Al Sabo

Fun! Could be marked a little better but was able to navigate just fine. Has some hills, a little sand and roots. As a beginner I really enjoyed it.

Nice easy morning ride. Lots of cross trails to the main ones, but fun and easy.

I was in the area for work and Ft. Custer was full of deer hunters (and I had no Orange vest, a brown jacket and a white helmet). It is a nice little trail for a city park. The other reviews describe it pretty well, but the section that rides along the ridge and drops down into the valley was really beautiful when in full fall colors. No hunting is allowed in this park. I think they did a good job with the space available. It looks like it would drain pretty well and the sandy soil probably helps it dry up quick. The "Moab" section is not, so don't get your hopes up. If you can't make it to Ft. Custer and are in the area, this beats the tar out of a hotel treadmill.

Great spot for beginners to find their niche in this sport

The trail is a lot more sandy than it used to be. Really washed out in places which makes hills more challenging. It used to be the perfect novice trail, but I'd upgrade it to beginner now.

Local quickie and fun trail overall. I wish they would cut back the brush. They recently cut through the area to add a paved trail which is actually a nice and scenic way to approach the trail head. I sometimes worry about the areas that the mtb trail and paved trail cross... Possible collisions with faster road bikers, but it seems to be well thought out with the ability to see what is coming.

Ok, it has some good flowing plain spots but the weeds are close and can suck you in. If you ride a couple loops twice you'll get a nice workout. Only one steep hill I can remember.

This is an excellent trail for beginners. I am excited to take my children on it ( 8 and 11). It is not one for adrenaline rushes but has beautiful views and the terrain changes frequently enough to keep things interesting. I am sure it is incredible during the color changes, especially where the trail is very narrow and covered in a forest canopy.

There is minimal climbing (for a mountain bike trail) and minimal obstacles but a lot of turns and trail width changes. I was expecting it to be a little sandy (from other reviews) but there were sections that screamed "I am a beach". (Then again I am new from Colorado and not used to sand on the trails)

While Fort Custer is more exciting, this is much closer when you just want a quick ride (if you live in Kalamazoo)

I ride this trail all the time when I can't make it out to Fort Custer and want to do a quick run. I rode it today and it needs a little work in some places. There's an uprooted tree on the Atwater loop, you can get by it but it sneaks up on you as it's right around a corner on the start of a downhill. The log pile on Atwater is in serious disrepair and should be avoided. It's is on only angled and slick, but missing logs. That being said the Atwater trail is still the best in my opinion. The conditions were a little sandy and overgrown but nothing too bad. Still rides pretty fast and is great for beginners or a quick easy run.

This is the Trail that got me started into MTB... its great for a workout off road, smooth(minus some roots) fast and fun. but nothing too thrilling. Im thankful its there cause it the closest thing to me. but if I have the time I prefer TK Lawless or Fort Custer.

This trail is perfect for a beginner or for any biker that needs a little refresher on how to properly ride. The trail takes 25 min which makes it a nice warm-up too. The trail includes nice gentle climbs, plenty of turns and maybe two obstacles. Not a recommendation to those who look for thrills and stunts.

This trail has potential to be a nice fast ride, but a lot of the vegetation is overgrown. Do not ride it shorts or your legs will get torn up by the overhanging thorns. Once it is trimmed and has some other maintenance it will be a good little trail.

Very nice trail for the area. I highly recommend this as a trail located minutes outside of Kalamazoo/Portage.

Trail is similar to other lower Michigan mountain biking where most obstacles are either hills, sand or roots. The trail is well kept with clearly marked trailheads.

The begining is flat riding through fields and young forest on Moab.

Atwater will take you to the towards Atwarter Mill Pond where where you till decend down the hill into the river valley. From here you can continue on Mandala for a short cut or continue on atwater towards the look out. On this section there are a few jumps and a climb up towards lookout.

From the start of lookout you will continue to the top of the hill where you will ride by the old lookout that was part of the original boyscout hike. From here you will decend back down into the valley. At this point you meet up to where the short cut of mandala takes you. As of 6 years ago this was the only bad part of the trail with some really deep sand at the bottom of the hill.

From here on Lookout you will ride along the bottom of the valley around past the lookout and toward the steepest hill climb. From what I have heard is that this hill is also very sandy since the last time I rode here.

Once up you can begin another loop or head back to the parking lot.

I give this trail 5 stars because it is a nice kept secret close to town. As stated this is nothing spetacular compared to the trails of the western U.P., but as for southern Michigan it is hard to beat when you don't have time to go to Yankee Springs or fort custard.

Very fast and open trail with no obstacles except people. This trail is shared with runners and walkers, some people going in the opposite direction, which will cause a big surprise coming around a corner. Great for beginners.

This trail is a great beginner to intermediate trial. A equal amount of flat and climbs. Sandy in some spots from erosion deposits, but fairly nice. Trails are also used by hikers. Not the longest, but still a very nice intermediate set of trails. No drop offs that i'm aware of, a few man made log ramps.