Hillside Park

From MORC Wiki

Trail Name:	Hillside Park
Trail Maps:	?
Forum Link:	here
Land Manager:	The City of Elk River
Length:	7.6 miles
Lap:	40-60 min
Singlespeed Gear:	32x18
Toilet:	yes
Water:	no
Physically:	moderate
Technically	tight and twisty

1 Getting There
2 History
3 The Details
4 Land Manager
5 Overall Impression
6 Trail Maps
7 Pictures & Multimedia

Getting There

Getting to the trail is a breeze, as it is only about 17 miles outside of the 494/694 split. From the Twin Cities, take I-94 west to Hwy 101 (exit 207). Take 101 north about 9 miles (Hwy 101 turns into 169 at the bridge when it intersects Hwy 10 coming into Elk River) until you get to county road 12 (Main Street). Hang a right (east) on 12. You will go through one stoplight, and one 4-way stop sign, then start looking for a gravel parking lot to your right (about one mile total from 169). There is a large stone sign at the parking lot entrance that says "Hillside Park", and it has the street address on it, see below. The main trail starts next to the signage in the southeast corner of the parking lot. There is also a much shorter, family friendly trail in the opposite corner of the lot. Both trails are marked with white arrows, so just keep your eyes open, and you'll find them.

The street addres is: 10801 181st Ave NW Elk River, MN

History

The singletrack trail at Hillside Park was layed out and constructed by BLAST during the years of 1999 and 2000. Since 2006 it has been maintained by the small DirtWirx crew of volunteers.

The Details

This is a fun trail. Plain and simple. Over 7 miles of fun singletrack. Challenging, twisting and exciting. The trail is a singletrack loop that doesn't have many spurs, or crossings, so getting lost isn't a problem. If you're not wanting to do the whole loop, you can hang a left on the grassy doubletrack underneath the powerlines about 1.5 miles into the trail. After a little bit, look for the singletrack coming back across the grassy doubletrack. You'll see a brown sign saying that this is Hillside park, hiking/biking. This is your trail. Other than a mechanical, or bad weather, you should have no reason to take the shortcut. This trail is too fun to cut anything out. The trail has a lot of quick ups and downs. With no real sustained climbing, this trail isn't terribly physically demanding, that is unless you push the pace yourself. I enjoyed the rolling singletrack meandering through the forests, crossing logs, and rocks. The one spot that really impressed me was a switchback climb where they had built out the corner, using logs as retaining walls, so that you could change directions on the hill without completely stalling. It was subtle, but it just shows how much went into this trail. They have also done a great job building up large logs to be completely rideable, many of which are used as skinny's.

With it's close proximity to the Metro, and its high quality mountain biking, I am guessing that this trail will develop quite a name for itself.

In 2003, the City of Elk River and BLAST decided to make this trail a pay to ride, and the proceeds go right back into the trail system. This means if you plan on parking in the lot near the trail, you will need to have some cash. Bring a few bucks and support their efforts. (Local residents don't pay, it's covered by their taxes) Hillside park has their fee schedule and paybox in place. The fee is $4 per person per day. A season pass is $25 per person. Remember, this fee is per person, not per vehicle. Riders traveling together in the same vehicle must all have their day pass or season pass affixed to the windshield of the vehicle. Bikers who ride to the trail must carry their day pass or season pass on their person. Envelopes for the day pass are at the trailhead. A season pass can be obtained from Elk River Parks and Recreation at 1104 Lions Park Drive. Their phone number is 763-635-1150. You can also purchase a season pass online at: [1]

One note about the topo map. It's so tight back in the woods that my GPS isn't able to catch every switchback. It said that I had gone 6 miles, while my cyclecomputer said 7 miles. In this case I would go with the 7 miles for the real distance.

Note: They suggest keeping our weight over the rear tire, braking with both brakes, without skidding, and keeping our tires inflated no higher then 40-45 psi. Avoid skidding or locking up the brakes, as this severely erodes this trail.

The DirtWirx crew is out there frequently doing trail maintenance, and anyone is welcome to come and help if they'd like. No experience is necessary, first timers are welcome anytime.

Land Manager

City of Elk River

Overall Impression

This trail has grown up over the last year and has become one of the A list metro area trails. Watch for some great things from DirtWirx as they continue to improve upon this great trail. You owe it to yourself to go ride Hillside!