Find the top rated mountain biking trails in Hanover, 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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We started at Lake Needwood which had great parking. The trail is not well maintained. It is bumpy most of the way south. It looks like there has been some attempt to patch the asphalt but the transitions were not smoothed out so many jarring bumps. Also tree roots have pushed up the trail which is not unusual but given all the other bumps it was annoying. Also be aware that from Lake Needwood - it is downhill so if you are returning to the same spot, you will have an uphill climb which is not too bad.
We Loved this trail. We got on at the Brillhart Road Parking lot went down the trail through the Howard tunnel, all the way down to the Hanover Junction. It was pretty much all in the shade. There were sections with very low grade ups and downs but the grade was so low you couldn’t see the hills visually, you just felt the difference in your legs. There was also minimal street crossings and they were all super small back roads with minimal traffic, which was great for my kids.
there are some really old bridges that go over the C&O. the highlight is the paw paw tunnel. better to walk through it. once you hit little orleans, i suggest going on the western maryland trail. it is fully paved and nice.
hancock is a great town
It’s a simple riverside greenway. It’s a little hillier than I expected for a riverside trail, but it’s in good shape and not too hard to ride. Most of the river view is blocked by shrubbery, but you can still see it, and it’s pretty nice. The trail was a bit crowded on a Monday evening.
It’s along the bed of a would-be expressway, and therefore there’s really nothing to see. I averaged 12 mph, and it felt slow. It’s in outstanding shape and looks new, but the perfect shape combined with the lack of scenery made it utterly boring. At least it had a fun downhill.
It’s effectively a widened sidewalk along a suburban boulevard opposite from a commercial shopping center. I’m sure it’s functional in that way, but it’s not really a *trail.* I’ll still give it 3 stars though because it’s in perfect shape.
It’s very short, but a good ride while it lasts. The Oregon Pike crossing is daring. Other than that it’s just a simple high-quality short-trail.
Pretty straightforward; not much to say. Just watch the tight switchbacks north of the tunnel if you’re on a bike or something with wheels.
In all honesty, I rode this entirely too fast. The trail is quite narrow, enough so that I had to pull over to let another cyclist continue in the other direction. That said, I still had a lot of fun blazing the downhills. Lots of root-bumps as well. Some of the hills are pretty aggressive for bikes.
It’s really just a park pathway but longer. Nothing special. Smooth ride.
I’m giving this an extra star because of the eastern extension; the eastern extension is in great shape and fun to ride. However, the western mainline is not in good shape. Many spots had dense stones where I spun my wheels. The main parking lot is closed until November, and there’s a section of trail covered in orange construction material. I suppose it would be a nice walk, but it really wasn’t a great ride.
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