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Lake Hope State Park Mountain Bike Trail
Athens, Ohio
MTB TRAIL STATS
Avg Rating:   |
3 trail reviews |
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Status: updated 4/18/08 by JT29er |
Difficulty:  Intermediate |
| Length: 23 miles | Global Rank: 403 |
| Tread: Singletrack | Configuration: Loop |
| Ridden: 14 | Wishlist: 12 |
| Elevation Gain/Loss: +863/-871 ft |
Directions:
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Description: Quite possibly the best singletrack in OH. Well maintained trails and very flowy. Low on the technical side, but the flow and speed you can carry, coupled with the relative distance of the loops (25 miles or so of pure singletrack) make it darn near impossible to beat in OH. Have fun!
Description: Quite possibly the best singletrack in OH. Well maintained trails and very flowy. Low on the technical side, but the flow and speed you can carry, coupled with the relative distance of the loops (25 miles or so of pure singletrack) make it darn near impossible to beat in OH. Have fun!
added on July 12, 2007 by 
SIMILAR TRAILS
Riders who liked this mountain bike trail also liked:City Trails - Wetlands Trails in Marietta
City Trails - North Hills Trail in Marietta
Kris-Mar Trails in Marietta
Ohio View Connector Trail in New Matamoras
TRAIL REVIEWS review this trail
reviewed by Trail_Jogger on January 21, 2010
I love this park for a variety of reasons, but mainly because of the early coal mining and iron furnace nearby. The woods are beautiful and I have ridden these trails several times. Park in the formal parking lot just north of the dam on the western end of the lake. The trailhead to Little Sandy (4.5 miles) is across the road. That winding trail will take you to the top of the hill where you will then have the choice of taking the Copperhead (7.2 mile) trail that hugs the road or dive down the hillside on the Wildcat (3.5 miles) and Bobcat (2.0 miles) trails that are my favorite. At the end of these two routes you can then take the Gorge Trail down to the Lake Hope iron furnace and ride back on the road (preferred) or follow the north shore of the lake back to the parking lot. The north shore is riddled with pine tree roots that make riding there difficult. It would be a beautiful hike, but riding is difficult. This is easily one of my favorite trails in Ohio and I would ride it every day if I lived closer. Once you've ridden the trail and taken a look at the iron furnace on the eastern end of the lake you must also see the Moonville Tunnel. It's a short (~2 mile) ride or drive south and is worth riding through if you want to explore an old coal mining railroad tunnel that you can tide through. You can park on the side of the road within view of the tunnel and ride from your car, through the tunnel, and then another short distance beyond until you come to where the bridge is out. Take your camera on this trail, especially if you visit the furnace and tunnel. The park trails are strenuous but the tunnel trail is great for kids.
* Review edited 1/21/2010
reviewed by Outdoornut on December 4, 2009
Were over there for the third time this year in early November and the trails were awesome due to some great late lasting warm weather and very little rain for a few months.
reviewed by Outdoornut on February 9, 2008
Have to agree with tumbleweed14, this is some of the fastest, smoothest singletrack I've ridden. My son and I dearly loved it there. We're used to the slow, extremely technical stuff in the mountains of WV so it's great to spend a day a Lake Hope to make you appreciate awesome singletrack at its finest.
* Review edited 2/9/2008
Similar Trail: Every trail in the Park.
Additional Ohio Mountain Bike Info
