A combination of Mountain Biking singletrack/snowshoe and XC ski trails. This trail has a little bit of everything with 18.3 miles of wide open XC-ski two track that can be dirt road hammer fests or just a nice easy green trail for beginners. The 13.5 mile single track system was heavily updated in 2014/2015 by the local IMBA Chapter, CWOCC. All single track is now interconnected with the trailhead near the south (front) end of the chalet where you can find The Pines or Jim's Trail. The single track system broken down into three loop clusters: the East Loops, across Red Bud Road, are some of the oldest trail. Hand built and generally rooty and rugged at times but also flow well. Yin/Yang loop is a good intermediate trail with Stone Soup being quite rocky and rugged advanced trail. The West Loop is a mix of new school/old school trail. All intermediate level trail the newest sections of Up Nort, Outbound and a chunk of Chainsmoker feature lots of berms and rollers for great flow. Root Canal, Icky Thump, half of Chainsmoker maintain the older hand built feel. The South Loop or advanced loop is accessed off the west end of Outbound. Here you'll be treated to a lot of rooty and rocky trail. The most challenging sections being Flower, Stinger, Ho Chi Minh, K-bypass and White Knuckle, however, there is one touch of bermed flowy goodness on the descent of Ho Chi Minh. This loop rides well in the counter clockwise direction starting with Flower and ending with White Knuckle. All trails are two way so there are lots of options for riding.
Nine Mile County Forest is located only about 5 miles from the city of Wausau. The trail costs $4.00 to ride and $25.00 for an annual pass. All trail fees are allocated back towards the operation of Nine Mile recreation. The trails are open for riding from May 1st (conditions dependent) until October 15th. Also be aware that Nine Mile is a managed forest unit, hunting occurs early and late in the season and there are often logging operations that could affect trail access.
 | Advanced Loop Connector |   | 0.1 mi |
 | Bear Bones | | 0.5 mi |
 | Chain Smoker |  | 0.5 mi |
| East Loop Connector | | 0.2 mi |
| Flower | | 0.7 mi |
| Ho Chi Minh | | 0.8 mi |
| Icky Thump | | 0.5 mi |
| Outbound | | 1.5 mi |
| Root Canal | | 0.6 mi |
| Stinger | | 0.6 mi |
| Stone Soup | | 0.5 mi |
| Super G | | 0.7 mi |
| The Pines | | 0.2 mi |
| Up Nort | | 1 mi |
| White Knuckle | | 0.2 mi |
| Yang | | 1 mi |
| Yin | | 0.8 mi |
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| Thankfun place to go for 2-4 hours of riding
| ThankCool spot for some intermediate flow. Has some gnarly rocks to ride over on one half. Other half is smooth flow. Worth a few hour drive once in awhile. Well maintained.
| ThankHad a GREAT time this week at the 24hr race. Great loop with plenty of speed and challenge
| ThankMy son and I had a great time racing the wausau24 this past weekend. I had raised this venue a few months before for a WEMS race and really enjoyed the trail system. The trails here soccer challenges to the most experienced rider but yet also routes that are enjoyable for even the novice. They have purchase several thousands of dollars in fat-bike Trail grooming equipment and are adding 10 plus miles of additional single Track Trail. Some of the more advanced portions of the offer Rocky up hill climbs that will challenge your skills and Rock Gardens that seemed to go on forever. Flow trail can also be found and is plentiful with banked corners to meet everyone's expectations here.
| ThankHad to give this five stars because it should be way higher on the "best" list. Challenging rocks which may not be your thing but unique terrain, fun features well maintained.
| ThankI thought the intermediate trails were great. No, you can't go fast because there are a lot of turns but it's an easy enjoyable ride, perfect for what I wanted today. Perfect for beginners or intermediate bikers looking for a nice ride. I prefer full suspension due to the roots. One suggestion would be to have the trail maintenance team trim the many stumps near /on the trail. I hit one years ago which sent me flying, so they always freak me out. Thanks for a great ride!
| ThankWasn't very flowy. Wish there was more downhill. Easy to get lost. Lots of rocks.
| ThankHighly recommended. Varied terrain from flowy and fast to super technical rock armageddon (plus a good helping of both with Ho Chi Minh) A really fun XC trail in the central WI area.
| ThankGreat fun day out
| ThankI thought this review section was where you describe the trail in order to either recommend or discourage people from trying it. Unless, apparently if you give somebody's favorite trail a negative review. I have no problem with rocks and technical trails, but I prefer to do most of my mountain biking climbing hills and flying down fast descents. There is absolutely none of this at Nine Mile. If this fact offends people i am not sorry to point it out to them, but why respond so adamantly to a review and then say different strokes... ? Mblock I rode every trail there, and I will never return. I just thought i could save someone else the trip, because Hartman and Baird are 100 times better trail systems, and are a lot closer to the Fox Valley where i live. I just wish I would've read the Sept. 12 review before waisting an hour and 45 minutes in the car, when I could've driven to Camrock or Madison for some GOOD trails. Good riding to all. ????
| ThankSo in other words you don't like rocks? That's fine, some prefer buttery smooth flow trail and I'm one of those riders but I also love to hit up technical rocky/chunky trails and there are many others that do too (probably some of those other reviewers that gave Nine Mile a good review). Keep in mind the endless rocks all occur on the black "advanced" trails. The blue trails (Up Nort, Outbound, Icky Thump..etc.) are largely devoid of rocks except for a small rock garden on Root Canal and two small rock areas on Yin. So if you stick to the blue trails you'll get more flow and roll. Want chunk and challenge, hit up the black trails. No there are no major climbs or massively long descents but there are some tough punchy climbs and still fast descents, Ho Chi Minh has a nice ripping descent but you have to ride rocks to get to it. North leg of Outbound heading east also is a gradual fast ripper. Keep in mind you can ride these trails in both directions and get a different experience each way on the same trail.
You said you looked at Rib Mountain and were let down by Nine Mile? That's because you were at Nine Mile and not Rib Mountain....completely different places a very short distance apart. Believe me every one of the locals in Wausau would love to have trails up on Rib Mountain but the WI DNR and a reluctant ski hill owner stand in the way. We'll keep trying though.
Bottom line is you get a pretty good variety at Nine Mile. You might not love every part of it but it seems like enough people do, thus the good ratings below yours. Is it the best place in WI? I don't know, there are lots of great places in WI and some not very far from Nine Mile. Hartman Creek....definitely a good time, Levis Mounds?? Also awesome. There is some new machine built stuff at the Underdown that is spectacular.....good climbs and ripping fast descents. The list goes on.
So you don't like rocks? That's fine....different strokes for different folks. Just because you didn't like some of the trails doesn't mean everyone shares your taste.
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