Bankhead National Forest

The trails there which are open to Mountain Bikes are the trails of the Black Warrior Horse Trail System. There are three trails in the system. They are the Key Mill Loop, Brushy Loop, and the Pine Torch Loop. The most popular with bicycle riders is the Pine Torch Loop. It is eleven (11) miles long. At the present time I can not give any first hand information as to what the trails are like. I have not ridden them. I am familiar with the Bankhead National Forest. It is about 100 miles from my home and I have hunted there and been hiking many times on the Sipsey Wilderness Area which is on the Bankhead. The purpose of this page is to steer you toward sources of information so that you can find our about the Pine Torch and other trails for yourself.

I have received several e-mails telling me the Pine Torch is great. It has been compared to Tsali as to the feel of the ride. I have received several comments that the trail should be included on my page. Here is what I have for now. When I make it up there to ride I can publish wheels-on-information.

Here are some sources of information about the trail and the area in general.

Map of Black Warrior Horse Trail System this is the free map you can get from the National Forest office if you write the address below. I scanned it in (sure hope they do not mind) and cleaned it up a considerable amount. It was rough. I have not field checked it and do not know how trustworthy it is.
Mountain Bike Review Trails Page has directions to the trail and what some riders who have ridden the trail think of it.
Black Warrior WMA Map of the area on the Alabama Conservation Wildlife Management Area page. This is an OK "jpeg" map of the area. It does not have the horse trails on it.
Bankhead National Forest Map information on the N.F. Southern Region. When this page was posted you could not actually buy the page on-line, but by mail with the forms provided on the Forest Service page or by phone with a credit card. Call 1-800-660-0671 and have a credit card ready. Ask for the map of the Bankhead National Forest. It is ($6) Six Bucks Cheap. Get one if you think you might go. It is priceless for finding and getting around in the area. If this link changes go to the Southern Region main page and look for maps.
Map by Snail-mail from the Forest Service office. Write or call and ask them for information and the map of the horse trails and the Flint Creek Multi-use Trail.
The address is: Bankhead National Forest, 1070 Highway 33, Double Springs, AL 35553.
The phone number is: (205) 489-5111.
In Person the Ranger station is located on Highway 33 only about one mile off of US 278. The street address is 1070 Highway 33, Double Springs, AL 35553. They can provide maps and information and they keep regular business hours at this office.
New Place: There is a web site called "The Forest Place" where you can order maps online. I have only looked at it and not actually ordered through it, but it looks great. http://theforestplace.com

More information you can use or lose !

HUNTING
All of the horse trails are on the Black Warrior Wildlife Management area. If I read the Department of Conservation site correctly there are no "gun deer hunts" on the half of the management area where the trails are located. Never-the-less it may be useful to know the hunt dates. Personally I would not go to ride on these dates.

CAMPING
There are several nice camp grounds on the National Forest near the trails. I do not know if they are open year around. Owl Creek Horse Camp would be a last choice. There are three others, but I have not visited any of them in over five years. One of them is the Brushy Lake Recreation Area. It is very near the trails. Two good camping areas are across US 278 and located on Lewis Smith Lake. They are the Corinth Recreation Area and the Houston Recreation Area. The last time I visited them they were very good. One of them had a small store/concession building. In the hot summer a swim in the cold waters of Smith Lake would be swell. More information coming on the camping areas soon. Price, season, facilities and what ever else I can find out. There are signs indicating the turns to get to them from US 278 and they are on the map of the Bankhead National Forest.

SUPPORT
Sorry, it just is not there. If your bike breaks, you had better be able to fix it. I know of no bike shops closer than Cullman, AL. That is over 50 miles away. If anything has changed here, somebody please let me know.

MORE RIDES
The Flint Creek Multi-use Trails system is open to horses, hikers, ATV, and bicycles. The Ranger told me mountain bikers ride there, but I have no info from anyone who has. They sent me a map of the trails in that area when I called them.

CHANGES & UP-DATES
If anyone has more information please send it to me. I will up date the info here as soon as I have more accurate and maybe some first-hand-wheels-on information.