Butts Park

4. Conditions were great, and they're well marked to make a loop, but we had to search for the "Cross Country" trail.

This is a good trail if you don't mind some roots. It's got some great flowy sections and you can get a good 6-7 miles if you do all the legs. The local IMBA chapter is planning to redo the trails at some point to get it where it doesn't stay so wet after a rain. But for now it's still a great spot to ride if you're in the area.

Nice and easy trail system

Good trail system, lot of fun, was in good shape, but %$#^ the road leading back to the trailhead. The potholes are more like craters. It's easier to park at the soccer fields (first parking lot on right) and ride back there (just take a left at the first stop it eventually dead ends near the trailhead) unless you have a lifted vehicle and don't care about your tires.

A really Fun Trail! A lot of love and hard work has been applied to this trail and it shows! A little off the beaten path, but I am not from this area, so what do I know. Park closes promptly at dark...so I was unable to ride the entire trail, but this reminds me of why I started mountain biking in the first place. Trails are smooth, flow well and are fun! Lots of options and some obstacles are being built for your pleasure! I will make an effort to return and enjoy this trail again when traveling through the area.

Gave it a 4 for being available where it is, then had to subtract a point b/c of what the weather has done to it.

Rode this trail yesterday. A great trail for the area, but some of the steeper drop-ins and climb-outs were completely washed-out by all the heavy storms we've had over the last couple of weeks. There are sheer drops for the first foot or two onto the steep drop-ins, and at least one climb-out rewards your hard pushing with a 2-3 foot cliff at the top.

I guess some riders might give it more stars this way for being extra-challenging, I dunno. Lots of roots exposed from rain, too, but that's just part of it. Overall good, just watch the tops of the larger slopes.

Rode about 2.5 miles on this trail today. some good flowing sections and overall a decent ride. With some work to maintain the trails a little better, this would be a really good ride.

Copied from Google maps: here's the trailhead:
32.3071800,-90.3112200

When you enter the park go to the split of the main road and take a left (opposite of the go kart track) Go until you see the parking area.

Road the trail today and it was a good ride.

A bit rooted up at points for my liking but manageable.

Is trail still open? I went there today, turned into a sketchy dirt road with trash (old TV set, random garbage) all over. I drive about 100 yards, and more garbage along the road, and I stopped at the large mud pits under a tree. (I just washed my truck and didn't want to get it muddy again.) I didn't see any sign posts marking the trail like Ridgeland trails have, marking the directions to the trails. Or was I at the wrong spot??

This is a really fun trail. It has great flow, is well maintained, and has good diversity of terrain.

A very nice beginner trail with some semi-intermediate features. Well marked and heavily wooded which makes great shade on a hot day. Made a full lap video, available here:

http://youtu.be/o66GODnmMHo

We were in town for a week, only had a chance to go once but would have loved to do a second lap at speed!

I would like to say thanks to the previous poster Bruce alt.
I have added a map to photos to help people find some locations and where to go.
Go to Clinton from I-20 and get off at (exit 36) not 35 head south on springridge rd 1.5 miles There will be a stoplight and gas station on the corner of McRaven rd. Take a left. Then take your first left to a small building behind a fence (Tee Time Driving Range) follow the road on past towards the water tower then go left at the split "watch for potholes while going around the next turn and park at the spot surrounded by large logs.
The Trails start at either Gate I started at the double pole gate.

Trail Tip (Orange Signs indicate path for the main trail and Yellow Signs are to go back to parking if you are getting tired)

The Review:
I took my wife and Teen age nephews for our first trail ride
There are quite a few drops and short hard climbs with a few locations for jumps but, most can be bypassed except for a small drainage ditch that we had to step across carrying our bikes or if you are real fast and adventurous ramps to one side so you can jump it. there are a lot of very small roots and some light long inclines and a few mud puddles some people have been riding around. Be Careful when going down some small drops as you may not notice a drop off in the next few hills if going fast for your first time.
This trail is in decent condition and I would like to thank the unknown volunteers that have been doing great work to maintain the trails.

This trail need more respectable people to go and ride it out to help cut some paths and smooth them out also if you see fallen branches or limbs please remove them every hand helps and there is a trash barrel at the parking lot (The trail was very clean no litter).

I will be going back when I get the chance.

This is a great little beginner track for a nice relaxing ride. It's dossile enough for your friends who have never been mountain biking before, but there's enough drops and fast bits to keep all six miles interesting. Fairly well maintained, but there were some muddy spots that I had to walk around every once in a while. Overall, well worth the trip. I'll definitely be going back.

The Butts Park trail system is located in southwest Jackson directly adjacent to the Clinton city limits, between McRaven Road and I-20, on the north side of Bobby Butts Park. Travel south on Springridge Road in Clinton (exit 35 I-20) approx. 1.5 miles. Turn left (east) onto McRaven Road and travel .3 miles. Turn left to enter the park off McRaven Road at the Tee Time golf driving range (6615 McRaven Road), go .3 miles and turn left at the t-intersection by the old water tower, and follow the gravel road .4 miles to the gravel parking lot( 32 deg 18'31.79" N, 90 deg 18'58.33 W). The main 6 mile trail is marked with black on orange directional arrows and begins at the double steel pipe gate by the mountain bikers/runners picnic table 150 yards west of the gravel parking lot. This is the racecourse for the annual Mississippi College Fellowship of Christian Athletes Endurance Challenge Duathlon held in April. Several side trails allow a variety of rides and increase the total length to 7.5 miles. There are several exit trails marked with black on yellow arrows. The trail is all woodland singletrack, most of which is suitable for beginners. Several steep drops, a narrow bridge, and challenging climbs, all of which can be bypassed, make this system fun for intermediate riders. The heavy clay soil does not drain well so allow for several drying days after a rain. A dedicated group of volunteer trail stewards have invested hundreds of man-hours to armor and drain wet spots and improve the sustainability of this system which is shared by trail runners and mountain bikers. The now abandoned, historic Mississippi Basin Model, built by the US Army Corps of Engineers to model flood events in the entire Mississippi River watershed, is directly south of the trails. Begun in 1943, the site work was done by German prisoners of war imprisoned at Camp Clinton.

I rode this trail a couple of weekends ago when I visited my parents in Clinton. It's nothing technical or difficult but was rather enjoyable. It wasn't too well maintained and I ran through a massive spiderweb. I didn't have any trouble with the trail markings as there is really only one way to go. I didn't see a single soul on the trail so don't expect to be rescued if you had a flat or something like that. The final section had some pretty nice flowing downhill that was really fun.

"bikecowboys" previous post review of this trail is dead on how I feel. Great fun trail and horrible markings and random arrows...?? This place could be much better with markings. As for the gate to start at ...start at the chain link fence gate that has a sawn off telephone pole next to it. Its right next to the gravel parking lot like the directions up above say. Once thru the gate dont go immediately left follow the old paved road a little bit and there are trail 2 or 3 trail heads on the left side as you go along this paved road. Other than that...its just random trails everywhere and you need to use your internal compass to get back..

Rode this trail today. This trail has a lot of potential. There is no tech difficulty on it but there plenty of opps to jump and go fast. Most of the trail has good flow but what it does not have is a way to figure out which way to go. There are orange blazes on trees but who knows where you are supposed to start. The directions on the site here say "start at the vehicle gate" but there are two gates...one on each end of the parking lot. I spent more time trying to decipher the trails than I did riding. If the trail had some decent directions about where to start and which trail was the main trail so that you could know that you were staying on it the ride would be much more fun. Now that I have at least some idea about what's out there I would probably stop and ride it again when I am in the area. I would have given it a 4 with better marking.

Awesome ride. I'm just getting into MtBKing and I loved it, even after eating dirt shortly after getting started on this trail. I recommend it to all the MS riders looking for a short adventure.

Amazing trail. Great speed and good jumps, not hard to ride but its fun.