If you own a mountain bike, Lake Hope State Park near
Vinton and Athens, County Ohio is a great destination to test your
skills. With more than 25
miles of singletrack open to mountain bikes, there are plenty of riding
options at Lake Hope. Here are a few ideas to get you started. (All
mileage is approximate.)
Lake Hope ride suggestions and bike trail map courtesy of
Hope Furnace Trail Loop (4.5 miles/6.5 miles)
Hope Furnace Trail hugs the lakeshore, providing beautiful views and not
much elevation gain. Technical bridge crossings, roots, and a few short,
steep ups-and-downs keep you on your toes (and we hope not on your
head). As this is one of the park’s most heavily used trails, be sure to
yield to hikers and to look out for other cyclists.
Park either at the Furnace Parking Lot or the
Trailhead Parking Lot. Ride the trail in one direction and return to
your starting point via State Route 278 (total ride mileage ~4.5 miles),
or double back and enjoy the trail in the opposite direction (total ride
mileage ~6.5 miles).
Copperhead Loop (10 miles)
This loop features fantastic ridgetop riding on Copperhead Trail. Be
careful — tight turns come up unexpectedly on this trail. This loop also
will let you roll alongside the lake on Hope Furnace Trail — then you’ll
push your bike up Grouse Point Trail to finish the loop.
Park at the Grouse Point Picnic Area near the
Copperhead/Little Sandy intersection. Ride Copperhead Trail until you
cross Lake Ridge Road. Continue on Copperhead for almost 4 more miles,
eventually taking a right on Habron Trail. Follow Habron for 1.1 miles,
then turn right onto Hope Furnace Trail. Ride for 1.5 miles, watching
for the Grouse Point intersection. Take a right and push your bike up
this steep hill and you’ve finished the loop.
Sidewinder Loop (5.5 miles)
This twisty trail is full of tight turns, steep climbs and descents,
switchbacks, roots, fun little dips and a tricky bridge crossing.
Because Sidewinder is a climb from the Trailhead Parking Lot to Cabin
Ridge Road, it’s become most popular in the opposite direction (but
there are those of us who like to climb it, too).
From the Trail Head Parking Lot, ride up the paved
Cabin Ridge Road, through the vacation cabins, to the Little
Sandy/Copperhead intersection (almost 2 miles). Turn left onto Little
Sandy; nearly immediately you’ll see Sidewinder heading into the woods
on your left. Follow Sidewinder to the Trailhead Parking Lot.
The Old Big Loop (16 miles, and equally fun in
either direction)
This loop features some of the best mountain bike trails at Lake Hope:
Hope Furnace, Habron, Copperhead and Sidewinder. And, if once isn’t
enough, simply turn around and ride the loop in the opposite direction —
you’ll log more than 30 miles of sweet southeastern Ohio singletrack.
Begin at the Furnace Parking Lot and ride Hope Furnace
Trail for approximately .7 miles. Watch out for bridges — they might be
slippery or have steps! At the Habron intersection, turn right and
continue on Habron past the Red Oak intersection. Climb up a fun
switchback (it’s a doer!), continuing on up the ridge to the Copperhead
intersection. Turn left onto Copperhead and let some fun, fast ridgetop
riding begin. Watch out for tight turns at high speed! Cross Lake Ridge
Road and continue on Copperhead. You’ll notice several signs that point
you out to Long Ridge Road – either continue on Copperhead or bail out
to the gravel road at any of these points. Eventually, Copperhead will
end at the Grouse Point Picnic Area. Cross over Cabin Ridge Road onto
Little Sandy. Very soon you’ll see the Sidewinder intersection on your
left. Follow Sidewinder to the Trailhead Parking Lot, then take a left
onto the paved road and ride past the Beach House to the entrance to
Hope Furnace Trail (approx. .6 miles on paved road). Follow Hope Furnace
Trail 3.25 miles back to the Furnace Parking Lot.
The New Big Loop (the Figure Eight Loop, 15
miles, and equally fun in either direction)
This loop features the two newest trails to be built at Lake Hope:
Bobcat, added during the 2003-04 winter season, and Wildcat, added
during 2004.
Park at the Grouse Point Picnic area. Ride up the road
a few hundred feet until you see the Wildcat connector trail on your
right. Ride that a very short distance to the Copperhead/Cabin Ridge
Road intersection. Turn right onto Copperhead and ride Copperhead 3.5
miles to Lake Ridge Road. Across the road you’ll see two trails:
Copperhead and Bobcat. Take Bobcat (along which you’ll have the option
to explore lower Bobcat, a short technical interlude) back out to Lake
Ridge Road (this section of Bobcat is very short) and cross the road to
continue on Bobcat (another very short section) back out again to Lake
Ridge Road. Cross the road and again head out on a 2-mile mostly
downhill section Bobcat. It’s totally sweet! At the bottom, go left onto
Habron, cross the creek, climb the hill, do the switchback, and continue
climbing on Habron to the Copperhead intersection. Go left on Copperhead
and ride 3.5 miles back to Lake Ridge Road. You’ve done 3 sections of
the figure eight at this point and it’s time to close it up. Across Lake
Ridge Road you’ll see Wildcat on your left and Copperhead on your right.
Cross over to Wildcat and ride 3.5 miles back to your car, ending with a
killer climb. (Or, start the figure-eight loop here, heading down this
fun hill.) No wonder these trails were ranked No. 1 in Ohio by Mountain
Bike Quarterly magazine!
Ride the Ridgetop (various distances)
If you'd like to practice your singletrack skills without riding up
major climbs or riding for a long period of time, drive to the top of
the ridge and ride some of Copperhead Trail. Park either at the Cabin
Ridge Road / Little Sandy intersection or along Long Ridge Road near the
Lake Ridge Road intersection. Ride the 3.5-mile section of Copperhead
that runs between those two roads in either direction for a good
beginner practice section.
Good Things to Know
There are several "bailout" options on the Lake Hope
trails. From these you can easily access park roads that will take you
back to the main parking lots. (See map for further information.)
From Sidewinder: Approximately 1.25 miles from the
Cabin Ridge Road intersection you can hop off Sidewinder and walk or
ride a few hundred feet to Cabin Ridge Road. OR, just a bit further down
the trail, you can take the Cabin Ridge Road Connector out to Cabin
Ridge Road (or over to Little Sandy Trail).
From Copperhead: There are several intersections and
near intersections with Long Ridge Road, which will eventually intersect
with Cabin Ridge Road and take you back to the Trailhead Parking Lot.
From Hope Furnace Trail/Cabin Ridge Road: Grouse Point,
Oak Point and Keeton Trails all are steep, quick connectors between Hope
Furnace Trail and Cabin Ridge Road.
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