|
|
|
|
|
||
Harwood's Mill Mountain Bike Trail
Newport News, Virginia
MTB TRAIL STATS
Avg Rating:   |
24 trail reviews |
|
Status: updated 1/24/12 by ajc_1988 |
Difficulty:  Beginner |
| Length: 5 miles | Global Rank: #1677 |
| Tread: Singletrack | Configuration: Loop |
| Ridden: 89 | Wishlist: 38 |
| Avg. Speed: 6.07 mph | Avg. Time: 1hr 12min |
| Elevation Gain/Loss: +349/-308 ft | |
 3 trail check-ins |
Directions:
To view directions to Harwood's Mill mountain bike trail, please login. If
you don't have an account, sign up now: it's free, only takes a minute, and gives you access to tons of other rad features.
Description: The trail has two loops, novice and advanced. The novice trail is a nice twisty, rooty, small humped single-track. The advanced trail picks up where the novice trail ends, there are signs. The advanced trail is not much more difficult that the first, a few more roots, a couple of very small hills and log crossings. The track is a very fast single-track. I would ride this trail again! I recommend ridding both loops twice at decent speed and you'll have some fun! This is the best trail I've ridden so far in and around the VA beach, Newport News area.
Description: The trail has two loops, novice and advanced. The novice trail is a nice twisty, rooty, small humped single-track. The advanced trail picks up where the novice trail ends, there are signs. The advanced trail is not much more difficult that the first, a few more roots, a couple of very small hills and log crossings. The track is a very fast single-track. I would ride this trail again! I recommend ridding both loops twice at decent speed and you'll have some fun! This is the best trail I've ridden so far in and around the VA beach, Newport News area.
added on December 26, 2003 by 
SIMILAR TRAILS
Riders who liked this mountain bike trail also liked:Newport News Park in Newport News
TRAIL REVIEWS review this trail
reviewed by ajc_1988 on January 23, 2012
Rode this last weekend...I was a little confused at first trying to find the entrances, but if you follow the park ranger roads the trail entrances are easy to find. The novice is a nice warm up, the intermediate wasn't really all that bad, and the expert was a nice way to finish them all off. I'll be headed back there tomorrow. Cheers.
reviewed by DanAllen on November 8, 2011
I just got back from riding this trail. Its not bad at all. I was hoping it would be a bit more technical. I only rode the novice and the advanced trails today. I'll have to hit the expert next time. If you have any singletrack experience at all then this will be an easy ride. Im very out of shape coming off of an ankle injury(havent ridden in almost a year)so it was just about right for me. I was huffing and puffing pretty good. The two trails took me about 40min to ride.
reviewed by wakum6 on May 1, 2011
This was my first time actually mountain biking and I have to say it was a blast. The trail was very well up kept. It was easy to follow and once you finished the novice trail the signs pointed you right to the advanced trail, very easy to follow. However I didn't even know there was an expert trail and when I exited the advanced trail I didn't see any immediate signs for it. Be forewarned the trail has tons of roots. I rode t on an older bike without suspension and it was very rough on me and the bike. I suggest gloves too, my shifting mechanism tore my thumb skin all up because my thumb kept smacki-g it. Overall great for beginners and a lot of fun.
reviewed by kleppe on October 1, 2010
Good little trail. It's tight, and fast if you want it to be. I'm down TDY at JPME Phase 2. It's easy to get to the trail as we're out of class early enough to beat traffic. You can nail this trail over a 2 hour break easy. From what I've gathered it's the best trail down here.
Similar Trail: First trail in the area
reviewed by RappAttack on August 11, 2010
what it lacks in elevation change it makes up for in technical obstacles. over all good ride for those in the hampton roads area. GO ODU!!!
reviewed by RoadWarrior on April 4, 2010
Great in city trail. The best description of this trail would be "Fun". A couple of features in the advanced section with bypass's/return loops to ride again. Trail is one way, with the loops connected by a central road/ double track/ Forest Track. This is also the return route. Full loop, appx. 6.5 mi. 30-40 min. for a good rider. As stated by others rooty, and the only thing advanced on the expert trail is it's a little narrower and partly under water as of 4-4-10.
* Review edited 4/4/2010
reviewed by AboveTheRidge on January 10, 2009
Good root training trail, not extraordinarily difficult, good workout and fun.
reviewed by brettow on January 3, 2009
For the area (VA peninsula) this is about as good as it gets. Like others have already mentioned, the expert trail is really no harder than the advanced. I found all three trails similar in difficulty the only real difference being the novice trail is quite a bit shorter. All three trails provide a very scenic and somewhat rooty ride. I'm writing this review at the end of fall so the leaves pretty much cover everything so you need to pay attention. Overall a good ride and the trails really seemed to flow together nicely. I completed all three trails and a very leisurely 49 minutes which I hope to improve upon. Bottomline: If you live down the peninsula, these trails along with Maury Lake provide an entertaining, if not extreme mountain biking experience.* Review edited 1/3/2009
* Review edited 1/3/2009
Similar Trail: Maury Lake
reviewed by ChadFM on November 22, 2008
Each of the three trails seem to be around the same difficulty, and as previously stated the 'expert' trail is a joke. Plenty of roots, though that seems to be standard. Suppose this is a good beginner ride.
Similar Trail: Gatewood
reviewed by kemurphy on July 16, 2008
There are three trails; novice, advanced, and expert. It is a great place for beginners like myself. Very rooty but a fun workout. I found the advanced trail to be the best overall.
reviewed by watsonag2 on January 17, 2008
good trail very flat 3 trails of same difficulty. punishing on a rigid bike. very rooty
Similar Trail: newquarter
reviewed by DrAg0n77 on October 24, 2007
Fun trail. The Expert trail in the most fun to me. Alot of deer in the area so be careful of those beasts.
* Review edited 11/16/2007
reviewed by kolesal on October 20, 2007
I liked the trail. Took a real beginner over there and the the trail proved being not that easy for somebody with zero experience. Especially the roots were very challenging.
reviewed by fantabular on August 11, 2007
I've been riding on this trail for the past few weeks & enjoy it more each time. I brought my digital camera w/ me & got some great snapshots of the Advanced trail (more to come of the Novice & Expert trails) and posted them at www.fantabular.net/trail.htm The first thing I noticed about this trail is that it's RIDDLED with tree roots, so I highly recommend using a bike w/ shocks & using gloves. The Novice trail has a lot of twists & turns, so you can't go very fast, but it's great for beginners. The Advanced trail has a couple nice hills & a spot where the trail goes right through a tree (I'll upload a bunch of images). It's great for getting your heart rate up and keeping it up. The trail gets a little sandy at the end & even runs along side a babbling brook. The Expert trail is fun too, with many more turns & spots where you have to drive over fallen trees. I haven't taken any pics of this trail yet, but will soon. I recommend the trails at Harwood Mill to anyone that wants to get a nice workout & enjoy the scenery at the same time.
reviewed by hawkinbj on June 29, 2007
directions to expert trail as described in a previous post is INCORRECT. The Advanced trail outlets to a fire road; take a right onto it. Stay straight (the gravel road forks off to the right) on the dirt double-track and the expert trail is up a bit further on the right
reviewed by Adam726 on April 25, 2007
I just went to this trail cause it was the closest one to where I live. I didn't really think it was very good. Not many hills at all and then ones that are there are not very steep. Great for beginners though. The expert trail was a joke
reviewed by ic2olson on June 30, 2006
Good trail, very scenic but I come from desert so to me woods are scenic. I encountered 3 deer, 2 eagles, 2 frogs, 3 squirrels, a lake, a babbling brook and 2 landing airplanes. (not sure the last one counts, but I watched it all the same) Only half the land there is used, I would almost recomend a playground for off road vehicles along the back area that looks like a farm. Might bring in too much trash and scare away the animals so I totally see the locked gates purpose. GOOD STUFF
reviewed by faustrob76 on April 22, 2006
Nice ride. Fun cruise for beginners or anyone else looking to unwind.
reviewed by clubnfool on April 21, 2006
This was the first set of trails I had ever ridden and I still enjoy the ride now. The trails are in an excellent area and they are very well maintained by local bikers. There are 3 different trails, novice, advanced and expert. The route to the expert trail isnt marked at the end of the advanced but it easy to find. When you exit the advanced trail go left and follow the left fire road and youll see the entrance on the right (it is well marked). I highly recommend these trails to all beginners and to everyone who enjoys a good workout at the end of the day.
Similar Trail: New Quarter Park in W'burg
reviewed by sionnach on April 16, 2006
fun ride, advanced track not difficult at all. good to get the blood pumping if you do both trails twice in a row.
reviewed by warrubi on August 14, 2005
Overall a nice HR ride. Coming from Colorado not to challenging. I did the novice, advanced and expert in 54 minutes cruising around. I like the logs that are in the trail. The roots are almost comparable to the rocks on some of the CO trails.
More 