Forest Park: Granite Trail Loop

Easily the best trail in Forest Park

Mountain Biking Difficult

Distance: 8.5 km
Ascent: 346 m
Descent: 346 m
Duration: 0-1 hrs

Low Point: 589 m
High Point: 905 m
Gradient: 6˚

Granite is easily the best mountain bike trail in Jacksonville's Forest Park. This steep, fast descent flows through beautiful banked corners, down steep rock rolls, and over a series of sniper jumps and blind drops. While the technicality does trend toward the advanced end of the spectrum, most any mountain biker will appreciate the swoop and flow of Granite!

Description

To turn this trail into a loop, try climbing the scenic Rail Trail and then finishing the climb on the steep gravel road.

After finishing the fast descent down Granite, the terrain mellows out, but the descent continues on the non-technical Ol Miner's trail. While the trail corridor on Ol Miner's is much tighter than Granite, reflecting the nature of most of the singletrack in Forest Park, it's still quite rideable on a mountain bike. A few of the short, steep descents back toward the trailhead can be tricky, but overall this is a beautiful trail through a deep forest that provides a nice, relaxing finish to the day.

Even though most of the trails in Forest Park might not be very enjoyable on a mountain bike, gems like Granite make exploring this area worthwhile!

Difficulty

Difficult

Mostly stable trail tread with some variability featuring larger and more unavoidable obstacles that may include, but not be limited to: bigger stones, roots, steps, and narrow curves. Compared to lower intermediate, technical difficulty is more advanced and grades of slopes are steeper. Ideal for upper intermediate riders.