Review Date
July 21, 2007

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: lesh ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
I found L.V. to be great place to workout and a challenging place for new riders to practice their new found mountain bike skills. I think for most seasoned riders they can find a trail here for their choice of difficulty in my opinion.

Recommended Route:
I went to the Left and then took road the down middle that brought me back to the Parking Lot. It was about 7 miles total that I road. It was a awesome down hill run on the last mile back. Ok, it was just a blast to go that fast and to cool off. I'm just glad a deer didn't jump out in front of me.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Wentzville, MO has 2 great parks with trails

Review Date
July 11, 2006

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a year

Reviewed by: zod ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Lost Valley is a funny name b/c it's hard to get lost when you spend what seems like 75% of your time on gravel roads spinning away...for me personally that does not equate to mountain biking. As I boringly pedaled down the gravel I would look to my side at the adundant forest and wonder why I was being made to ride a road when a nice singletrack trail could be cut in meandering the general direction of the road. There was one section where I was riding down a flat path through a grassy valley for a good distance yet directly off to my left was a beautiful wooded hillside with nice contours...it was very frustrating. Lost Valley for me was too much road and not nearly enough trail.

Now all that being said the singletrack that was cut in was very nice and a lot of fun. In a few section it rolled the countours really well allowing for some really fast speeds and incredible flow! Great work, super nice benching, A+ for the trail work...but that is heavily off-set by all the time spent on gravel roads and doubletrack. I will certainly ride Lost Valley again next time I am in Missouri but it will only be with hopes that more work has been done. 8+ miles of riding is nice for blowing out the cobwebs but it would be nice if it were all on singletrack. Gravel roads bad......singletrack good!

I had a lot more fun at Matson Hill.....

Recommended Route:
I did it clockwise and from what I could tell that seemd like the best choice when I was done. It seems like I did most of my climbing on gravel and most of the descending on singletrack. Yet during my ride most people were riding counter-clockwise? Made no sense to me...so I suggest clockwise.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Matson Hill
Klondike

Review Date
June 19, 2006

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: jeriCurl ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
My favorite trail. I ride this trail at least once a week. It is a 9 mile trail now that GORC has massively improved it with more super fun and sustainable single-trak. All of the recent trail work has really paid off with a trail that is one of the first in the area to dry out. This trail is super fun wooded riding without a lot of super technical stuff. This trail is fun for the beginner or the advanced. For more information and a detailed trail map go to:

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

Recommended Route:
I like parking at the Nuclear mound on Hwy 94 just south of 40. I then ride down the Hamburg trail to the backside of Lost Valley. Drop in on the trail and make a sharp left turn at the bottom of the trail. Ride it clockwise, then keep going on a second lap till you get to the "middle-road" that bisects the park. Climb up that, then ride the whole loop counter-clockwise for a totally different feeling trail.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Technical: Chubb, Klondike, Greensfelder
Fast & Fun: Castlewood, Matson, Quail Ridge
Epic: Berryman, Council Bluff

Review Date
December 19, 2005

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Every few months

Reviewed by: slu2008 ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Haven't ridden this trail in about a year. I rode it on Friday and it is AWESOME!!! The work that GORC did on this trail was great. I plan on going back soon.

Recommended Route:
Either is sweet.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Chubb

Review Date
March 19, 2005

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a month

Reviewed by: Usually_Bleeding ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
This trail continues to get better. If ridden clockwise, the first 3 miles is fire road, but then begins a very fun single track which lasts a few miles until it hooks up with the old route again. Blast down the fireroad to the valley where you connect again with a nice single track to finish it off. Great job GORC.

Recommended Route:
I go clockwise to avoid climbing that long fire road.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Matson Hill, Klondike