The Jake Mountain trails are fast and flowy, but the short, steep climbs will keep you honest.

Statistics

2 - 3

hrs

697

m

697

m

5

max°

Difficulty

FATMAP difficulty grade

Moderate

Description

The name "Bull Mountain" is firmly cemented in the lexicon of mountain bikers in the southeastern United States, as it was one of the original mountain bike trails in this region.

A name that's less well-known is "Jake Mountain," the flowier counterpart to Bull Mountain's gnar. The Jake Mountain trails have changed the most over the years due to recent reroutes, and almost entirely for the better! These trails are now fast and flowy, and while there aren't any major climbs, the short punchy bits add up to some significant climbing over the course of the entire ride.

The trail tread consists largely of Georgia's classic hard-packed red clay interspersed with roots.

When dry, this red clay makes for fast pedaling but when wet, avoid it at all costs! It's not worth riding these trails when wet, as you'll destroy both the singletrack and your mountain bike. The Chattahoochee National Forest blanketing the rippled mountains is dark and deep, the trees soaring high above.

Thanks to a temperate rainforest climate, the undergrowth is dense, letting little light through even at high noon.

Some trails run through dense stands of rhododendron, forming "rhodo tunnels" of green leaves.

In the spring, the rhododendron blooms are simply stunning! And in the fall, the vibrant colors of the changing leaves in the Appalachians are incomparable! The Bull and Jake Mountain Trail System also has the distinction of being one of the most popular horseback riding trail systems in the state, and most of the equestrian use is concentrated on the Jake Mountain side of the system.

This means mountain bikers must be prepared to see horses and their riders, and share the trail accordingly.

If you come across an equestrian user, please slow down, pull off the trail, and allow the equestrian to pass by.

Always ride heads-up and aware, and consider that riding at high rates of speed when the sight lines are short could be a bad idea.

With practice, sharing the trail with other user groups is easy and safe, and the sweet singletrack trails near Jake Mountain are oh-so worth it!