Cheaha State Park Mountain Bike
Trail
Cheaha Express
The Mountain bike trail here was new in 1996 and is
still under construction. It starts on the right side of the road
right at the entrance gate to the state park. Entrance fee is one
dollar per person. Payment is on the honor system most of the
time. The actual length of the system of trails is just under 6
miles. Because of loops on the trail which beg to be repeated, an
actual ride will be closer to 9 miles. There is certainly enough
trial here for a good ride. This trail is not far from the
Northeast Alabama Mountain Biking Area in White Plains. The Park
is on the county lines of Cleburne and Clay counties and can be
found on any state map or online by searching for the Cleburne and Clay county maps.
Cheaha Trail Map - This is a medium quality map you can view and print
from your browser.
Trail maps are available from the store just outside the entrance
to the State Park.
Parking and Fees
There is plenty of parking in the parking lot above the store at the
entrance to Cheaha State Park. I prefer to ride from there and the return will
be downhill. The start of the trail is on the right side of the road at the
entrance gate and fee building for the park. The start of the trail should be
plainly marked. The fee is $1 (cheap) per person and I usually drop in in the
honor system box at the gate as there has never been anyone there when I have
ridden, always early in the morning.
Trail Description
There are any number of ways to ride the mountain bike trails on
Cheaha. One excellent way is to start from the entrance gate
trail head. This the Cheaha Express trail has yellow
blazes marking it. Ride about 0.4 miles to the start of
the Deer Run trail with purple blazes.
Ride Deer Run to its junction with the Lower Spring Loop,
which has blue blazes. This will be about 1.2
miles with a hard climb just before it joins Lower Spring Loop. A
right turn on Lower Loop is the easiest ride. The left is a hard
climb. Following the trail on the right will join Upper
Spring Loop with green blazes. Take the
left turn. You will pass through thick mountain laurel stands and
might think you were on a trail at Tsali. Follow the Upper Loop
past the other junction with Lower Loop to the junction with
Mountain Express and yellow blazes. Take the right to where the
Upper Spring Loop leaves it and turn right on Upper Spring Loop.
This part of the Upper Loop is excellent. It has some pretty fast
single track and neat laurel thickets. If you want to ride all of
every trail, ride to the junction with the section of Lower Loop
you did not come up. Ride down it. Come back up Lower Loop as you
did before. Ride Upper Spring Loop to its junction with Mt.
Express. Ride Mt Express North to its end. There is a small loop
on Mt. Express that can be ridden also. There is an upper trail
head past the loop. Take the Mt. Express
back to the trail head and parking area. You can of course return
on the paved roads in the park. It is down hill all the way to
the entrance on the road. If you are looking at a map I believe
this description will make sense. These trails are rough and rocky in places and
smooth in others. It is a good combination of challenging and fast single
track. NOTE: I think the blazes are fading.
Aaron's Alabama Mountain Biking
