Getting to the trail is a breeze, as it is only about 35 miles outside of Minneapolis. From the Twin Cities, take I-94 west to Hwy 101 (exit 207). Take 101 north about 9 miles until you get to county road 12. Hang a right (east) on 12. Within a half mile or so, start looking for a gravel parking lot to your right. As of June '02, there was no sign, so you might miss it on your first pass by, but it is the first gravel parking lot you come to. Once you're in the parking lot, it's pretty easy to tell you're in the right place. The trail starts next to the dirt road heading south from the parking lot. BLAST has done a great job of marking the trail with white arrows, so just keep your eyes open, and you'll find it.

This is a fun trail. Plain and simple. 7 miles of fun singletrack. Challenging, twisting and exciting. The trail is a singletrack loop that doesn't really have any 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 BLAST 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. BLAST has also done a great job building up large logs to be completely rideable.

This trail is relatively new, but pretty well packed in.  The crew in Elk River does not exactly subscribe to IMBA trail building guidelines, so one can expect poor trail conditions when wet, as well as potential erosion issues.   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.

Note in 2003, the city of Elk River and BLAST decided to make this trail a pay to ride.  This means if you plan on parking in the lot near the trail, you will need to fork out some cash.  Bring a few bucks and support their efforts.  (Local residents don't pay - go figure) 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, detach the stub, and affix to windshield. A season pass can be obtained from Elk River Recreation at 1104 Lions Park Drive. Their phone number is 763-635-1150.

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: BLAST suggests 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. Blast also has a trail maintenance bulletin on the Hillside City Park sign.