Find the top rated mountain biking trails in Chapel Hill, whether you're looking for an easy short mountain biking trail or a long mountain biking trail, you'll find what you're looking for. Click on a mountain biking trail below to find trail descriptions, trail maps, photos, and reviews.
Great ride today on a 95° day. Fortunately, a good portion of this trail is shaded. There were 47 bridges between APP and the end, very nice. The trail rises and falls a bit more than most trails, so you need more than a beach cruiser, but the grades are neither long nor steep for more cyclists. Watch the blind corners as some people tend to cut the corners a bit. Great trail overall!
The Eagle Spur is more of an abandoned rail corridor (1905-06) and less of a developed trail. Its scenic beauty is everywhere, with a canopy of trees and a payoff of seeing Jordan Lake up close. The surface is a forest floor, with fallen leaves, fallen trees, and unannounced places where the old railbed has given way. So it's wonderful for a walk in the woods, cautionary for runners' ankles, and injury-risking for inattentive mountain bikers. If you attempt this path during hunting season, blaze orange is advised.
Seemed like the trailhead coordinates weren’t accurate. They brought me to someplace close to the trail but with no parking area. All the parking areas are on route 22 (around 35.7412891, -79.6828295). Not exactly a quiet walk. Seemed to be some kind of man made buzz most of the walk. Never could figure out where it was coming from. But the views of the river were great and I saw one of the biggest great blue herons I’ve ever seen.
What was not expected was the trail was closed on two ends, so I can’t put in a totally fair review, but I was not impressed. The trail breaks up a lot, connects via the road, runs through a lot of suburban areas that are somewhat scenic. There are some cool bridges, but can’t really say I saw much more to write about. I am giving this 3 stars based on the fact I could not see the entire trail.
The bridge crossing Lake Brandt 1/4 mile south of Strawberry Rd is blocked off. The detour is Battleground Rd to Bur-Mil park.
Surprised that only pedestrians have access to trail at this time.
We began our ride at the northern terminus and rode only about a mile and a quarter before we came to a bridge that was closed and had to turn around. We got back in the car and went to a trailhead further south that was only to be found in the heart of an apartment complex. We rode in circles not able to find the trail leading to where the opposite side of the bridge closure might be. So we got back in the car once more and found the southern terminus of the trail and tried again. It was a better start with a stop at the Guildford Courthouse National Military Site (part of the National Park Service) where we could ride along the battleground car/bike tour road. Generally, the trail is not well signed and at points it is a shared sidewalk along busy roads. Coming from the cold of the north, we were looking to begin our bike season in a warmer March climate. The trail sections of this ride would be beautiful come April - September. This was a very hard-won 16.5 mile ride.