Find the top rated mountain biking trails in Norfolk, 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.
We rode the GAP from Cedar Creek Park to the Boston trailhead at the base of the Historic Boston Bridge and back. About 36 miles round trip. What a great ride. Smooth trail with lots of benches and several picnic areas and toilet facilities. Well maintained. Passed through several little communities along the trail. No major highways and very few little roads to cross making it very safe. Got a delicious huge “medium” size ice cream cone at the “Big Twist” in Blythedale, right off the trail. Highly recommend this ride!
I’ve ridden a lot of trails so when planning my big tour across the country, I routed to the Cowboy Trail. To my great disappointment, the loose, unpacked gravel made it unrideable; I had to ride the highway that parelled it. Locals, all super nice folks, all laughed and said, “Everyone knows that is an awful bicycle surface!” I truly hope someone that understands what is needed to make this a wonderful trail fixes and makes the Cowboy Trail the trail it could be takes charge; go see the GAP or Katy trails!
Drove up here from Denver for a three day weekend to ride 150 miles of this trail. Valentine to Woodlake and back was an excellent condition. I can happily report no goat head flats. Love that this trail happened. I'm a huge advocate of rails to trails. The peace and quiet is outstanding and the scenery off the highway is lovely.
Highly recommend this beautiful and well kept trail. Beautiful to ride along the trees and over the 2 epic ohiopyle bridges.
Great trails with beautiful views and strong local support!
I was traveling through on my way back to Ohio, but I wanted to ride on portions of this trail. I had stayed overnight in Chadron and saw the trail along the road as I drove east. That part was rough looking and not finished as per TrailLink. I never did find a location of a trail head in that area. I stopped in Rushville to see the trail there. The 15 miles between Rushville and Gordon were complete, so the crushed stone was a much better surface. Due to lack of time and not wanting to bike against 25-30 mph winds, I went on to Valentine. I parked in the lot by a grocery store, which was close to the trail. I wasn't sure where else to park in town. I rode the trail to the bridge. While researching this trail, TrailLink had said that the Nicobara Bridge over the Niobrara River was closed, but I was at least hoping to see it. In fact, it was open. It was awesome to see and the views were great. It was a little nerve racking with the winds at 25-30 mph and higher gusts, I felt like I was going to blow over the railing. :-) I went to the parking area on the other side and turned around. I then biked to the trailhead on the west side of Valentine. There is a good ice cream shop on Main Street for those who like to bike to eat treats.
I then drove to Norfolk. The next morning I went to the trailhead there and biked 5 miles out and 5 back. The surface was cement for the first 2 miles, but then changed to crushed stone. Still a good surface. The trail went through the country and along the Elkhorn River.
I did the 2 endpoints, so maybe someday I will ride the middle portion.
Ok section, kind of dull. Agriculture & cows. Found a bit of shade by a grain elevator for lunch. Several washouts filled with tumbleweeds as you get closer to Lind.
We started in Akron and rode about 18 miles north. Loved it!!!
We ( recumbent trike & e-bike) headed West from the Kiwanis park. Turned around after 9km as the surface was really tough on the trike. There’s 2 good wheel tracks for bikes, but the trike had to ride partially in the coarse trail ballast. Scenic area with farm views and a huge windmill farm in the distance.
Nice towns along the way. Good history. Various places to camp/stay. The trail is wide, well groomed and is mostly free from weeds or any overgrowth. But tire tracks from maintenance equipment can create a rough washboard effect along the trail.
In the red aggregate areas there is so much loose red aggregate that sometimes it is very hard to pedal and navigate through. Then the crushed limestone portions are pretty good. Issue is the trail will alternate back and forth with some sections of the really loose red aggregate and some sections of nice crushed limestone.
Use caution in loose material at road crossings (especially in sandier soil areas in western portions of the trail).
No trailheads. Source your own water and find own restrooms in towns along the way. No bulletin boards to post communications so check ahead online for trail closures and detours.
I did not have an issue with the puncturevine many speak of but be prepared for it in case you do.
Today was my 3rd day on the trail. Have logged 140 miles on the trail over the last 3 days....all out and back. Today I rode from Ainsworth beyond Bassett. A pleasant surprise, 3 miles out of Ainsworth the trail surface changed from the red pea sized gravel to white/tan small stone gravel. Similar to what we have in WI…crushed limestone. This made the trail much much smoother! A MAJOR improvement. I did find in Long Pine that the bridge outside of town was out. Required me to take a detour out of town and ride on Hwy 20 for 1.5 miles (I felt safe as the shoulder is quite wide), got on a side road, where not far from Hwy 20 picked up the trail. That side road was very soft, so glad it was a short ride. The trail surface continued to be smooth to Bassett, where it then reverted back to the red stone. It made me wonder why the different type of stone is being used as the red stone surely is part of the reason for the rougher ride when the surface is comprised of this red stone. I rode 53 miles today. The temp was 88...still hot. Glad to be done! Overall, rode 141 miles on the trail. And no flats!!
TrailLink is a free service provided by Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (a non-profit) and we need your support!
Scan the QR code to get TrailLink on your phone
Map Search
