Review Date
April 7, 2008

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: brianinchina ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This trail has done nothing but improve over the last 4 years that I have ridden it. Like I do in most of my reviews, I have to give credit to the trail crew for making this trail so much fun to ride.

Make sure and experiment with the loops to get just the right length as well as technical riding for whatever you want. In the summer months the trails are really busy esp. on the weekends with people hiking. Overall, a very good beginner trail with awesome single track sections.

Review Date
August 15, 2007

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: Kentarre ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Located on either side of the river running through Devil's Den State Park, Fossil Flats is home to most of the things that make me love mountain biking. It is comprised of three loops to bring you either blistering fast, smooth sections (with the aptly named "gravity-cavity" at the end) A long, twisty climb culminating with a descent down a straighter, faster path, and finally the rockiest doubletrack you'll find in the state.

Total distance of all loops is around 10 miles I think....

Recommended Route:
Mix and match as you like. I typically ride in the flat areas in view of the river

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Hobbs Diversity Trail
Slaughterpen Hollow Trail

Review Date
July 6, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: Shad6Bones ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
What a fun a trail.

Pictures of Fossil Flats available at:
http://shadsix.com/mtb/FossilFlats070306/

I am new rider, and I had a great time! Yes, we got lost. Yes, I had a few spills on uphill climbs (due to rocks). But what a great day.

My buddy and I arrived at Fossil Flats at 10 am. We only saw 2 other riders on the trail all day. This trail was a step up from my normal ride (Lake Fayetteville).

This trail is quite nice! A few uphills to keep you honest. The down hills are great. There were some areas of rocks that gave me fits, but this is my first ride on clipless (so I was struggling there).

I had a few spills on the uphills with my clipless as I am still learning the technique.

On the topic of getting lost, yes... it happened. I did not find the maps at the visitor center that detailed Fossil Flats. Maybe I overlooked them? We got lost on the trail. We took one turn at a fork that turned onto a trail/path that was unmarked. Before we knew it we are climbing a HUGE uphill that never seemed to end. Later we realized that we were clearly out of the park/trail boundaries. I am still baffled by this turn because we checked it twice, and it looked like a logical turn (fork in the road).

Later, my buddy stepped through his chain on an uphill. So, we tried to make it out from that point back to the campsite. It took us a while to locate the right trail that led the way we wanted to go (we were also slowed down due to the broken chain).

Over all, this trail was a lot of fun. I'll definitely make the trip from Fayetteville to Devil's Den regularly for this trial.

If you are coming from out of town, camping at Camp Site A would be great.

-S6

Recommended Route:
CW

Review Date
March 18, 2006

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: mchaines ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Great little trail with good climbs, a few fast descents, and some really fun twisting singletrack. I'm not sure if I'd agree with the trail rating as "beginner/easy", there is some riding (especially on the back sections) that might make beginners a bit nervous (some exposed trail overlooking a significant drop to the creekbed, and the "gravity cavity") The shorter loops could be used for a quick ride or to keep beginners out of trouble. Also, if you're riding a hardtail, expect to get jostled a bit--or if you're riding a fully rigid bike like one of my riding buddies did last year--jostled a lot.

Recommended Route:
Clockwise. Also check out the natural ramps in the shale beds to the left of the trail on the final descent to the creek.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Lake Leatherwood

Review Date
December 17, 2004

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: Arisian ,  Racer

Summary:
Overall the trail was pretty good. Alot of it (I think about 1 mile) was just logging roads. The singletrack stuff was a ton of fun. I was riding on an old hardtail wishing i was on a soft tail to be honest, this was probably because it was my first time on this trail. The second half of the ride was really amazing. Some good downhills. If i wasnt exhausted when i started the ride i would have done it again. The trail was really wet when we went because it had rained a TON the week before. Want to go back and check out the trail on a dry day. Overall, very worthy ride.

Recommended Route:
n/a

Other recommended trails in the same area:
n/a