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Forums
Discussion of
metro area trails can be found
here.
Please feel
free to report any errors or trail related information in the
appropriate forum.
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Getting There
Battle Creek Regional Park is located approximately 5
miles East of downtown St. Paul, off I-94.
Driving East on I-94, exit on McKnight Road and turn right
(South).
Drive South to Upper Afton Road.
Turn right on Upper Afton Road and drive to Winthrop
Street.
Turn left on Winthrop Street, and drive approximately one
block.
Turn right, into the Battle Creek Community Center parking
lot.
Find a place to park - you're at the trailhead!
The official trailhead is located directly South of the
Community Center. Just head South across the grass, until
you pick up a well-worn singletrack about 100 yards later.
(Note: there is another parking lot available off Pt.
Douglas Road - we don't recommend using it, as there have
been quite a few break-ins at the Pt. Douglas lot.)
 The
Details
Battle Creek offers quite an extensive network of trails,
as compared to most metropolitan trail systems. In many
areas of the park, it's easy to forget you're surrounded
by suburbs on all sides. Battle Creek has something for
riders of all technical abilities, with trails running the
gamut from smooth, hard-pack ski trails to expert-level
singletrack. The terrain is quite hilly, so expect the
trails to give you a good workout. Although hilly, the
climbs tend to be relatively short, with the longest
single climb gaining approximately 300' in elevation.
Trails are mainly fast hardpack, with several sandy
sections and a few rocks & roots.
One common complaint with this trail is
that there is no one right way to ride it. This leads to
confusion on the part of people who are not familiar with
the trail. It also causes some scary near misses by bikers
bombing around blind corners not expecting to see people
coming the other way.
The trail starts climbing right out of
the parking lot. Once you're at the top, you head north
and bomb down a grassy doubletrack. After wandering
around the northwest side of this plot of park, you make
your way south, and west across the dividing Battle
Creek Road.
On the west side of the road, there is some pretty sweet
singletrack, and some nice views of the surrounding
area. You can make a loop within this area, or you can
cross over a paved trail on the north end of this
section, hit a trail spur, and drop out onto a road to
the west. From there, you continue south on the road and
hop back into the park up the biggest climb Battle Creek
has to offer. To exit this west end of the park, you
back track on the spur that brought you across the road.
Back on the east side, you head south on the doubletrack
ski trail. After a quick sandy climb, hang a right into
some really nice singletrack. This wanders around the
south end of the park. Climbing back up out of the
valley, you can wander around on the doubletrack to the
southeast, or head out for another lap.
This trail can get muddy in many spots
when it's wet due to areas that have improper drainage.
Since it's not a good idea to ride a wet trail anyway...
Don't ride this one after a rain. Mudding is not good on
your bike, the trail, or land access efforts. Do us all
a favor, and stick to dry legal trails.
The most common complaint we receive about the trails
at Battle Creek are from riders who can't find the
"good" trails. Due to the layout of Battle Creek Park
and minimalist signage, it can be a bit challenging to
piece a cohesive longer ride together. Some new signage
has been installed this year, and a large signboard will
soon be going up at the trailhead, helping the situation
somewhat.
During the last half of 2001, there was a massive
project at Battle Creek to eradicate non-native
Buckthorn and Black Locust trees and undergrowth. As a
result, there are piles of brush everywhere, and some
areas of the park are presently quite unattractive. Take
heart, there is a method to this seeming madness - the
brush piles will soon be burned, and native flora will
be encouraged to flourish. In the mean time, watch out
for stray branches across trails!
Land Manager
Ramsey County Parks & Recreation manages the Battle
Creek Regional Park. Ramsey County Staff have been very
coorperative in working with MORC to maintain and
improve the off-road trails at Battle Creek. In 2000, a
vocal group of non-bikers tried to get mountain bikers
banned from the park, due to the irresponsible behavior
of a few riders. The situation has improved markedly in
2001, as Park staff & MORC have spread the word about
riding responsibly. Please help ensure continued
mountain bike access at Battle Creek by riding only on
open trails and by showing respect for other park
patrons. You can visit Ramsey County's Battle Creek
Mountain Biking Site, by
clicking here!
Trail Pictures
One of several "Pallet Bridges" - a
technique first pioneered by MORC at the MN River
Bottoms
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Here's a section of the "Expert"
downhill |
Another section of the "Expert"
downhill |
You'll immediately recognize "Fern
Gully" when you get there!
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"Typical" Ski Trail |
New Switchback - part of the longest
climb at Battle Creek |
"Typical" Singletrack Trail
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Plenty of great River Valley views! |
Nice trailhead sign |
One of many challenging climbs |
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More on
Battle Creek
Battle Creek forum
here.
Battle Creek trail work
information
here.
Battle Creek
trail
building pictures
here.
Battle Creek
trail conditions
here.
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Ramsey County Parks & Recreation has posted an
online map of the trail system, which is
slightly outdated, but still 95% accurate. Note -
the map prints out best in Landscape mode.
For an overview
map of the park and surrounding area, click
here!
To provide further guidance, we've posted
Steve's favorite route at Battle Creek, a 7+
mile loop that flows well and includes virtually all
of Battle Creek's most technically challenging trail
sections. 2-3 laps of this route will definitely
give you a great workout! There are a few special
notations on Steve's route, including:
Advanced-level downhill - We're not kidding
about this section! It has rocks, roots, sand &
elevation change, all wrapped into one sweet section
of trail. The downhill is all rideable, but don't
feel bad if discretion leads you to walk parts of
it.
Difficult 90 degree downhill turn - several
riders have been hurt on this turn, so be careful!
Note: Some late season trailwork has lessened the
danger at this corner.
Paved Bike Path - Ramsey County and St. Paul
have been kind enough to build a paved bike path all
the way from downtown St. Paul to Battle Creek
Regional Park. The trail also includes a bridge over
Highway 10/61, that connects to Indian Mounds Park.
GPS Maps Coming Soon
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