Twin Cities Metro Mountain Bike Trails

The many communities that make up the Metropolitan Area of the Twin Cities provide an extensive network of rugged single track and easy to moderate mountain bike trails. Many regional and city parks maintain trails to provide something for everyone, close to a major metropolitan area.

Bethel

Bethel Haunted Forest Trails: 6 miles

A series of interconnected loops in an 80-acre wooded area, one mile south of the town of Bethel. Rated easy to intermediate with advanced sections featuring hills, twists and log crossings. Trails are shared with hikers and are open for fatbiking and snowshoeing in the winter.
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Bloomington

Minnesota River Trail: 11 miles

Intermediate: Nicknamed Minnesota River Bottoms. Mostly singletrack winds through wooded area near river. Challenging trail that can be muddy after rain. Plenty of jumps and some obstacles.
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Burnsville

Buck Hill: 6 miles

Beginner to intermediate, includes two downhill flow trails. Skills Park featuring a bermed course with drops, rock garden, skinnies and a dragon tail.
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Terrace Oaks: 2.3 miles

Intermediate: Mainly singletrack. A fairly technical trail with lots of climbs and amazing descents.
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Cottage Grove

Cottage Grove Bike Park

This family-friendly bike park at 26-acre West Draw Park is a work in progress. Currently, it includes a 4x track, two pump tracks, and a complete dirt jump plaza.
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Cambridge

Springvale County Park: 3 miles

Flowy singletrack trails with banked turns and beautiful rolling jumps weaving up and around a lake, traversing streams, swamps, forests and glacier moraine berms. These trails are fast and are great for beginner to intermediate riders. Constructed drops, teeter-totters, rolling jumps, boardwalk sections and rock gardens keep the ride interesting. Trails can be accessed from both the North and South parking lots. There is a bike repair station along with a bathroom and drinking fountain in the South parking lot. Groomed for Fatbikes in the winter.

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Chaska

Hawk’s Ridge Mountain Bike Trail: 4 miles

Hawk’s Ridge occupies a narrow sliver of land just east of Pioneer Ridge Middle School. It’s primarily an open, hilly, multi-use trail, hand-built by volunteers of the Carver Trails group. Trails are beginner and intermediate levels with great views, challenging corners and verticals carved into the hillside. There is a green (easy) trail around the perimeter of the park, a short black (most difficult) trail as well. Note: Parking is available across the street at Pioneer Ridge Middle School during off-school hours only. Since there’s no parking on any of the residential streets around Hawk’s Ridge, riders need to park at nearby city parks and ride in during school hours.
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Eagan

Lebanon Hills Regional Park: 11 miles

Mostly intermediate: This course is a favorite for many in the region. Good mixture of rolling hills and more technical singletrack. Woods provide secluded feel in suburban area. Groomed for fatbikes in the winter.
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Inver Grove Heights

Salem Hills: 4.4 miles

Gently rolling hills through woods and reclaimed prairie consisting of three loops: Harmon Park, Sawmill, Foul Pond Loop.
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Lake Elmo

Lake Elmo Park Reserve: 8 miles

Beginner to intermediate: Beautiful park with a pleasant view of Eagle Point Lake. This is a multi-use trail, including horseback riding and features some hard-packed singletrack, some grassy trail. Fat bikes are allowed on Big Bluestem Trail in the winter.
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Reid Park Trails: 1 mile

This beginner-friendly trail at 30-acre Reid Park is a work in progress.
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Sunfish Lake Park: 5 miles

Three loops with distinct ratings of easy, intermediate and advanced skill levels. Features include a bridge, logs and switchbacks. Note that other trails exist in this park and biking is only allowed on the singletrack trails. Groomed for fatbikes in the winter.
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Lakeville

West Lake Marion Trail: 5 miles

Beginner to advanced: Hard-packed singletrack through woods and fields on the west side of Lake Marion near Casperson Park. Groomed for fatbikes in the winter.
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Lino Lakes

Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Regional Park: 3.2 miles

Singletrack trails consist of two separate, one-way trail loops, one on the east side of the park (Sherman Lake Loop) and one on the west side (Rice Lake Trail), about two miles apart. Both are continuous loops with a single entry and exit point connected to an existing paved trail riders will use to access the loops. The two trails ride similarly with a flowy design, but a slightly different feel. Both are entry-level trails suitable for most riders. The trail loop on the west side features a few challenging climbs combined with fun, flowy segments for a total length of approximately 1.4 miles. The 1.8-mile east side loop features a few jump opportunities with a couple of downhill segments that should add a little thrill for gravity trail fans.The plan is to eventually have additional miles of trails in separate nodes across the park.
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Maple Grove

Elm Creek Park Reserve: 12.7 miles

Interconnected singletrack loop trails. Built to accommodate all skill levels of riders, but mostly intermediate with short sections of easy and advanced trails.
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Minneapolis

Theodore Wirth Park: 12 miles

Intermediate to advanced singletrack has twists and turns with many technical features. A great trail system consisting of several separate loops, just minutes from downtown Minneapolis. Groomed for fatbikes in the winter.

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Minnetonka

Lone Lake Park: 5 miles

This trail system is designed to accommodate a variety of mountain biking skill levels. It offers ample challenges, from the steep topography to the fast, flowy single-track. The trail is also open to hiking and trail running in dry months, as well as snowshoeing and fatbiking in the winter. Two trailheads provide users easy access from Rowland Road, in the park’s southwest section, or Shady Oak Road in the east.
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Monticello

Bertram Chain of Lakes Regional Park: 14.25 miles

This system offers many options for all skills levels including a fast singletrack, switchbacks and a meandering doubletrack. Be ready to deal with logs, roots, and wooden bridges.
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Montiview Challenge Course: 2.75 miles

As the name implies, this trail demands good bike handling skills to negotiate. A very tight and twisty singletrack route with many short, steep hills runs through the woods and some open spots with great views of the surrounding area. Jumps, bridges, teeters, rock gardens, boulder piles and other features keep the ride interesting. The park also features a sculpture by a local artisit and a bike repair station. Montiview Park is a work in progress, look for more trails to be developed here in the future. Parking and a restroom is available near the trailhead located at the top of Holy Spirit Trail, and the park can also be accessed from the off-road paved path off Jason Ave. Groomed for fatbikes in the winter.
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Oak Park Heights

Valley View Trails: 3.2 miles

Intermediate singletrack with some beginner and advanced sections. Features include a bridge, boardwalk, rock garden and switchbacks. Trails are one way with an estimated 400′ elevation change.
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Rockford

Lake Rebecca Park Reserve: 13.25 miles

Easy to advanced singletrack loops through wooded landscape with wetlands. Start at the Hilltop picnic area.
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Saint Paul

Battle Creek Regional Park-West: 8 miles

Intermediate to advanced. Battle Creek features a wide selection of trails within its boundaries, including 3.3 miles of multi-use trails and 4.5 miles of singletrack. Thickly wooded, some limited visibility on turns.

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Fort Snelling State Park: 10 miles

Beginner: Enjoyable ride along the Dakota County side of the river. Generally flat trail, but scenic. Starts as a wide double track, then narrows to singletrack. Trails are multi-use and include fatbiking in the winter.
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Savage

Murphy-Hanrehan Park Reserve: 10 miles

This trails features glacial ridges, hilly terrain and an extensive, lush forest. This is a challenging trail and a favorite for mountain bikers.
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Shakopee

Excel Energy Mountian Bike Park: 4 miles

Loop trails circling Quarry Lake are rated beginner to intermediate. The singletrack course weaves between the tree cover and a larger prairie area, taking advantage of natural and constructed topography. This trail was designed and built to be ridden in any kind of weather, so it doesn’t close when it’s wet. One special feature is the so-called chicken foot, a fallen oak tree that’s been cut flat for riders to balance on as they ride across it. The park also has a pumptrack.
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Waconia

Monarch Singletrack: 10 miles

This trails system at Carver Park Reserve is made up of five connected loops that accommodate all experience levels. Easy Rider features wider tread and few sharp turns and climbs, making it ideal for hand cyclists and beginners. The Raptor Ridge loop has flowy trails and a highlight of the entire singletrack: A vista overlooking Parley Lake followed by berms and a roller descent. Paradise Trail has the longest climb of the system and an expert feature area with a concrete rollout, jumps, a slalom section and a shorter, technical climb. It offers bypasses for the difficult features, to accommodate intermediate level riders. Groomed for fatbikes in the winter.
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