DuPont Mountain Bike Trails: The DuPont State Recreational Forest is renown for its incredible waterfalls and excellent trails for hiking, running and mountain biking. With nearly 100 miles of mountain biking trails coursing their way through the beautiful forests just outside of Brevard, NC, there is no shortage of great options for mountain biking trails in DuPont State Recreational Forest. Whether riders are looking for short, punchy gravel climbs to train on a rainy day or looking to blaze their way down some of the fast downhill mountain bike trails found at DuPont, there is something for everyone. While there are plenty of options to choose from, we’ve highlighted a few of our favorites below.
Cedar Rock Trail
Short but sweet, the 1.5-mile Cedar Rock Trail features a steep climb up eastern slickrock (large slabs of granite) topping out with killer views of Dupont State Forest. Take Big Rock trail from the top of the mountain for a fast, technical downhill over slickrock and single-track. We recommend a loop that includes Corn Mills Shoal to the Little River Trail to Cedar Rock Trail to Big Rock Trail. This loop is about 3 miles. Directions: From Pisgah Forest turn onto US 64 and go 3.7 miles to the Texaco station in Penrose. Turn right on Crab Creek Rd. and continue 4.3 miles. Turn south 5.3 miles on DuPont Road that turns into Staton Road. Go past the Hooker Falls and Buck Forest Access Areas to a left at the end of Staton Road on Cascade Lakes Road. The Corn Mills Shoals Access Area is 0.8 miles on the right. DuPont State Forest Online Trail Map
Ridgeline
Ridgline is one of the fastest flow trails in the area. For a roughly 6 mile loop that ends with Ridgeline, we recommend starting at the Lake Imaging parking area and wind around to climb the Jim Branch Trail. This beautiful forested climb comes up to a saddle where you’ll take a quick ride over the Isaac Heath trail and will dump you out on Buck Forest Road where you’ll take a left.
The next right is Thomas Cemetery, where you’ll follow this gravel road all the way until it changes over to White Pine Trail. At the top of White Pine, take a left on Hooker Creek Trail and get ready for a super-fast downhill that will leave you smiling. Then another quick climb where you’ll catchRidgeline to take a left and hang on.The fast and flowy descent will take you through some berms, a log ride, and many fun dips and corners.
Jim Branch
Jim Branch is mostly used as a climb to access Dupont from the Lake Imaging parking area. The trail starts with a technical rock climb and then meanders up to the saddle where Isaac Heath splits. It’s also a fun introduction to DuPont flow and has some technical rocky sections that are a good intro to more challenging mountain biking trails for beginners.
Hilltop
Hilltop starts at the end of Locust at the intersection with Lake Imaging Road. The trail starts with an easy climb to a speedy 3/4 mile downhill section that leads back to Lake Imaging Road. There is also a optional short segment near the end of the trail that will take you to a nice view of Grassy Creek Falls.
Pitch Pine Trail
Pitch Pine starts off of Conservation Road, crosses over Joanna Road and ends on the banks of scenic Lake Dense at the intersection of Three Lakes. The trail starts as a short climb followed by a mellow descent to the lakefront. Lake Dense has a dock and is the perfect spot to stop and take a quick swim to cool off.
Airstrip
Airstrip Trail is one of the best mountain bike trails in Dupont Forest. Built with the help of the International Mountain Biking Association, this trail will put a big smile on any biker’s face. The trail is a very well groomed singletrack through mixed hardwood forest with fun switchbacks and excellent sight lines.
With very little in the way of hard technical challenges, this trail is appropriate for advanced beginners and up. Expect some rocks and roots in a few spots, and cautious riders will find one or two sections they may want to dismount and walk. There are no really steep sections and the slope is generally all uphill or all downhill depending on your direction. (It goes downhill from the old airport to Shelter Rock Trail.) The “Difficult” rating is for the narrow track, elevation change and some tight turns.
Turkey Mountain Trail
Turkey Knob starts off of Turkey Knob Road near the intersection of Pinnacle Mountain Road. It is a mile long 300 foot descent that weaves through the trees and has many high speed bermed turns. This is one of the best downhill runs DuPont has to offer. The trail connects to Turkey Knob Road in the south and Briery Fork in the north.
Directions from Brevard: From the intersection of Highway 64/276/280 in Pisgah Forest, take Highway 64 towards Hendersonville. Take a right on Crab Creek Road and follow to a right on DuPont Road (the road name change to Staton Road before you reach the parking lot). There are various parking areas and each one is better for different rides. Grab a map and plot out the best plan for the day. We like accessing the trails at Lake Imaging Parking Area and Corn Mill Shulls Parking Area.
