Review Date
May 12, 2008

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: ericfoltz ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Great trail. I've ridden it twice now and it never fails to satisfy. Not overly technical. Just a good long ride on some great singletrack.

Trail is prone to fallen trees so if you're riding after a big storm, be prepared to walk around some deadfall.

Recommended Route:
Clockwise loop from the campground.

Review Date
November 5, 2007

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2 votes

Reviewed by: tierney_joseph ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
The area is gorgeous & the surrounding camping is first rate. The trail is undoubtedly very challenging due to it's length & an excellent test of endurance. Besides the length the trail has very little to offer & I'd have to say 'Bicycle Magazine' is nuts to call it the finest trail east of the Rockies & west of the Appalachians. 80% of this trail has fallen victim to very large amounts of horse traffic - so you're basically riding on large, loose rock the entire time. If you want to know what it would be like to ride the Berryman just find a dried out rocky creek bed and ride on that for a while. It is a beautiful area & you will be tired, but there is nothing fun about riding this trail. Arkansas, KC, & St. Louis all offer much better alternatives - Syllamo Springs, Landahl, Minor Park, Castle Wood, the Chubb ... they are shorter (save Syllamo) but offer much more diverse & technical riding - ride them twice if you need the 24 miles. It is important to note that Minor & Castle Wood do not offer camping.

Recommended Route:
Rode counter clockwise.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Syllamo Springs, Landahl, Minor, Castle Wood, Chubb

Review Date
November 5, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 5 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: Kbradsher ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Monday October 30
The trail is in excellent shape! The numerous trees that had fallen and were blocking the trail have been cut and removed. Thank you sooooo much!
It was an excellent day to ride with the temps around 65. Lots and lots of leaves on the ground so you had to be very careful with the large rocks and holes on the downhill.

This is an excellent time to ride one of Missouri's best.

Review Date
June 21, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 5 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: Kbradsher ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
I rode the Berryman on Monday June 12 and had a great time. There are numerous dead trees that have fallen over the trail that will slow you down. Some you can jump over and some you have to go under or over.

The trail is still a great challenge because of the length. I forgot to pack any food or extra gatorade so I was starting to hurt 3 hours into the ride (o.k. I'm not very fast and I was riding alone and did not see anyone on the trail that day and did not expect to see anyone so I rode very cautiosly)

The weather was perfect that day with the high around 75.

Recommended Route:
Either way is great. There are some great roller coaster sections that are a blast. Up and down, curving right and left with nasty drop offs along the way.

Pack tons of water/gatorade and bring some type of power food to keep your energy going.

God Bless and have a great time.

Give me a shout if anyone would like to ride on a Monday or Friday this summer.

Review Date
June 19, 2006

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: jeriCurl ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Epic Trail. Rolling hills, lots of short ups and downs but very few really long hills. Very wooded, all single-track. 26 miles long with lots of short-cuts available for those who can't handle the whole distance. Extremely popular with the local horse riding crowd, so watch out for horses, and if it has rained anytime within the last week, expect lots of hoof-prints, cause the horse crowd doesn't seem to mind when they are tearing up the trail.

Recommended Route:
I prefer counter-clockwise starting from the Brazil camp-ground. It gives you a great down-hill into the Artesian well, and then if you are worn out when you get to the Berryman campground, you can take the gravel roads back to the Brazil campground and skip the second half. I also HIGHLY recommend bringing a map with you. For more info and some detailed maps, go to:

http://www.gorctrails.com/trails/mberryman.asp

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Council Bluff -- no horses and there is a lake you can go swimming in when you get done.