Chewacla State Park is home to a number of mountain biking trails. Chewacla has multiple different outdoor activities for visitors, including Chewacla Lake for fishing, as well as trails for hiking mountain biking.
According to its website, “Chewacla State Park has a great partnership with Central Alabama Mountain Peddlers that offers a great trail system to the public.”
Chewacla State Park has nine biking trails officially outlined on their website based on their level of rigor. The park has beginner, intermediate and all the way up to advanced trails for expert riders.
On the beginner side, there are two different trails: the Camp Trail and the Lakeside Connector Trail.
The Camp Trail is a mile-long “relatively flat loop,” while the Lakeside Connector Trail contains “longer, intermediate single track trails” and is about half-a-mile long with scenic views along the way, according to Chewacla State Park’s website.
For intermediate mountain bikers, there is Ranger Dell’s Trail. It is a smooth 0.6-mile ride. According to the website, “If you can master this trail, you’re ready for the longer and slightly more technical trails in the park.”
For more advanced trails in the park, Chewacla has multiple options for experienced riders.
There is the CCC Trail, which spans about three miles. According to Chewacla’s website, it is full of quick turns, steep dips and short climbs.
Another more difficult trail in Chewacla is the Falls View Trail. This trail has many quick turns, narrow sections and technical obstacles, like roots and rocks. Chewacla’s website says, “There are lots of obstacles on the bluffs above the creek.”
Wesley Conner, bike shop manager of Auburn Outdoors and senior in mechanical engineering at Auburn, said he has spent a lot of time on Chewacla’s biking trails.
“My personal favorite biking trail at Chewacla is probably Rock Bottom because it is a pretty intermediate trail,” Conner said. “It is one all my friends can go on. It’s pretty basic, so if they’ve never mountain biked they can still do it.”
Chewacla State Park manager Joshua Funderburk said that the biking trails are a very popular attraction.
Funderburk said that on Saturday, Sept. 25, there were over 800 visitors.
“The majority of the visitors on Saturday came to the park for biking,” Funderburk said.
While Chewacla is open to the public year-round, Conner said certain seasons see higher traffic than others.
“Weekends in the spring and fall when it’s not too hot is when Chewacla is super busy,” Conner said.
“[Mountain biking] seems to be a year-round thing,” Conner said. “Even when it was freezing outside a couple of years ago, I still had people coming in to ride.”
Chewacla is one of the only local places to mountain bike in Auburn.
“Around Auburn, there’s not a ton of good mountain biking,” Conner said. “Many trails are a pretty good drive away. So for the Auburn area, Chewacla is great.”
Additionally, Conner said that on top of the biking trails at Chewacla there are also many other options for outdoor activities, including the hiking trails, hanging out at the waterfall, swimming at the lake in the summer and hanging up hammocks with friends.
Auburn’s mountain biking team, the Auburn Flyers, practices on the trails at Chewacla.
Chewacla has many practice trails and competition trails created for racing.
“Chewacla has a pump track and training courses to get you prepared for hitting the actual trails,” Funderburk said. “There are areas for gaining skills, and then there are slalom courses meant for actual racing.”
For those who want to get started mountain biking, Conner said it’s easy to get plugged in, from Auburn Outdoors at the Recreation and Wellness Center to the Central Alabama Mountain Peddlers.
“Chewacla is a great place to start out,” Funderburk said.
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Harlee Meydrech, senior in public relations with a minor in business, is the assistant managing editor at The Auburn Plainsman.
