Franke Park

This was easy and fun. Good for a daily tune up. Just had some issues with all the cross trails. But all came out ok.

Great upkept trails! 2 difficulties to choose from. Lots of technical trails.

The trails are decently kept, but there is little variation in trails. All trails are easy and they do have one "Double Black Diamond". The hard trails seem more like intermediates. I enjoy the easy access of the trails and the well kept main trails. I would recommend these trails for beginners or XC type of riders.

Trails were fast, Started to Rain about 45 Minutes into the ride so I shut it down before it got too sloppy. This is a great trail for all levels of Mountain Bikers

As I live in the area I spend a lot of time in this park even after running out of new trails to ride I have enjoyed improving my skills here I would defiantly recommend a visit

This is a fun trail with many options. There isn't a ton of elevation change, but the trails make good use of what's there. There are many small tech features. My only complaint is that many of the trails run together and it's easy to get turned around. The place could use better markings in some areas.

Had a blast on these trails; I thought the signage was well done for the most part - pretty intuitive which seems to contrast a lot of posts I had read about this system. I would probably avoid some of the blue trail portions (intermediate) in the future as they were a little tough for me to navigate on the rigid hardtail 29er. All in all an absolute riot.

Had a blast on these trails; I thought the signage was well done for the most part - pretty intuitive which seems to contrast a lot of posts I had read about this system. I would probably avoid some of the blue trail portions (intermediate) in the future as they were a little tough for me to navigate on the rigid hardtail 29er. All in all an absolute riot.

Rode this trail multiple times over two weeks while visiting family. The first ride I had a difficult time following trails. Felt like I was going in circles down the same stretch of trail. Every ride after, I never got lost and had so much fun. Every ride I found something else that I fell in love with. Very well maintained. Keep up the great work!

I didnt like this trail at first. I found myself stopping at intersections wandering which way to go. Each time I ended up finding a local to follow around. Each time the local would take a different route'skipping'some sections. I guess that's why so many intersections. 9/26/15 I rode and did the 10 mile loop without stopping at an intersection😀 I even found a new section off Christmas trail that had trees down that you ride on top of. Looking forward to going back and riding again soon.

Love these local trails. Trails are constantly getting better. NITRO is doing a great job.

A nice trail system, with little guidance. I hit this trail while traveling through on business. Nice trails with some fun features. The creek crossing was a surprise. Got a good ride in, though I had no idea where I was the entire ride. There is a nice map at the trailhead, though I have no idea how to follow it on the trail. No signs or markers on the trail other than colored arrows.

Hit this trail as I was passing through town. Overall this seems like a good network of trails to really fly through. Very little climbing, green was very easy with some young ones there. yellow were good and then the red weren't too bad. My favorite part was the quick dips in the yellow trail, but I can't describe where that section was.
This set of trails was a challenge to figure out where I was going and how to get everywhere, but for a short ride on a business trip this certainly gave me the fix I needed.

I have to agree with Zephxiii. great trails. can rip on most of it with some dificult but not intimidating intermediate and hard sections. The reds I got to could still mostly be good intermediate rides.

Great trails, green arrows refers to easy trails, yellow for moderate, and red for more advanced obstacles, very well maintained and taken care of, too much fun to ride these trails, missing out on some rock gardens, but it's not a big deal, all levels of riders can enjoy this great place.

Overall this is a pretty fun network of trails. The climbs are small as expected for the area. My only real complaints are that the trails are not well marked, and there are many areas where the brush along the trail is overgrown. The trails are supposed to be one way which I prefer, but there are many branching points along the trails and it isn't always clear which way to go. Because of this (and because trails aren't named--just colored arrows), I had a hard time finding my way out when I was done. Nothing that can't be overcome with a little work (okay I know it takes a lot of work).

I just started riding in August 2011 and wanted to wait a year and get experience on a few other trails before I wrote the review for Franke Park which is my home trail. To compare, so far I've rode at Winona Lake (a lot), Morsches Park, Brown County, Jermain Park, and Franke.

With this in mind, I would have to say that Franke Park is quite good. It is a fantastic place to ride and we are quite blessed to have such a place right in the middle of the city!

What I really like about Franke, is that the trails are always interesting in a way that keeps you entertained. And what I mean by that is: the layout of the loops is great, the track is always flowing nicely, the scenery and terrain is nice, there are interesting features everywhere, there's a good amount of elevation change, plenty of roots etc. It's just laid out really well! I've been to places where it is a boring ride, that is not the case here.

Also the description mentions "Not a lot of climbing". Maybe that was the case back then, but i would disagree with it now. If you ride all the intermediate loops, you will find a good amount of climbing. I can climb just fine now, but when I first started it was horrible and anyone not in trail shape will probably hate that aspect of it. Even today i somewhat find it annoying (east loop area especially) as sometimes i just want an easy and fun day out.

One important thing to note is that there is what I call the "hidden" loop in the west loop area that is across the creek. I call it hidden as there isn't a trail post/marker to let you know of it if you are not familiar with the trail system. It is a fantastic stretch of singletrack that goes i think for about 3-4 miles. There's also another roller coaster system over there that is a bit larger than the one in the east loop. I didn't even know it was there for the longest time as you have to cross the creek twice to use it and it wasn't even marked or on the trailhead map.

Definitely make sure you hit that section up, they just started putting trail markers over there and rebuilt a bridge so I guess it is a work in progress. You can get to it where the west loop trail comes out into the open field area and makes a left down into another section of woods. At that point you normally go straight over a little bridge. Right before the bridge is a left that opens up to the creek where you can cross, that is where you enter the hidden area, it's a must ride.

Summary:

Franke park is a fantastic place to ride. It's the kind of place that keeps you entertained with a lot of interesting features and is very well maintained. It will also provide a good workout as well. Definitely stop by and check it out, make sure you ride all of it though!

* Review edited 9/30/2012

We stayed on the beginner trail for my 8 year old to learn on. She loved it!!

I started ridding the winnona trails and have just started ridding these trails. They are pretty similar, and for the most part these trails keep me as entertained as the winnona lake trail. Great length, and I loved the roller coaster section! 3.5 of 5

Nice little park located right by the zoo. There are several nice bridges and little features but there is nothing too technical. Alos, there are a lot of roots. Overall, it is a nice little trail system and worth your time.