Mountain Biking
White Park
Morgantown, WV
Fast, flowing fun
08/2006 – by Christopher Burk, Outdoor Travels
White Park can pretty much be summed up in three words, playground for bikers. None of the trails are long and there really isn’t much there by way of technical challenges. What White Park does feature is a system of trails that zigzag and intersect each other creating great flow that allows you to just rip it up.
The park is located in the southern part of Morgantown between downtown and US 119. Mississippi Street actually runs right through the middle of the park. Trails are on either side of the street. The western section of the park features longer trails and more flow. The main feature of the eastern side of the park is the motocross section. The locals have built several gap jumps and a series of banked turns.
Dana and I pretty much covered the entire park in about an hour. (Jeff’s Coopers Rock wipeout kept him from riding with us.) We weaved between the trees, jumped a couple hills, blasted through the banked turns, rode trails forwards and backwards (the trails, not our bikes.) We pretty much did it all, except for the gap jumps. I can only speak for myself but having never tried one before I didn’t think the moment was a good time to try. We already had one rider down this weekend, we didn’t need another.
If you live in Morgantown or are visiting and time is short, White Park is definitely a great place to ride. You can ride everything and be back home in about the time it would take to drive anywhere else.
Trail Snapshot
Trails Biked: Pretty much everything there.
Distance: 3 miles
Outdoor Travels Rating: 3 out of 5 bikes
Thumbs Up
- Easy access.
- Nice flow to the trails
- Great downhill and challenging technical sections
Thumbs Down
- Not much for an all-day ride.
Lessons Learned
- There are more than enough clear trails in the park that you don’t need to try and ride one that is overgrown.
- When attempting to ride an overgrown trail, a blood-curdling scream is a sure-fire way to make those who are following to turn around and go the other way.
Nuts & Bolts
Location: Morgantown, WV along Mississippi Street near the baseball fields.
Directions: From downtown: Take US 119 to Callen Street. Turn left on Callen, turn right onto Mississippi Street. From I-68: Exit 1 onto US 119. Turn right onto Greenbag Road (CR 857). Turn left onto Mississippi Street..
Trails: There are trails on both sides of Mississippi Street.
Activities: Hiking, biking.
Admission: Free.
Maps and Stuff
Trail photos
Lots of great photos to give you a good idea of what riding here is like!
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