Featured Ride: O’Bannon Woods State Park, Indiana

Photos and information from MTBProject.com.

O’Bannon Woods State Park, located in southern Indiana, is approximately 45 minutes west of downtown Louisville, Kentucky, or seven miles west of Corydon, Indiana, on State Road 62. The 3,000 acre park is surrounded by the 26,000 acre Harrison-Crawford State Forest and borders the Ohio and Blue Rivers. Unique features such as steep hills and deep ravines, limestone bluffs, caves and waterfalls can be found along the trails or within the park boundary.

With its rugged, rocky terrain, the trails in O’Bannon Woods can be more difficult than many trails in other Indiana state parks. For beginner and intermediate riders, segments of the trails may be challenging and will provide a great opportunity to improve and test riding skills.

This ride combines all the mountain bike trails at O’Bannon Woods: Fire Tower trail, Rocky Ridge loop, Breeden Ridge trail, Potato Run trail and the Wyandotte Group Camp trail, along with a short segment of the Adventure trail.

A short ride along the roads through the campground connects the trails to create a modified figure-eight loop. Some trails are ridden in both directions, to enjoy the thrill of the flowing descents.

The ride also crosses a number of horse trails. Use caution while approaching the horse trails and yield to horseback riders, if present.

While there are a number of parking lots available, and a number of different ways the trails can be ridden, for this ride, the starting point is at the campground trailhead. Parking is located to the right of the campground gatehouse, near the wood shed.

From the parking lot, a short ride down the road to the right, past the playground and restroom leads to the trail entrance marked Rocky Ridge.

Winter and early spring riding may be limited due to surface water run-off. Do not ride when the trails are wet and muddy. Check the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association website for trail status.