Explore the best rated trails in Madera, CA. Whether you're looking for an easy walking trail or a bike trail like the Clovis Old Town Trail and Bear Creek Bikeway. With more than 11 trails covering 47 miles you’re bound to find a perfect trail for you. Click on any trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
The Vernon McCullough Fresno River Trail runs along the dry river in Madera, offering a recreation and transportation amenity for the city's residents and visitors. The trail is divided in two by...
The Black Rascal Creek Bikeway follows the course of the small waterway through residential neighborhoods on the north side of Merced. The trail provides access to the Merced Mall and Black Rascal...
The Reedley Rail-Trail is a multiuse trail built along railbanked right-of-way that provides an alternate route to access some of Reedley's busiest arterial streets. The path largely traverses the...
The Bear Creek Bikeway parallels scenic Bear Creek just north of downtown Merced. The path grants access to the zoo at Applegate Park and amenities located within the park. On the trail's western end,...
Orange Cove Rails to Trails is a pleasant, albeit short, pathway that runs diagonally through the small city of Orange Cove. The trail passes through James O. Eaton Memorial Park and provides...
The Los Banos Rail Trail offers a 1-mile alternative to non-motorized travel through downtown Los Banos, paralleling H Street between Mecry Springs Road and 2nd Street. The trail occupies a disused...
Community support has been integral to the creation of the Sugar Pine Trail and Clovis Old Town Trail, two adjoining rail-trails that link the communities of Fresno and Clovis. Joggers, cyclists,...
Community support has been integral to the creation of the Clovis Old Town Trail and Sugar Pine Trail, two adjoining rail-trails that link the communities of Clovis and Fresno. Joggers, cyclists,...
The Lewis S. Eaton Trail is the backbone of the growing trail network central to the planned 22-mile San Joaquin River Parkway. The main trail currently offers more than 5 paved miles through Woodward...
The Dry Creek Trail is a mostly level, shady trail that follows its namesake creek in Clovis. The western trailhead connects with the Clovis Old Town Trail and has a small parking lot. The trail...
The Reedley Rail-Trail is a multiuse trail built along railbanked right-of-way that provides an alternate route to access some of Reedley's busiest arterial streets. The path largely traverses the...
The Vernon McCullough Fresno River Trail runs along the dry river in Madera, offering a recreation and transportation amenity for the city's residents and visitors. The trail is divided in two by...
The Bear Creek Bikeway parallels scenic Bear Creek just north of downtown Merced. The path grants access to the zoo at Applegate Park and amenities located within the park. On the trail's western end,...
The Dry Creek Trail is a mostly level, shady trail that follows its namesake creek in Clovis. The western trailhead connects with the Clovis Old Town Trail and has a small parking lot. The trail...
The Lewis S. Eaton Trail is the backbone of the growing trail network central to the planned 22-mile San Joaquin River Parkway. The main trail currently offers more than 5 paved miles through Woodward...
Community support has been integral to the creation of the Sugar Pine Trail and Clovis Old Town Trail, two adjoining rail-trails that link the communities of Fresno and Clovis. Joggers, cyclists,...
The Black Rascal Creek Bikeway follows the course of the small waterway through residential neighborhoods on the north side of Merced. The trail provides access to the Merced Mall and Black Rascal...
The Merced River Trail is an ungroomed, mostly dirt trail that follows the unshaded banks of the Merced River within the Merced River Recreation Area. Ideal for horseback riding, mountain biking and...
Orange Cove Rails to Trails is a pleasant, albeit short, pathway that runs diagonally through the small city of Orange Cove. The trail passes through James O. Eaton Memorial Park and provides...
The Los Banos Rail Trail offers a 1-mile alternative to non-motorized travel through downtown Los Banos, paralleling H Street between Mecry Springs Road and 2nd Street. The trail occupies a disused...
Community support has been integral to the creation of the Clovis Old Town Trail and Sugar Pine Trail, two adjoining rail-trails that link the communities of Clovis and Fresno. Joggers, cyclists,...
Community support has been integral to the creation of the Sugar Pine Trail and Clovis Old Town Trail, two adjoining rail-trails that link the communities of Fresno and Clovis. Joggers, cyclists,...
The Lewis S. Eaton Trail is the backbone of the growing trail network central to the planned 22-mile San Joaquin River Parkway. The main trail currently offers more than 5 paved miles through Woodward...
The Merced River Trail is an ungroomed, mostly dirt trail that follows the unshaded banks of the Merced River within the Merced River Recreation Area. Ideal for horseback riding, mountain biking and...
The Bear Creek Bikeway parallels scenic Bear Creek just north of downtown Merced. The path grants access to the zoo at Applegate Park and amenities located within the park. On the trail's western end,...
The Vernon McCullough Fresno River Trail runs along the dry river in Madera, offering a recreation and transportation amenity for the city's residents and visitors. The trail is divided in two by...
Orange Cove Rails to Trails is a pleasant, albeit short, pathway that runs diagonally through the small city of Orange Cove. The trail passes through James O. Eaton Memorial Park and provides...
The Dry Creek Trail is a mostly level, shady trail that follows its namesake creek in Clovis. The western trailhead connects with the Clovis Old Town Trail and has a small parking lot. The trail...
The Reedley Rail-Trail is a multiuse trail built along railbanked right-of-way that provides an alternate route to access some of Reedley's busiest arterial streets. The path largely traverses the...
Community support has been integral to the creation of the Clovis Old Town Trail and Sugar Pine Trail, two adjoining rail-trails that link the communities of Clovis and Fresno. Joggers, cyclists,...
The Los Banos Rail Trail offers a 1-mile alternative to non-motorized travel through downtown Los Banos, paralleling H Street between Mecry Springs Road and 2nd Street. The trail occupies a disused...
The Black Rascal Creek Bikeway follows the course of the small waterway through residential neighborhoods on the north side of Merced. The trail provides access to the Merced Mall and Black Rascal...
Yes as described previously, after 5 miles the road is reduced to-a single track, or foot trail. The River is irresistible in its beauty, worth the trip. The old Railroad bed has experienced many Rock slides over the lay 70 years with no Matinence preformed. You will walk your bike plenty. It’s a great hiking trail.
The trail is in a great location, traveling behind the town, along beautiful farms. There are plenty of old growth trees providing shade on a hot Central Valley day. The only draw back are the numerous street crossings. The ramps down and up the street are covered with the large yellow bumps you see on most walkways. As a skateboarder this makes crossing the streets difficult. Without the bumps this would be a 4 star trail easy.
The tree roots have destroyed the asphalt, and it is not suitable for bicycles. Walking would be ok. I wasted a long drive to ride about 100 yard. Terrible trail, never go back!! ¿¿¿¿¿
Location: Fresno, CA
Parking: Shopping Center (Yosemite Freeway & Friant Rd). Drove into Woodward Park but decided not to pay the $5 ($3 senior) parking fee. Should have read Parking & Trail Access description closer. Noted some folks park in shopping mall across Friant Rd from the park entrance.
Trail Condition: Excellent wide asphalt pathway. Well maintained.
Signage: Trail is easy to follow without signage, follow white stripe down middle of trail.
Comments: Started at South end, rode to North end and returned. Lots and lots of walkers and few bikers on the trail, nice three day weekend afternoon to get outside. Wonderful views of the San Joaquin River valley and mountains in distance. Of the trails in the Fresno (Clovis) area we rode this one was the best. No busy intersections to navigate, enough curves and small up and down hills to keep this one interesting. Highly recommend this trail.
Location: Fresno, CA
Parking: Shopping Center (Yosemite Freeway & Friant Rd)
Trail Condition: Excellent wide asphalt pathway. Well maintained.
Signage: Trail is easy to follow without signage, follow white stripe down middle of trail.
Comments: Going West to East the first portion of trail is a nice ride with a couple of underpasses and only one intersection to navigate. There is a gated section in this first portion that is closed at night. This section is a wide old railroad bed with housing on each side and now a bunch of trees along the trail. Nice and quiet section. Once passed this gated area the trail parallels a main street with a number of major intersections, which is a significant detractor. In fact, we didn’t finish the trail after growing tired of navigating the intersections. A few walkers and bikers were encountered on trail. It is evident this trail is a rail-to-trail project. The greenway is very wide, flat and mostly straight. Without the many busy intersections to cross this would be a fine rails-to-trails trail.
Location: Clovis (Fresno), CA
Parking: Costco (Shaw & N. Clovis Ave)
Trail Condition: Satisfactory for most of the trail. Is a wide asphalt pathway. There are portions of the trail that are older with tree roots raising up and causing a bumpy ride. Roots haven’t broken through surface yet. Trail needs work.
Signage: Fairly easy to follow with exception of one park with a fork in the trail. Of course, we chose the straight path which turned out to be the wrong choice. Stopped for quick check of our map and look around to see a busy intersection that needed to be crossed. A portion of the trail has a white stripe down the middle but not all. There is a count station along the trail showing trail usage (bikers and walkers, daily and this year). Nice feature.
Comments: This trail was in combination with the Clovis Old Town Trail (thus reason for parking at Costco). We started from the junction of the Clovis Old Town Trail to the terminus which is a nice park with large parking lot on the north end. Then returned back to the Clovis Old Town Trail. The trail passes through a nice park on the way to the terminus. The park at the terminus has an interesting horse statue made from old rusted mechanical parts. A number of walkers, runners and a few cyclists were encountered on the trail, not overwhelming. According to the trail counter, walkers way out number the bikers. A major intersection must be crossed. A lower rating for this trail was given because of the poor trail condition.
Location: Clovis (Fresno), CA
Parking: Costco (Shaw & N. Clovis Ave)
Trail Condition: Excellent wide asphalt pathway. Well maintained.
Signage: Mostly the trail is easy to follow with except through the Old Clovis Town section. Up to that point the trail is wide asphalt with a solid white line down the middle. For about a block the trail becomes sidewalk near a school and Veterans Memorial Building. After that section it returns to the asphalt trail with white stripe. There are a number of great informational signs, little “train station” gazebos, and statues along the trail. There is even a count station showing trail usage (bikers and walkers, daily and this year) in the Old Town Clovis section. (See photo of count station in the Dry Creek Trail photos.)
Comments: We rode this to the point where we thought the north end is and the Sugar Pine Trail begins. Didn’t see any signage that defined the end of one and start of the other. Then on the return south we took the Dry Creek Trail out and back. To finish up rode to the southern end of the trail and back to parking. This trail surface was great and think must be fairly new. A number of walkers, runners and a few cyclists were encountered on the trail, not overwhelming. According to the trail counter, walkers way out number the bikers. A detractor to this trail is the number of major busy intersections that require stopping to wait for a walk signal to cross. The north end of the trail has fewer of these but does have a couple crossing with signaled cross walks requiring the press of a button to activate the warning signals, at least they aren’t at busy intersections. It is evident this trail is a rail-to-trail project. The greenway is very wide and flat. Without the many busy intersections to cross this would be a great rails-to-trails trail.
This trail was highlighted as a terrific way to view some spring mountain flowers while riding along the Merced River. In April 2019 my wife and I decided to give it a try. Unfortunately we got a late start so ended up riding mid-afternoon, a little too hot for the flowers although we did see a few patches.
We started at the Briceburg trailhead. The view along the river was spectacular even though the gravel road was quite a wash board so had to keep our speed down. There were several camp grounds along the river within the first five miles. Unfortunately there is a locked gate at five miles that has a bypass for walkers, but because of the way it was built, there was no way to get our bikes through so our 13 mile trip was cut short. We talked to a local who happened to be there who said the gate had been there for many years. So short of lifting our bikes over the gate, we decided someone just didn’t want us riding on so we turned around.
The day was not a complete loss, however, because you are about an hour from the Yosemite Valley. We headed on over, had lunch and rode through the valley. The water falls were spectacular from all the snow fall this year.
This is a beautiful trail and perfect for longboarding. There are plenty of small hills to learn on if you want to experience a bit of speed. There is enough to work with, level wise to keep you learning and improving until your ready to take your skating to another level. The sunsets in this park have been extraordinary. Warning though, people don’t always get out of your way if you’re going fast, when they are on the wrong side of the road. Watch out for people and dogs that hate wheels. Otherwise it’s beautiful and perfect!
Trip cut short, rattlesnakes, one coiled and leaped. Missed me. That was only 2.5 miles in. So be careful. I was glad my dogs were behind me. I was surprised, usually rattlesnakes don't get aggressive.
My wife and I made a day trip up to the MRT and thoroughly enjoyed it. There were numerous wildflowers blooming and the river was running fast from the recent rains we'd had. It's a great trail for beginners and that's exactly what we wanted.
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