Review Date
July 29, 2007

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: Donkay ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
This trail is a blast, though a short one, for the experienced rider. The park itself consists of one large hill and the valley next to it. There is a gravel road, AKA "cheater's highway" which climbs the hill and splits the park in half. The trail is almost all very tight singletrack with some short segments of gravel road. There are many log crossings, but the only huge one has been severely(too severely, IMO)tamed. The climbs are steep but not long enough to kill anyone. Instead of a severe downhill you get long zigzaggy descents with brief periods of intense speed.

The trail is actually two loops, and inner loop and an outer loop. The outer loop starts on the gravel road leading south from the parking lot. It climbs the southeast side of the hill, gradually working its way to the peak of the hill, where it crosses the aforementioned road. Here begins the rollercoaster which starts heading south along the edge of the valley, then switches back north, zigzagging its way down through the valley back toward the parking lot. There are a couple of nice opportunities for airborne shenanigans in this section, if a person is so inclined.

The inner loop begins where the outer one ends. The trail head is about 20 yards up cheater's highway, on the right. You head back down to the valley floor, then encounter two steep back to back climbs. There's a bit of winding around, then you cross the road again to the north side of the hill. The trail winds down the north side, then it's back up, and the trail slashes across the east side of the hill. The downhills are mostly smooth and fast but contain some vicious switchbacks, so newbies pay attention to what's coming up. It all ends with a flat but bouncy ride north along the bottom edge of the hill, back to the lot area.

Beware of washed out trail in the lower valley after a rainstorm-there are still a couple of crossings that will have to be bridged or rerouted eventually. There is also a lot of dead & dying timber at Jewell so be prepared for logs and branches littering the trail after a heavy storm or winds. We do our best to keep the trail clear but it is a never-ending job.

Recommended Route:
There is no signage at all on the trail as of this writing, so newbies check out my trail map here:

http://gallery.mtbr.com/data/mtbr/500/Jewell_Map_Small.jpg

I recommend starting on the outer loop. It's a good buildup to the inner loop's back to back steep climbs. The outer loop's climb to the top is long and disjointed, with some short downhill breaks. There are steep climbing areas but they are very short. After you reach the top, near the cemetary shed, it's all sweet payback, as long as you keep your speed up.

As the other reviewers have noted, this is not set up as a beginner trail by any means. That said, I would not discourage less experienced riders from an attempt. Just be very careful on the downhills and try the outer loop climb first, or take the cheater's highway up.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Swanson Park is the closest. It's another Bellevue park with a lot of trail crammed into a small space. It's got a lot of fun stuff, but is much more beginner-friendly.

Also close by are Lewis & Clark, Lake Manawa in Council Bluffs and Tranquility in Omaha.

Review Date
August 28, 2006

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: Matttrailrat ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
At first I found the trail confusing but after meeting up with a fellow on the trail he explained to me where to start and what direction to go. it is a fun 3.67 mile ride that I do twice for exercise.

Recommended Route:
Use the directions shown on MTBR to get to park. The park itself is run down a little and can be hard to spot first time. After the college heights sign there will be a bunch of woods on the left, keep going until you reach a parking area that is gated off. Park there and ride your bike into the park following the tree line and towards the end of the tree line will be a little gravel road heading up into the woods, take that road and you will see the start of the trail on the right about 150 feet up the road. Have fun and be careful.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Swanson Park

Review Date
June 5, 2006

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 4 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: Pistol2Ne ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
Small short and huge switch backs, if you don't like the switchbacks at platte then don't go here, I would not recommend this trail to beginers, there was a group of beginners there and they had a very difficult time. The trail was not as smooth flowing as it looked, although i did enjoy a nice crash which had one of my cleats fall out and lose a screw, luckly my friend found it under a leaf, WOW i still can't believe he found it, intermediate to advanced riders good trail, beginers I would warn to stay away from because of some of the technicallitys

Recommended Route:
if you can climb technical stuff go straight up the washed out road

Other recommended trails in the same area:
SWANSON!!!!!

Review Date
June 3, 2006

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 4 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 3 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Ridden Once

Reviewed by: JTBusa ,  Weekend Warrior

Summary:
This is a great litte park. I would not suggest it to beginners however. I believe that I was under prepared for the trail. This trail requires alot of speed. It is a beutiful course, well maintained and some opportunities for some good air. Lots of climbing if you do not maintain good speed. I ended up walking alot of the up hills. I have only tried a few trails in the area and this is by far the hardest I have tried yet. I am sure this would be a great course for a more seasoned rider.

Recommended Route:
Follow the signs, take some of the off shoots.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
Swanson Park

Review Date
May 23, 2006

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Aerobic Difficulty
 3 of 5

Technical Difficulty
 2 of 5

Ridden Trail:
Once a week

Reviewed by: Pawndream ,  Cross Country Rider

Summary:
Jewell Park is a pretty good local ride. The trail flow is very well laid out and the trail builders have really maximized on the real estate they had to work with. Excellent flow.

There is a good amount of climbing to be had here, but nothing that an average rider can't handle. Beginners might have trouble, but for the most part all of the climbs are middle ringers. I'd rate the level of climbing here a notch above Swanson Park, and maybe a notch below Lewis and Clark.

Technical challenges are few and far between at Jewell. There are a few log crossings, but only two are tall enough for the chainring to taste wood. There are also a few uphill, hairpin switchback turns that could be seen as challenging to some.

Probably the biggest technical challenge is the speed. This trail rides VERY fast and it is easy to pick up speed in a hurry. Throw in some hairpin turns on a downhill run and the potential is there for wreckage. Also off-camber action. Watch the speed. Skidding has the very real potential to ruin these trails due to the built-in speed.

I usually do 2-3 laps here before calling it a day. The biggest downer about this trail is the length. Coming it at around 4 miles total, it does require a few laps to get a good ride in. But it's worth it.

For what it is, Jewell Park gets a 4 Chili rating. To me, it's a funner ride than Swanson (maybe because Jewell is new) and very close in fun factor to Lewis and Clark.

Recommended Route:
There really is only one way to go. Follow the trail signs. Riding against the flow of trail traffic is not advised. Trust me, the first time out here, I did it, and the trail sucked. No flow whatsoever.

Other recommended trails in the same area:
The Usual Suspects