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Great Seal State Park Mountain Bike Trail
Chillicothe, Ohio
MTB TRAIL STATS
Avg Rating:    |
7 trail reviews |
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Status: updated 11/21/11 by oneeyeredeye |
Difficulty:  Advanced |
| Length: 8 miles | Global Rank: #1430 |
| Tread: Singletrack | Configuration: Network |
| Ridden: 16 | Wishlist: 10 |
Directions:
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Description: There are ridiculous, lung-burning, quad-thrashing climbs. All but the truly fittest will walk. Now, this makes for some rip-roarin\' downhills. The woods are pretty and you\'ve got more vertical relief here than anyplace in Ohio. Unfortunately, these trails are very popular with equestrians, so expeck lots of deep hoofpronts as horses don\'t seem to care if the trail is wet and how much damage they do.
Description: There are ridiculous, lung-burning, quad-thrashing climbs. All but the truly fittest will walk. Now, this makes for some rip-roarin\' downhills. The woods are pretty and you\'ve got more vertical relief here than anyplace in Ohio. Unfortunately, these trails are very popular with equestrians, so expeck lots of deep hoofpronts as horses don\'t seem to care if the trail is wet and how much damage they do.
added on October 7, 2007 by 
SIMILAR TRAILS
Riders who liked this mountain bike trail also liked:Findley State Park in Wellington
Mohican in Loudonville
Lake Hope State Park in Athens
Strouds Run State Park in Athens
TRAIL REVIEWS review this trail
reviewed by oneeyeredeye on November 21, 2011
poor markings make it a little tough to navigate. nice big climbs with big downhills. i think a beginner is not gonna like it here. overall just a great set of trails once you learn your way around the park.
reviewed by Steelhead3686 on July 28, 2011
Overall this isn't a bad park. The Shawnee Ridge trail that runs the entire length of the park is in extremely bad condition due to the heavy use of equestrians. However the trails that are tangent to that are not bad. That being said some of climbs going from either north to south or vice versa are impossible. I'm in very good shape, and I would consider myself an intermediate rider. But, these trails are obviously tailored for equestrians. Mt. Ives is the only reasonable climb. Also, the amount of rocks scatted through the trails makes almost every climb a very difficult one. Bald Hill is a very fun trail to ride from south to north. In general the south end of the park is a much better area for MTBing. The map that can be found in mailboxes at the camping area and a parking area off of Lick Run Rd are out of date. It's almost impossible to continue on Shawnee Ridge going from North to South at intersection C. Furthermore there are intersection not marked at all or incorrectly marked according to the map. If you're willing to go back to this park several times to figure out to trials it's not a bad park, but you'll get very frustrated if you're just out there for a day.
reviewed by Trail_Jogger on June 25, 2011
I parked at the Lick Run parking area today (06/25/2011), rode to the tops of Sand Hill, Bald Hill, and Sugarloaf then back along the road. The Lick Run parking lot is at 39-22.015N and 082-56.290W. Be advised that there are a significant number of fallen trees at the top of Sugarloaf making it impossible to continue over the top and down the north face. You will have to double back if you climb this hill. As others have said, a trail map is essential. Download one from the internet just to make sure that you have one. Bald Hill is my favorite for scenery. And who drove that car way up there?!?
Similar Trail: Similar to Lake Hope, but far steeper climbs.
reviewed by mtn417 on April 9, 2011
I was surprised at how fun this trail system is. The trick is the ride it the right way. I have uploaded a map of the ideal way to ride. It includes two steep 3-4minute climbs and then the rest is flowy singletrack. Solid, fast singletrack. Everything is very rideable for the intermediate rider and there should not be any places you need dismount. Underrated, and worth taking the time to come out and get a few laps in... not the same mileage as Lake Hope but similar style.
Similar Trail: Lake Hope, Athens
reviewed by AEARLS on June 12, 2009
Time of ride 6-10-09 / 5:30-9pm… I thought these trails were awesome… We parked off of Lick Run Rd. and did Mt. Ives (M), (N), (O), (P), (Q), (R), (J), (S), (K), and (L)… Make sure you pick up a trail map or you will get lost. Bring lots of water and maybe a Monster because these trails will drain you quick. The climbs are HUGE and even if you can’t ride the hill up it’s worth the hike to ride them down. I didn’t see any horses or hikers. I did meet some cool MT Bikers during a pit stop at the car to pick up more water. They were locals and pretty extreme bikers. These guys called this place home and could climb these mountains that I had to hike. The only bad thing I seen was at the end of (L) on trail 9 the trail goes dead. It looks like a tree fell and no one had fixed the problem. We had a good 30 feet hike thru heavy brush to get to the rest of the trail. It is worth the trip…
reviewed by kenneyhayes2 on October 20, 2008
The park had a great trail to ride on but the direction and sihns not so great, I ended up getting lost.
reviewed by skibum on February 16, 2008
The description is pretty accurate. The climbs are huge (especially by midwestern standards) and steep. All that work does make for some good downhill. The woods are very pretty. Unfortunately, this area is very popular with the equestrians, who dont mind riding when wet, so get used to having your teeth rattled out of your head by the deep, ever present hoofprints while you're dodging the poo piles.
