done on it which it showed, great job! The rest of the trail was roots/rocks...it appeared to be an old trail that greatly needed some maintenance. The newbs with us had trouble on Bull Mountain, and even those of us with experience got a little nervous on some sections. I would suggest if you have newbs with ya, bypass Bull and go for Jake. By the way, when they say the first 4 miles of Bull are uphill, they aren't kidding. I looked at my GPS and it was right at 4 miles of nothing but up! I am giving the overall trail rating a 5, but this is mainly for Jake Mountain. If it was just a rating for Bull Mountain, I'd give it a 3.

Similar Trail: Tsali (North Carolina) and Chicopee (near Gainesville, GA)

Review: Bull Jake complex is still in great shape since last year when I rode. Horse crap is still prevalent. Ride with mouth closed, or else. Maps were available at Bull Parking lot. The map is pretty accurate, but there are some areas that get confusing, around the 223H. I ended up at a road looking at 223K. Completely missed Black Branch loop. The "double track" sections are slowly becoming single track. The improved sections are now hard packed and excellent. Completely worth a 4 hour drive to get to this trail system.

Similar Trail: Bear Creek

Review: burning climbs and fast descents. Some parts are like a super speedway down the mountain. Lots of horse shit. I ran over a fresh one and my tire flung some into my mouth. Epic views. Pack lots of food and water if you plan the epic 30 mile. Go counter clock wise for a fast smooth descent down bull. Clockwise for a more technical descent down bull.

Review: There was a maintenance crew fixing up the trail when I visited. They did a good job of clearing out excess greenery from the road-accessible trail heads. Overall good ride and beautiful scenery! Will visit again!

Review: There is nothing about this trail that I enjoy. The gravel road to the parking area will give you whiplash. The trail is heavily eroded and covered with equine landmines. This is, by far, the rockiest and most rooty trail I've ridden. Also, it entails WAY too much gravel fire road. I would highly recommend Blankets Creek or Chicopee Woods over this POS!

Review: I had expected a better quality ride given that this is an IMBA Epic trail. There were many eroded sections, lots of loose rocks, stream crossings, and slippery steep sections of Georgia red clay. Nevertheless, Bull Mountain is a fun place to ride with a few sweet sections of singletrack.

* Review edited 5/1/2012

Review: best place in north georgia! miles of old single track and old closed forest service roads. great climbs and descents. only place i ride probably because i go to school 12 miles away. i try to get out there every weekend if i don't have a soccer game or school work to do. sometimes i leave from dahlonega to add miles in because it is so close. favorite trail "bull mountain" a fun climb all the way up to the old truck and then turn around and bomb the down hill. super fast and fun. since it is in the national forest there are miles and miles of fun forest service roads throughout the chattoochee forest. only ten miles away is springer mountain. its worth the climb up the winding stairs if you bring a lock to lock your bike if you want to see the start of the Appalachian. trail. two thumbs and two toes up for this trail system. DB

Review: much fun and awesome. close to atlanta and not for wimps you can get a great 3 or 4 hour 4ooo calorie ride and do over a mike of relief, Not too shaby

Similar Trail: kind of its own- very nice go north for more knarley stuff, but this is certainly not tame

Review: Now let me tell you this is true north Ga mtb trails . It has it all Bull is fun long acents but not too hard . Rocket ship downhill runs. FUN FUN FUN. even going down the gravel roads is fun at insane speeds. Jake mt has shorter loop on loop system design the map here is of bull. Jake has shorter steeper climbs . it also has one very deep creek crossing so wear your swim gear. horses are allowed here so watch for the green grenades . I rode 90% of the trails here on my first ride. Plan a trip here to get some great riding

Review: I used to ride this trail alot when I worked at the Mountain Ranger Camp outside Dahlonega. This trail is very solid and fun with several climbs. There is a few technical sections throughout but for the most part fast and flowing. This trail crosses creeks, logs, uses several forest roads to connect all of the trails. One thing you must watch out for is Horses and Hikers that have co use of the Trail. If you want to spend some time in the saddle and enjoy the North Georgia Mountains, this is the place. If you are able to park down at the Ranger Club and ride out from there, on completion you can stop in for some good ranger history and a Beer and Pizza with some of americas Hero's.

Review: Took the epic 30 Mile counter clockwise. Make sure you have an updated map! It is very easy to get lost and turned around once on the trail. Lots of road and double track, about 50-60% single track total in epic loop. I would recommend good climbing tires if the trails are the slightest bit damp.

Review: I rode the Bull Mountain loop with the Bare Hare extension on 11/11/11. The trail head is not a bad drive from Atlanta, whereas drives to Eastern Tennessee or Western North Carolina can be a major time commitment. This was my first time out on Bull, which combined with the thick cover of fallen leaves made for an interesting ride at times. I think parts of the trail are fairly rocky, but it was tough to tell due to the leaves. I just stayed on the back of the bike and let it roll. Bull is probably not a trail system for beginners or those opposed to doing a bit of climbing. Everything seemed pretty well marked, but having a map is a good idea, even if the labels are different. Fun ride, will be back some day. Truck in the woods off of Bare Hare presents a good photo op for your crew.

Similar Trail: Pisgah Forest

Review: Rode this for the first time in mid October. We started at the Bull Mountain parking area and rode a counter clockwise loop with the the following trails in sequence: Bull Mountain Cutoff (223D), Saddle Back (223B), Bull Mountain (223). We also hit the first bit of Jones Creek Dam (223E) up to the dam and back. The initial loop clocked a little over 10 miles on a Garmin. The climb wasn't too tough with the exception of some really steep and rocky sections along Saddle Back. I don't know about the rest of you, but we walked chunks of that. Even if you can handle the grade, fist size or greater rocks are constantly tumbling under you making maintaining traction challenging. The last mile or 2 of Bull Mountain (223) was absolutely awesome. Flowing, twisty singletrack. After popping back out on the service road, you'll feel like pedaling back up to see that again. There are some nice sequences of small jumps along the early part of the Bull Mountain downhill. I haven't ridden the other direction, but I don't know that I ever will - CCW was way too fun. The first 5-6 miles of primarily uphill was nice scenery but, technically, fairly uneventful with a lot of doubletrack. Overall, this is a really great spot and I look forward to heading back to try out the rest of the trail system.

Similar Trail: Bear Creek, Pinhoti

Review: Rode it several years ago as my first IMBA Epic and I still remember it like it was yesterday. The climb from the start was brutal as my brother and I rode it in early April and weren't quite ready for that effort at that point in the year. Some of the downhills and rockgardens were awesome. Great trail and can't wait to someday return and ride it again this time with much better lungs.

Review: I have been riding these trails since 1995 and I think last weekend will be my last. What SORBA did by taking out all the technicality and neutering the downhill sections is heartbreaking. I understand the smoother trails opens up the trails to more riders, but they could at least left a few routes for us hammerheads. Now just have to drive further into the wilderness to find decent trails before SORBA turns everything into the Greenway belt or Comet trail. Lame....

Review: Rode it all on the 20th. Big Thanks to SORBA for the trail improvements! It says this system is global ranked at #373? Seriously, this is some of the best single track in Georgia. It will take you into real mountains, with real wild life, miles of forest, and great singletrack. This place is worth the trip. Plus you can always go to Dahlonega, have nice time in the historic distric.

Similar Trail: Bear Creek

Review: Rode Bull Mtn yesterday, all I can say is AWESOME! Plenty of great singletrack, lots of tough sustained climbs, downhills, twisties, rocks, roots, even an old truck. Trails are in good shape with recent maintenance. Very challenging and rewarding ride. Bring a trail map.

* Review edited 9/17/2011

Review: Lots of climbing and some great flowing downhills no matter what direction you ride. Bull is in a little better shape at the moment (less horses) and there are some sustained climbs that are almost an hour if you cut it right. It's a FANTASTIC trail. The guys at Dahlonega Wheelworks are very friendly and do daily rides here. Jon is really motivated and knows his stuff around the mountain. If you want to maximize your downhill I recommend riding it COUNTERclockwise, such as take Whoop de Do in the up direction, not down. Otherwise, you will climb a lot of singletrack and ride down doubletrack (the clockwise direction). Lot of water there last weekend, so if you have a filter you can pack less and fill up on the trail. Make sure you stop at the old truck on the trail and check it out. Lots of rhodedendron tunnels in bloom as well. Definately recommend you check this out.

Review: First time here today 4/23/2011, mostly ridden by horseback, the trail I started out on was muddy and torn up. Fire service roads were great for climbing at a steady pace. Could not find a number of the trails - mapping is OK at best. Will be back for the mountains and climbing and hope someone who knows it can take me.

Review: Ever since the fools gold 100 we haven't had ANY rain in Dahlonega. The trails are currently very dry and dusty. We could use some rain to settle the dust and moisten everything up.

Review: I like the idea of marking this as a trail system and linking to the individual trails within it. Don't forget the Black Branch trails: http://www.singletracks.com/bike-trails/black-branch.html

Review: Rode this trail and many of the offshoots September 2009. Very fun, but the biggest issue we had was that they were mid-process swapping out signs for the trails- there were no maps left at the TH kiosk, so we went in blind. NONE of the trails were marked with the "names" like the ones at the trailhead. They were all numbered on the posts. We were told by trail workers that soon they will have all the trails properly marked with markers that you can reference to a new map...should be done soon (find a map at www.ride-ctha.org). Until then, bring a GPS, have your map, and good luck! The rest of the ride is awesome, great scenery, fun downhills, and some moderately technical trails.

Similar Trail: Tsali in NC, Alafia in Florida

Review: A pretty good mix of double track, fireroads, and singletrack trails lasting about 30 miles. Would have really liked the ride if it were a little less Fireroad and more singletrack. Follow the directions on the webpage here rather than the ones posted in Alex Nutts book "Mountain Bike GA". Go ahead and get the fireroad out of the way as a climb and take the singletrack back down for the best ride.

Similar Trail: Bear Creek

Review: i was expecting a lot more out of this trail than it delivered. nevertheless, it was a sweet ride. the main issue is that most of the so-called "singletrack" is washed out fireroads with one worn track down the middle. there are, however, some nice pieces of trail, and a whole lot of killer descents with a lot of gnarly roots and rocks and some beastly climbs... good stuff!

Similar Trail: The other trails in the bull mountain area...

Review: The most difficult ride any of us had done... if you're looking for a killer workout, this trail is the one.

Similar Trail: Bear Creek - similar scenery, but not as difficult

Review: *Rode Nov 8th 2008: Extremely rocky/rooty. Leaves made more difficult. Much harder than Bear/Pinhoti IMHO. Maybe better in Spring?

Similar Trail: Prefer BearCreek/Pinhoti

Review: WOW. My husband and I rode the Bull Mountain this weekend and loved it. I think it took us about three hours. We took the advise from the previous reviews to do the loop counter clockwise. Thank you for the advise. It was a blast. We took the Whoop-Te-Do trail to get to the Bare Hare trail, then to the Bull Mountain trail, then head back out through the Whoop-Te-Do trail. Lots of technical climbs going in through Whoop-Te-Do trail and close to the end of the Bare Hare trail that would burn your legs, but the reward is the super fast down hill trail through Bull Mountain and technical fun down hill through the tight single track on Whoop-Te-Do trail. I think at one point on Bull Mountain trail. We were riding at 40-50 mph downhill. Most of the downhill section was pretty wide and smooth, so it made a pretty fast downhill ride. When we were there, it was the peak fall color for this area, so it was not only fun but also beautiful. We will definitely be back again.* Review edited 11/4/2008* Review edited 11/4/2008

* Review edited 11/4/2008

Review: Rode Jake's Mountain and Bull Mountain . Each ride was about three hours so we certainly didn't see all of the trails that each location had to offer. If your new to the trails and are riding in the late afternoon bring a good light just in case.....ask me how I know. Let me just say that these trails are not for beginners (or for Florida guys who are not conditioned for long climbs). Don't even think about bringing your newbie buddy on a brand new 50 lb Wal-Mart bike. My $3500 bike felt like it was coming apart on those rocky downhill sections. The service road climb up Bull Mountain was brutal in my opinion, but keep in mind I am from Florida. My buddy also thought it was bad but he wasn't all p***ed off and crying about it like I was. Just when you think your finally done climbing here it comes again. I read that these places were full of single track but I found myself on double track and service roads so often that it really got very annoying. This may have been because the maps SUCK (other visiting riders thought so too)! The trails are not maintained at all from what I can tell so be prepared for major erosion and root/rock infested uphills that seemed nearly impossible for this weekend warrior. The trail reminded me more of dirtbike trails that I've ridden in Ga. On the other hand there were places that looked straight out of a bike magazine. We could hardly contain our excitement when we found these pieces of heaven. I literally couldn't wipe the smile off of my face on the sustained downhill sections. The scenery was awesome! Especially when you were riding along side of the creeks. Overall we had fun but if I go back I will have to train for it. My two rides a week (2-3 hrs each) did not come close to sustaining me for two days of hard climbs. The fun factor goes way down if your pushing the bike all the time. Bull Mountain was closed on Saturday for hunting so watch for that if it's that season. We didn't have any issues finding the trail heads. Make sure you bring tools due to all the potential rock damage. We rode the Bull Mountain trail backwards as suggested but everyone else was riding it the normal route.

Similar Trail: Fort Yargo Ga, Alafia River State Park Fl, Santos Fl,

Review: This is very sweet single track! Another one of my MTB trails I stop at when visiting Georgia during the spring for MTB'ing. Awesome MTB trail!

Similar Trail: Too many to post, but Alafia & Santos are the bomb!

Review: Would recommend either riding the loop counter clockwise, or as an out and back (turn around over turing right at the bear hare trail). Long climb followed by the fun way back down. Trail is in good shape. Would recommend having a bull mountain map as there are several trails and intersections.

Review: There are some key things to bear in mind when visiting/riding the Bull Mt Trail System. THE most important thing, as mentioned by "derricko" is to ride the trail counter-clockwise. I have no idea what Jim Parham and others might've been thinking when they wrote their books, but to waste your time and sweat climbing sweet singletrack, only to bomb down a forest service road, is quite simply, stupid. And yes, you could very well do that in any subdivision. It makes infinitely more sense to warm your legs up (if this is the first part of the ride), climbing the gravel road, and then bombing like a madman down the trail itself. Enough said. Another key element to know, is that while Bull Mt is a trail name, it is also the name for the entire system of trails. Some people know this; some people don't. Do yourself a BIG favor, and surf until you find the website for the Chattahoochee National Forest. They have an excellent, printable trail map. I used to just print one off, fold the excess, and keep it in a sandwich baggie in a jersey pocket. There are enough trails and intersections to warrant this, and it helps you to memorize the system faster and better. I'm not done yet, so keep reading... The US Army Mountain Ranger Camp is very close by, so if you hear firing, or see soldiers, it's only blanks they're shooting, and they'll move out of your way. IF your military, and depending on how you play your cards, maybe if you're not, you could park at or near the camp itself. That would give you a couple of options. One, a nice and visually pleasing warm-up to the trail area, along with a most-safe parking spot. Two, you can go into the small club they have on-base, and perhaps have a cold beerafter the ride. It used to be a members-only club, and probably still is, but if you're very diplomatic, and talk nice, you just may swing it, on any given day. Good luck and ride Bull Mt. and surrounding trails; they really are great...

Similar Trail: Any of the WNC rides are similar, in one regard or another.

Review: This is one of my favorite trails in Ga. I have broken lots of bike parts and shead alot of blood on this trail over the last ten years. It's a love hate relationship. I ride a Bullit and a Fat Possun xo and I have fun riding both bikes there. I actually rode it a couple times on the Bullit with only a fiew gear options (broken deralleur, and hub). It is a great trail to make a all day ride out of. I usually ride it like this. I ride up Bull then hit the Bear Hare trail back to bull. Then I get to the trail head I hit Jones creek back to bull at the river crossing. I ride bull backwards so I get to go back down all that up hill I had to climb at the beginning. This is a long kick ass ride and I would suggest you be in shape and have alot of water and some snacks. I love tough technical trails and this one has it. Oh yah watch out for the road side apples on the trail...(horse c***)

Similar Trail: Pisgah

Review: First off, the directions posted here aren't that good. Once you're on 52W out of Dahlonega, you need to go about 10 miles, and then you'll see a run-down shack called Grizzle's. Turn RIGHT there onto Nimblewill, and then take the 2nd entrace to the park. (not the jake mtn, but the bull mtn). The ride itself was amazing though. True, there are A LOT of rocks and roots, but the sweet singletrack and scenery make up for it. I would recommend doing to the Bear Hare loop extension because it gets really high up in the mountains, and across a couple of really cool creek crossings. Be prepared to have this trail kick your b*** though; I thought I was in pretty good shape until 18 miles of this monster did me in. Make sure you bring a map too, you're going to need it when you're way back there. Also, the FS road parts suck - just some c***py rocky hilly roads that waste your energy. I can't wait to go back and try the Jake Mtn side trails next.

Similar Trail: Haven't been on anything like this!

Review: Rough, long climb. Many heavy roots at the start but overall a great ride up. In the trees the whole time, otherwise not much to look at. Heavily eroded in places but not very crowded when we went on a weekend afternoon.

Similar Trail: Unlike most trails I've been to in Georgia, this one is pretty much straight up then down.

Review: My favortie way to ride this trail is up the single track bull mountain continue up bare hair and down to the creek, hang a right and climb back up to the bull mtn/bare hair/lance creek junction then down dibby doo down down... makes it about a 14 mile lollipop/lariat...Zoom Zoom

Review: After reading the reviews, we dicided to take Bull Mountain for a spin. Either I am less experienced than I thought, or this trail has degraded...the uphill climb was so rooty that I would've made it up a set of stairs faster-There have been some really heavy rains as of late, so maybe it's been washed down. Up top and the backside we're fantastic, but again, more picking my way through roots and gullies than zooming. On the drive home, a guy at a local bike shop said it's better to ride it backwards, or counter clockwise...makes sense..the last 2 miles on the original route are forest road, and sure, you can get going fast, but you could do that in a subdivision. Better to use that road to climb some, and go down the rooty-gully part than to climb it. Just a tought. Might try it that way next time.

Review: This is a great ride! Nice climbs and a rewarding downhill. The view from the spine is great. Right before you hit the parking lot for the horses head up the trail on your left and start climbing. Once down the hill go to Jones Creek and hit the horse trail/fire road that resembles Bear Creek. But, unlike the Bear it doesn't have that amazing singletrack down.

Similar Trail: Bear Creek

Review: OK.. read tons of reviews, directions and trail maps before going.. well the maps/directions are horrible. Never saw the church.. but the trail was great !! yeah. The hill climb wasnt that bad.. I am 47 and ride 2/week. Got lost once,, had to backtrack 1/4mi. I will definetly return !! You really feel as if your in the mountains !!

Similar Trail: Nothing I have ridden is anything like this..

Review: WOW, For a Florida Boy...this is mountain biking. From the parking area, make the uphill trek through the single track ridge..Longer than expected, pace yourself. Great following whoop-de-woo fast downhill..Watch out for Horse Poo..It sticks to tires, HUH DOC? After that loop, go NE for a short uphill doubletrack leading to an extremely fast single/double track downhill, possible to get 2/3 feet air....over the damn, through the forrest and back to the parking area. Easily 12 miles, well worth the 6 hour drive!

Review: a great ride, very grueling. the directions on this page are pretty bad. Grizzle's store is an old abandoned ramshackle store and you take a right on Nimblewill Church Rd., not a left. The FS road is before you get to the church.

Review: This trail has one great 11 mile loop that has it all. It is mostly singletrack through the rolling hills of the Appalations. This is a nice break for me after riding in the hilly rockys and such out in California.

Similar Trail: Sope Creek

Review: The first portion of the trail has some major uphill, but the downhill on the backside is killer. you can get some good air off of the whoops.

Review: Though this is mostly double track, there are some technical climbs. Great scenery, and if you get lost like we did, it is easily 18 miles of trail. Well worth the ride though not super tough.

Similar Trail: Helen GA Trail. Very tough NORBA track. Must have day pass from City Hall before riding.