Moraine State Park

This is what a rocky trail is supposed to be. Everything about it just works, even though there are hard parts. Climbs can be steep, but aren't very long. For a rocky trail, it flows very reasonably, giving you enough speed to tackle obstacles that are within your skill level, but without forcing you to go faster than you should. Practice makes perfect - with some experience, the same features will be easy to tackle in no time.

Super nice !!! great rock garden up hill down hill on the flats!! some great single tracks, technical but very fun to ride . need some good MYB skills to ride some of this trails

I loved this trail i went with my good buddy and we shredded the trails

I'm fairly experienced and have done many of the classic western mountain bike trails from Colorado to Washinton to California to Arkansas and everywhere in between. This is a really great technical trail that is completely rideable for advanced riders. The rock features are as exciting as anywere, just lacking the grandeur and overall danger of the western trails.

This is one of my favorite trails I've done in the East. Very technical in sections,not all can/should be done by beginners or even some intermediate riders. The downhill section with large fetures really shouldn't be done alone, especially your first time. Crawling your way out of there would be no fun.

If you don't like rooty/rocky trails, just don't go here. There are plenty of other flowy or just serene wooded trails around.

I would highly recommend though.

Rocky, rooty, and technical. lots of fun things to session when it is not wet. Very difficult and fun!

Moraine has a reputation as one of the toughest mtb trails in western PA. There are rocks everywhere, and roots, and some pretty tough climbs.

There are four places you can access the trails from. Mt. Union Road has the main parking area. There are two accesses off the Alexander Road dead end - one at the powerline, and one at the end of the road where it's gated off. The last access is from the marina on North Shore Drive (don't park at the marina but at the parking lot just before it). From there you can ride into the marina and onto an abandoned road that will bring you into the bottom part of the trail system.

If you start at Mt. Union Road you access the trails from where the power line touches the corner of the parking lot. The first singletrack is just about 150 ft in, on the right. This is a series of 3 short loops, with access to the power line between them. The first loop is very technical, the second less technical, and the third (on top of the ridge) is the easiest piece of trail at Moraine, and probably the only piece of trail suitable for beginners.

The next bit of trail after the initial three loops is a descent down a boulder strewn hillside, with several BIG rock features. You can access this downhill from the power line if you want to avoid those three initial loops.

At the bottom of this hill you cross a small stream via bridge. There is uphill on either side of the powerline - more tech on the far side, less on the side you're on. These trails lead up to the top of the next ridge.

Once you get to the top of this ridge there is a 3 way trail intersection. The right turn leads into the long downhill that goes near the marina. There is a fast start here, with more technical trail further down. This trail ends on the abandoned road that leads from the marina. From there you can take the old road to the left to access other trails, or go across the road to ride the southern loop (not as technical as most of the other trails), which comes out on the abandoned road a bit further east.

If you were to turn left at the three way trail intersection you'd follow the trail parallel to the power line. There is a trail off to the right that takes you to the small ridgetop loop, and a bit further on a trail on the left that leads a couple hundred yards up to the Alexander Road trailhead. From there the trail heads down towards the lake, with lots of technical features and several climbs. This trail ends on the closed section of Alexander Road. If you take this old road downhill it will curve around close to the lake, cross a marshy spot, then climb back up the old road, where the southern loop is the first trail off to the loop.

Once you're at the old road on the bottom of the hill there is a good trail to go back up hill on. From the marina downhill trail you would turn left and climb the old road to the crest, where the uphill trail takes off to the left. This trail goes up to the ridgetop loop via a series of 11 switchbacks, making it rideable even to old guys.

At the top of the switchback trail there is a small loop, a stacked loop to the side, and a 'vigorous' downhill trail back down to the abandoned road. The loop part of the ridgetop trails will lead you back north to the singletrack parallel to the powerline, where you can head back to Mt. Union Road parking area. The downhill trail is kind of tough to find, and has some great features for advanced riders.

The trail is blazed along the whole length with red rectangles, and there are(usually) signs at the intersections. Check the photo gallery for a map that has a fairly good overview of the trail system. No night riding at PA state parks. Also, Moraine is well known for being the best trail system around to handle rain.

This is a pretty good trail and definitely very challenging. But I think there is a lot more potential with the terrain available. There was also a couple miles through the back that were damn near over grown with picker bushes that cut up my arms and legs pretty good. It was also very poorly marked. Don't get me wrong I had fun here I just think it's pretty over rated.

The beginning section (if you start by climbing the hills by the power lines) is extremely rocky, but eventually gives way to very windy single-track. Some sections have big up-and-overs and/or a high degree of technical difficulty. Nice mixture of descents and climbs, with a fair amount of foliage and thorns. Not for beginners.

Great trail loved the rock gardens at the first loop and the workout we got from this trail. Will be back many times this year.

Great trail and well kept. Definitely will tire you out but a lot of fun. Rocks are very tough but all good riding. The loop coming up from the marina is really fun and few rocks. Always can see the light of the power line if trails get too tough you can head for that and take the short way out. Will be back for sure!

Very technical track, however we did alright for it being our first time riding it. The trail is built very well and leaves you with options at a lot of spots. Would not recommend riding in the early morning like we did because it was very hard to get started as the rocks were still wet. Since the trail utilizes rocks this made it even harder than it should have been. But overall a great trail. I would also recommend getting a map from the entrance of the park. It made it easier to find which trail was which because at some points it does cross a hiking trail. I would also bring extra tubes, we didn't use the ones I brought but it would have been easy to blow a tire.

This trail is excellent. I would not recommend it if you are just a once in awhile rider. It is for intermediate to expert riders only! The rock garden at the Mt. Union trail head is just ridiculously hard but fun. After you pass that there is some nice back and fourth trails with some rock and log obstacles. You will eventually come to a downhill with some massive boulders. Be prepared for a tough ride at this point. Once you pass this you will hit some nice flowy downhill trails but one thing you have to realize with this trail, it does not stay easy for long. After you make your way down towards the shore of the lake, it is a grueling ride back up towards the top. This trail is truly awesome with tons of obstacles, at times completely nonstop. If you are into technical rides that get your lungs and legs burning try this trail out.

I rocks and pain is your game then come shred moraine. Very technical. Very fun. Bring a friend and an extra tube or two.

Your post is from a while back, but maybe you can help. You mentioned camping at breakneck. Did you ride to the trailhead from there, or drive in? I'll be camping there and I'm looking for a good route to ride to the trail.

Park at the Mt. Union Rd lot and you can either go right into the woods to hit the advanced rock garden or bypass it by going up the power line. As mentioned below, ALL bike trails are marked with red blazes, hiking trails marked with blue blazes. Follow the red blazes and you will come to a very distinguishable "T" in the trail with a "two-way" trail leading up to it. Go right will take you towards the marina and go left will take you towards more tech sections with gnarly boulders. Either way you go, it all loops around. Love this place.

Rocks (big and small) roots (big and small) logs (big and small),throw in some sweet flowing ST and you have Moraine SP. If you like playing on technical rock, you'll love these trails. And if you think you're good on technical trails, try riding here while the rocks are still wet Had my share of humble pie today. Will come back when drier, I'll show those rocks who's boss!!!

2nd trip to moraine was even more fun. Found good loop that did not have any intense boulder crossings

Great single track. Very difficult. Expert rating is well deserved

This trail is amazing. It's super technical in a lot of sections and amazingly well laid out. Since the trailheads branch off from the power lines, it's easy to always find your way back to the beginning. I highly recommend camping in or around McConnell's Mill State Park or Moraine State Park and giving these trails a good two or three days of riding in a row. You won't be disappointed.

This is definitely a trail to seek out if you enjoy technical, very technical, singletrack. The trail buiders have done a magnificent job of stacking rocks, such that you can ride over rock formations that initially look insurmountable. You will will rarely get up any significant speed, but the adrenaline rush I got riding this trail was amazing. I hope to return to ride this wild trail again. The trail is marked by red blazes, but all trails in the network are marked red. I just rode till I got tired and then turned around. The nice thing is you have the powerline road on one side of you, and the lake on the other, so I just used those as my landmarks.