Find the top rated mountain biking trails in Columbia, 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.
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Level, thin tiny crush stone on packed earth trail. Rolls easily, just a step below paved. From small old town of Newville through woods and farmland 10 mile ride to small university town of Shippensburg, with a couple small villages on the way. Horse path is next to bike/pedestrian path. You may see horses and riders on path. You will see farms, barns, cows, sheep, horses, cats, birds, assorted other animals, louse distant mountains. You will smell manure. It is not 15.8 miles. It is 10 miles from park at Newville to Shippensburg. You can add a couple miles by going east from Newville to a dead end. It's a nice ride. In Newville you can park at the park at Cherry & McFarland Streets
This is one of the best trails around. Paved. Short stretch onto a couple of blocks in Marietta with little to no MV traffic. Very scenic, along river, through woods and fields, along cliffs. Winding through woods, strait ways through fields and a park. Close to level, slight rise and fall along river. Well maintained. Super ride. I saw reviews from electric bikers but really they should stick to public streets. Better yet, buy a motorcycle or some other licensed motor vehicle.
Nice wide open relatively flat trail. It is after all a rail trail. After the 22 mile mark it turned pretty rough. Large gravel,mud…. I turned back….was hoping to take this to the end near gap. I do enjoy this rail trail. Well maintained nice country & river view for first several miles
Nice short trail through Lancaster farm land. Definitely bumpy & would not be my first choice but good connector to Lebanon Valley Rail Trail. Today a section was closed near Rte 743. I figured a way around via Old Hershey Rd and Beverly to 743. A good gravel bike or mtb is the way to go on this one. Doable on my old Cannondale CX but shock absorption would have made this a lot better.
A detailed description of this trail can be read from my August 2016 review. It is still a pretty trail offering a good workout! As mentioned in my title, most of the wide open views of the trail have disappeared due to the growth of foliage. In fact, I didn't even recognize the trail! After crossing over Valley road, the trail is almost continuously ascending to its endpoint. On my first outing on this trail, the Valley trailhead parking lot and the half moon section of the trail on the northwest side of Valley road was gravel. It is NOW asphalt. There is a lot more vegetation along the trail making it difficult to see the creek from which the trail was named after. The trail is well maintained. One interesting observation on this outing is that the 0.81 mile section from the Water Street Trailhead (Spring Township York Water treatment facility) to its terminus has posted signs of "Temporarily Closed to Pedestrian Traffic". I don't know the reasoning for the temporary closure. The trail was wide open without any impediments or obstructions. If fact, this section was one of the prettier pieces of the trail.
We started this path from the Conowingo dam parking lot. We had to move through a group of turkey vultures to get to the trailhead. It was a beautiful fall day and the trail was clear of most debris. There are quarter mile markers. While we were out, several bikers were also on the trail. We took several side trails to the river to see other wildlife and to get some sun. The deep canopy of the trail blocks much of the sun making this an easy stroll in 80 degree weather.
We camped at Indian Rock Campground right along this trail. It was a lovely comfortable ride with our mountain bikes. The Howard Tunnel was neat too. We highly recommend this trail.
Beautiful quiet rail trail that we have added to our favorites list.
Great trail. Love the new bridges and smooth black top.
When I first started riding the Chester Valley Trail, the connection to the SRT was only a concept. So I would ride from King of Prussia to Exton, parking at the park and ride lot. It is mainly flat and mostly wooded, but there are a lot of road crossings, the most dangerous one is right after entering Chester County, where an exit ramp from Rte 202 has cars not caring about stopping at the trail, which has a walk sign. There have been signage improvements in a lot of the other trail crossings, taking some of the risk out of it. It is paved, and the only steep part, and hardly that, is around the Vanguard Headquarters. There is a park at Exton, with water and restrooms. In addition, unlike many trails, it is considered a commuting trail so there is winter maintenance. That makes about a 25 mile round trip to Exton and back. Since then, the trail now connects to the SRT. Connecting, one has two very steep bridges to go over, and other less steep parts approaching King of Prussia. That part of the trail is mainly in the open, and road crossings are signal controlled. It goes along Rte 202 in Chester County, and there are sound barriers, so when the trees are in leaf, it actually is muted in noise. In Fall colors, it is gorgeous. And in hot weather, cool, especially in the Chester County portion. A positive is it is flat, but a negative are the many road crossings. I have found a mix of riders and walkers but it seems few riding clubs traverse the trail, so riders will not be zooming by one. In the summer, on weekends, there is a recombinant bike group for handicapped people who you may meet, starting from the Exton Park.
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