start stop back fwd

Nearest Accommodations: Houston

Location: Memorial Park is located at the southeast corner of the junction of I-10 and I-610 in Houston. From I-610 take Memorial Dr. going east. Stay on Memorial Dr. until you come to N.Picnic loop which will be on your right. Look for the ball fields. The day we went there we had to park in the parking area of the ball fields because the lot was so full.

Type: Single track / loops

Distance: About 6 miles

Summary: First off let me say take a map with you, a good one can be had on the GHORBA link below. The trail is made up of a lot of different loops with many intersections and can be confusing to someone riding it for the first time. The terrain for the trail is pretty much flat with no really big climbs involved there are how ever a few steep little hills that require a little speed to crest. The trail is made up of the type of soil that when it gets wet it gets really muddy so check and make sure the trail is open before going out there. There are a lot of little tech sections on this trail so some technical skills will be required, nothing really in the way of rocks but more like drop in's, roots, and tight sections. There are a few places where you can open it up and a few sections with blind corners so be careful. While we were out there we noticed the locals were yelling out rider just before they got to one of these blind corners, we assumed to let anyone coming the opposite direction know of there presents. Overall the trail has a pretty good flow to it and once we figured out where we were going it was even better, I can see why this trail is so popular with the local. This is one of the busiest trails I have been on not to mention how busy the park itself was. If you don't like crowded trails then you may wan to look elsewhere or go in a weekday, you have to be extra careful when out there not to run over anyone or get ran over. To me there were just to many people and to many intersections for collisions to happen. Also if you go in the Spring like we did, bring some skeeter spray. I had stopped to change a flat and received about 7 bites in a matter of minutes. Final thought is that this a really great trail and fun to ride and very convenient but if busy trails are not your cup of tea you may not enjoy this one.

Update: We made another trip to Memorial Park and I must say this time it was much more enjoyable. First we had some local friends show us the trail and second there was hardly anyone on the trail, we even took a break at one of the local Starbucks before finishing off the ride. With our good friends Mark, Jorge, Alex, Scott and Will leading the way the trail was much more interesting and fun. It is mostly flat with no real big long climbs, not much in rocks. There are however a lot of roots that just come from every where crossing the trail. There are a lot of drop offs and short little climbs that come upon you really fast. I could see if you were a local and rode this trail a lot at speed how you could really develop your technical skills. Some of the drop offs were pretty big and if you hit them with any speed you are sure to get airborne.The trail has a really good flow to it once you know where you are going. The Houston bunch even showed us two other trails out there that I did not even know existed, one is the Cambodia trail the other was Secrete Garden which to me was short but a blast yo ride. If you are in the Houston area check this trail out, I would suggest talking to some of the locals and spending some time finding your way around first. Unfortunately I did not have the GPS with me so I did not get any GPS tracks for the other two trails. The camera ran out of tape before we got to Secret Garden which I would have loved to film. I don't know if this place is very busy on the weekdays but on the weekends it is very busy. Luckily for us there was hardly anyone on the trail that day. 

Recommended Route: We went in every direction and all of it was fun.

When to ride: Anytime of the year is great except after a rainfall. Don't even think about ridding here if there has just been a rain in the area.

Rating: I would rate this trail for any experience level. Some novice and beginners may feel uncomfortable on some of the technical sections.