Petrifying Springs

Decent trail system. KAMBA has been working the system the last couple months and are doing a good job. Trails are unmarked and are mixed use meaning you will encounter cross country runners, hikers and occasionally walkers with unleashed dogs. I live nearby so I ride it often. I wouldn’t drive too far to ride it unless you’re just looking for something different. Running all of the system you’ll be able to log around 8 miles or so. Great Biergarten in the summer for post ride drinks and food.

Overall the trails were just average Wisconsin riding. That said, there were two short sections that made the whole trip entirely worth it. If you cross the road to the park, you'll get to one of them. A flowy downhill run along the side of a steep drop towards the creek below, this segment will push your bike handling skills to your limit as obstacles seemingly come out of nowhere at high speed. The other great section was a trail running from the top of the hill up and over a few small ridges to the area below. It was just a very satisfying track with some boostable roots and nice armored sections.

Notice to the users of the trails on the UW-Parkside property, which is adjacent to Petrifying Springs Park: Campus lands are governed by state statute Chapter 18 Conduct on University Lands http://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/code/admin_code/uws/18.pdf
The campus grounds are natural and scientific area. Altering the landscape, and the building of structures is prohibited.
Bicycle riding is prohibited on university lands when and where the intent is to perform tricks or stunts and those tricks or stunts may result in injury to any person or cause damage to property.
Thank you for your cooperation on the matter (2018_06_12).

Excellent park to ride. I was really impressed with these trails. The whole park can easily be hit in about 2 maybe 3 hours. Tons of elevation gain ranging from shallow slow inclines to straight down drops, off the ridge that encompasses the park. The ridgeline has several different routes going up and down. I could have spent a few hours in this section alone. We rode the afternoon after a morning rain. Some of the trails down by the creek were too muddy to pass, although most were dry and easily accessible after the morning showers. We had a good rain that morning so I was shocked when we arrived to find the trails still operable. Don't let showers scare you away from riding here, this place seems to drain well and dry out quickly.

These trails are not established,but have existed for 20 years here. Mainly hard single track,Miles of trails un marked.
The park system doesn't recognize these trails and are not established {no signage, or maintenance . All maintenance is done by local hikers and bikers, Note - you will get fined if caught manipulating the forest-
Un experienced mtbs, will find these very difficult, if you are expeirenced, its a real joy and will test your skills!!
Single track, jumps, drops, fallen trees, rivers , Hills..etc.
all the trails loop back to the parking areas..
year round -Tuesday nights- around 7pm-= night rides
can rage from a few people to 30...
good way to meet other riders and learn the trails. Parking off of JR. by Water spring//summer beer garden.
I give it a 5 based on these are great training grounds, if you can ride here you can pretty much ride anywhere.

I enjoy the trails. Fun for everyone. Great place to learn and keep up on skills too.

No signs, very confusing, but the dirt is fast and tacky. If your close , this trail is cool. But I wouldn't travel for this one.
It's more of a hiking trail that you can bike on.

There are enjoyable bits to this trail however there is absolutely no signage to indicate where the trails are and how difficult the sections are. I would definitely recommend going with someone who knows the trails for your first couple of visits because they can point out all the good spots and you won't have to wonder around aimlessly like I did. There are a couple of jumps and raised bridges that are quite fun and overall the trails are good with the only downsides being poor maintenance in places and the lacking of signs or maps.

Awesome, flowing, single track with a number of small wooden bridges and some small hills races along Petrifying Spring creek/river through UW Parkside. Many different tracks to ride, so you won't get bored!

I was pleasantly surprised to find the mtb trails at Pets when I moved back to the area after 20 years of living in Colorado. When I first heard about them I didn't really expect much, but after riding a bunch of the trails I was able to find I'd have to say they are pretty good for the area. I was surprised at some of the technical sections, and hill climbs, or steep drops. There are actually some areas which are pretty damned hard considering it is a pretty flat part of the state.

It seems like if some reviewers think it is too boring or tame they must be staying in the wide hiking paths and not exploring the hillsides.

I love these trails, my first time mountain biking was on these trails!
I ride them year round and they are awesome they lack upkeep at times but to my knowledge riders are the only people that take care of the trails. I'm confused on several of the other reviews left such as the fine? I know officers that ride the trails too don't listen to that nonsense and ride on.

This trail is a maze of walking trails that have been used by mountain bikers for ages. It's not officially a mountain bike trail and there is no group that takes official stewardship of the trail. There is no map and no official trailhead. These trails are partly on county park land a partly on UW-Parkside land, so the owners view mountain bikers differently, the county tolerates the mountain bikers and UW accepts them using the trails. Many of the trails dead end and it can be a nightmare riding a good loop if you don't know where you're going but there are few decent trails and you can ride a good loop once you figure the trails out. Or better yet, ask one of the regulars. Lots of hikers use the trails (they were there first) so be courteous because like I said, the county only tolerates mountain bikers for now.

First time riding up here, nice single track flow in spots. Roots in some sections throughout. The steep downhill are gnarls definitely on the brakes on the way down.

Ah...pretty overgrown at this point and not much signage. Not much extended line of sight so hard to get rolling. Not my favorite out there.

Multiple options throughout the course. Some wet spots. A few logs but overall a pretty benign trail. I only came up with about three miles so I must have missed a lot. I found and entrance by parking lot 1, at the north end just before the bridge - follow the bark trail to start. I finished just the other side of the same bridge. You can find some hills but maybe 60 feet up.

Very networky awesome trail system. Tue night ride Around 6:30 start I'm told but I ran into some of the group earlier. Great bunch of guys so get there. All year to, snow shoe when necessary. This really has a lot of good stuff. Really cool.

To whom ever said itvis illegal to ride these trails is sadly mistaken. You need to find all the info before to turn people away from this great gem! There are trails all over. If you need help feel free to contact me and I will show you around. I took a picture today of the trail conditions and it clearly is marked for mtb. Have fun.

Even though it's short, this is a great single track. A lot of things to offer from beginners to crazy!

The south trails are more laid back and you can either cruise or ride hard. The north trails are more intense than the south. There's also a nice hill somewhere in the middle with downhills and jumps.

Watch out for Private Property signs though; they are all over the place.

Definitely a great experience for everyone to enjoy!

There are no directions/signs inside the trails and also this is a very small trail. what ever path you start with you will end up in the parking lot or in the park after just 2 miles. But there are some very good slopes which actually required some good skills. Overall this is not a very good trails for intermediate or experts

I ride these trails a couple times a week. If you connect a few of the trails you will have a loop around 6.2 miles. It's a nice little hidden gem