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Links 1-10 of 14 in this trail

1. Austin - Barton Creek (The Greenbelt)

   Location: Central Austin at Zilker Park. Rating: Intermediate. Type: Singletrack. Cost: Free. Contact: 512.472.1267. This is the grandpappy of Austin mountain biking and great for beginner to intermediate level riders. Beginners will have to walk through many sections, but still have long stretches they can ride and enjoy. One end of the trail is accessible from the parking lot at the Barton Springs pool at Zilker Park. Lots of variety on this trail. It's about 7.5 miles long one way. If the creek is running, be aware you'll have to make several water crossings to get all the way out and back, but you can also swim and cool down along the way. This is a really beautiful trail. You can also rock climb and hike on the greenbelt. If it's been raining, call the phone number on the linked trail map to make sure the trail is open.

2. Austin - Emma Long Motocross Park (City Park)

   Location: Northwest Austin off City Park Road. Rating: Difficult. Type: Singletrack. Cost: Free. Contact: 512.837.4500. For more advanced riders, this trail is a blast. No hikers are allowed on this trail. Just motorcycles and bikes. This is both a technically challenging trail and a real test of your endurance. The main loop is about 5 miles, but it feel like more. A very pretty hill country natural feel. After biking you can pop down to Ski Shores for a great burger and a cold beer, or go a little further down the road to Emma Long Park to jump in the lake or read a book.

3. Austin - Bull Creek

   Location: Northwest Austin near 360 and 2222. Rating: Easy. Type: Doubletrack and Singletrack. Cost: Free. Contact: 512.327.5437. This is where I learned to mountain bike. It's a good place for a beginner to get started or to try to start to stretch from beginner to intermediate. It's not a long trail - about 2.5 miles one way, but pretty and easily accessible.
4. Austin - Town Lake

   Location: Central Austin at Zilker and Downtown. Rating: Easy. Type: Hike and Bike. Cost: Free. Contact: 512.499.6700. This is as easy as it gets. I am tempted not to include this trail in a mountain biking trail list because it's really not mountain biking. It's a big, wide, flat, hard-packed dirt road. It's really not different than riding on the road except that you won't get hit by a car. On the other hand. you can't really go fast because there are a gazillion joggers, walkers, and dogs on this trail all the time, so I don't like to bike it. Still, if you want to ride your bike and not get mashed by a car, it's an option. This trail can be anywhere from about 3 miles to more than 10 miles depending on where you cut off your loop to cross the lake.

5. Austin - Shoal Creek

   Location: Central Austin at Lamar from about 10th St to 35th St. Rating: Easy. Type: Hike and Bike. Cost: Free. Contact: 512.499.6700. This is like the Town Lake in that I wouldn't really describe it as mountain biking, but this trail has fewer joggers and hikers than Town Lake, and it's a bit more rocky in certain sections. This trail is about 3 miles each way. There's also a great frisbee golf course here if you want to go multi-sport.

6. Austin - McKinney Falls State Park

   Location: Southeast Austin. Rating: Easy. Type: Singletrack and Jeep Trails. Cost: Free. Contact: 512.243.1643. This is a nice very easy beginner trail - smooth hard-packed dirt singletrack with not many rocks and nothing technical. It's about a 3 mile trail, and afterward you can head to the falls for a swim.
7. Austin - Forest Ridge Nature Preserve

   Location: Northwest Austin near 360 and 2222. Rating: Difficult. Type: Singletrack. Cost: Free. Contact: 512.327.5437. I love this trail, but it's been largely closed off to mountain bikers for a while now due to the presence of some endangered species of bird in the area. This trail is easy to get to (close to Bull Creek), and it's a real lung/leg burner. You just climb and climb and climb all the way up, and if you can do it without stopping, it's tougher than the Hill of Life on the Barton Creek trail. Then you go across a flat section, and then it's down and down and down. Hopefully they'll re-open this to mountain bikers soon. Meanwhile you can still hike it to see what you're missing.

8. Around Austin - Rocky Hill Ranch

   Location: Near Bastrop. Rating: Mixed. Type: Singletrack and Doubletrack. Cost: $$. Contact: 512.237.3112. Rocky Hill is a great day trip or weekend trip, still very close to Austin. It has a mix of easy, intermediate, and difficult trails, although I'd say it's mostly intermediate and easy. Rocky Hill has a very different feel than the Austin trails. It has lots of pine trees and feels very east Texas or even a little Colorado-ish. The trails are also different and fun. They're less rocky (despite the name). Lots of hardpack singletrack that rollercoasters and cuts back through the pine trees - really fun for darting around and building your handling skills. You can get a great burger and beer right there. You can also camp at Rocky Hill or nearby at Buescher State Park to make a weekend of it.

9. Around Austin - Colorado Bend State Park

   Location: Near Lampasas. Rating: Mixed. Type: Singletrack and Doubletrack. Cost: Free. Contact: 915.628.3240. This is a nice spot with a mixed set of trails. There are a couple of sections that are about 6 miles each and intermediate in level, and there is also a nice easy 3-mile section you can ride and see the river, or jump into the river.

10. Around Austin - Hill Country State Natural Area

    Location: Near Bandera. Rating: Mixed. Type: Singletrack and Doubletrack. Cost: $. Contact: 210.796.4413. Bandera is a fun place to visit for a weekend - it's the cowboy capital of the world. The natural area is very hilly and very rocky, and there are many miles of trails to explore. There are lots of long climbs that will wear you out, and classic hill country vistas from the tops of the hills. You share the trails here with horses (not many), but remember to stop and yield to horses if you see any. You can also camp here.