Slaughter Creek

This trail started off as a beginner trail. It has become rougher over the years. I would no longer recommend this trail for beginner mountain bike riders. It is rocky with rock gardens, ledges and roots that cannot be avoided. You have to ride or walk them. There is no 'bail out' once you start the loop you are committed to a 3 or 5 mile loop. I recommend the trails at Circle C park (close by on Slaughter Lane) for newer mtb riders

Features are as every other reviewer described. Easy trail, a few rock gardens, and much more fun if you really push to ride at speed.
I am only adding a review to say that the trails are well taken care of, and the only evidence I've ever seen of horses is maybe 2 or 3 spots of horse poop total in the dozen or so times I've ridden there. Not even remotely bad and much less annoying than dog poop on the trail. Also no dogs, which is nice. I love dogs, but not when they're off the leash and run out infront of your bike. Nice that they're not allowed since most owners are irresponsible and don't leash their pets.
Also, the trails close quickly for wet conditions which is also nice because it doesn't get super rutted out and nasty.
Good trail overall, especially for beginners and time trials if you're looking for a workout ride where you can just keep pedaling and not have to hop off and walk anything. If you're looking to get lost in a beautiful scenic view, you may get a little bored out here.

Really fun as a new rider. It was challenging but not discouraging. BUT and maybe I am missing something, the map pin shows the trailhead as near Alamo Draft House which it is not. The written directions are correct however. Just a heads up.

This is great beginner trail, predominantly flat with areas where novice riders can practice riding through some short rock gardens as well as how to handle some small drops. More experienced riders do time trials. I ride this a lot and, yes there are some horse droppings, but I've not found them to be a problem. I seldom see horses on the trail and the runners/hikers are spread far and few between (I see a lot more of them at Walnut Creek). I generally ride 2-3 laps and, if time is a bit short for you, there is a well marked cut-off that allows you to make it 3.5 miles per lap and avoid some of the rock gardens. What a lot of people don't know is that there is a lot of uncharted single track that goes from this trail through Circle C Park, over to the Veloway (go under Escarpment and Mopac) and many more miles around the Veloway, over to Brodie as well as up and around Dick Nichols Park.

I really hate to review something so poorly, but we will not drive out to this trail again. The trail is loaded with horse manure (lots of horse manure. Did I mention LOTS of horse manure).

It is also a constant stream of horses and trail runners coming from the opposite direction. We had to dismount multiple times for horses and trail runners to pass.

I have now been here on a couple of occasions, once during the week and once on the weekend, and both times they have been the same problems. The horse manure is not pleasant. The number for folks on the trail is way too congested.

If I am going to drive to a suburban trail, I will likely go to any of the other trails around Austin, before I go back here.

Beginners be aware of these things. There are much better experiences for you and all levels of skill around our great network of trails in Austin. No need to fight the the congestion and problems that are unfortunately established on this trail.

Perfect cyclocross ride!!! Of you want to build your skills on your cx bike, start here! Mostly smooth with some scattered, minor rock gardens and a couple little tech sections

This is a nice, easy trail right next to Austin's Circle C neighborhood. I could ride there from my house in Circle C, but there is a dedicated parking lot for the trail so driving and parking is really easy too. The trail is mainly winding singletrack with only minor, gradual elevation gains and losses along it's roughly 5 mile length. There isn't anything overly challenging here, though you will encounter a fair amount of rocky patches, some small ledges and a minor drop or two. It's a good trail for a leisurely spin along a dirt track, but becomes a lot more fun when you push yourself to pedal the loop at speed. I've trained for races by cranking through the loop once or multiple times at a fast pace, which is a great workout and makes all the trail features that much more fun. Be careful though: it's a multi use trail with bikers going one way and hikers, trail runners and horseback riding groups going the other (and you likely WILL encounter all three on any given ride). But overall it's nice little trail, well-planned and well-design that's best ridden fast.

Relatively flat, 5 mile loop, with 2 or 3 rock gardens and one or 2 small drops. Singletrack.

Perfect for the raw novice ready to hit some real single track.