Quantico Trail

I just wanted to give a more recent update so people know this is still an existing trail to visit. My experience was a bit confusing at first, I wasn't sure where to go, but once I got oriented, it was a lot of fun. Lots of shade along the trails, plenty of options. I'm a noobie so I can only review the "beginner" trail, but it was mostly just a pleasant ride with a couple "technical" spots - a couple turns you could bank hard on, lose sand near a hard turn, and just climbing/decents to practice shifting with.

As you can read below, Marine Corps Base Quantico has a fantastic network of trails. They are now continuously maintained by the Quantico Mountain Biking Club (55 members, check them out on Facebook) who keeps them clear, ride-able and safe. The system has a little of everything, but leans towards the aerobic with short, steep, punchy climbs and then exhilarating downhills. Not particularly technical and favors a fast, flowing rider that maintains momentum. System is extremely well marked both in trail names and three ability courses. Main trailhead is at the parking lot of the North Child Development Center on Purvis Rd where you will find a displayed map of the entire system plus maps of each color coded arrowed course. Green is the shortest at 4 miles aimed at Families or Novices while the Yellow is 8 miles and White is 11 miles and are aimed at Intermediate riders and really only differ in length. Courses were marked with the eye of a visitor in mind so that it would be difficult to get lost. Non-DOD members may access trail system with a membership in Quantico Mountain Bike Club.

Good trail, there are plenty of different routes you can throw together to make a good days ride. Some hills and and obstacles.

Decent climbs for a novice like me, lots of options, very adventurous. These trails hooked me in to the sport.

Rode these trials twice for the 12 Hrs of Cranky Monkey. These trials are fun and have a lot more climbing than you would think.

Great Ride a must if your on Base!

Quantico is a nice network of trails that have varying degrees of difficulty. You can put together rides that are suited for any skill level from beginner to expert.

One great aspect of riding Quantico is that there are a lot of trails packed into a relatively compact area, so if you have a mechanical issue or injury, you're never too far from the parking lot. On the other hand, you could ride the trail network for hours and not have to ride the same one twice. There are some steep climbs and awesome downhills.

The trail network drains pretty well after rain.

Overall, my favorite place to ride... mainly because I live less than 10 miles away.

I was turned away at the gate. The guard(pleasant but inflexible) said I had to have a special pass. I said photo idea should be adequate but he was unconvinced. How do you argue with a Marine MP?

These trails are local to me and close to others living in the NOVA area. I only rode a portion of the trails but the ones I rode were nothing long hills. Long climbs always rewarded with fast downhill to bomb but there wasn't really anything technical.

I was so thrilled to find a lagit trail so close to montclair. Fountain head and wakefield are very nice trails but sometime we dont have the time to drive forty five min to ride a decent trail. lots of verity which is always a good thing. trail needs some work tho. erosion has cut deep into some of the down hills and there were many trees across the track last time i rode these trails( and not the fun hope over kind). but over all good ride.

I was very surprised and impressed by this trail. There is a great network of trails, with fast fun downhills, none of the uphills were too intense. My favorite trail was the Biker Bumps trail, but I will be back to ride more of them. Also, on a side note, in Falls Church, VA a new brewery called Mad Fox opened up, and is quite tasty. I am a huge fan of the post ride beverage, and this place doesn't disappoint.

Rode this series of trails today after work, and had a great time. A good mix of relaxing ride with some technical and challenging sections. I can forsee riding this trail often during chow time.

Good mix of singletrack trails. Several trail options to vary your workout. Several short hills. Fast trail overall. Access is open to public, although it is on a military base. Just show a valid ID and say that you are heading in for the mountain bike trail. New signage helps, although print a map before heading out. Quantico Mountain Bike Club webpage provides trail updates. EX2 puts on a 12 hour race here every June. Rating is based on local rides. Compared to west coast rides (climbs and challenge), the rating would be lower.

A good set of trails. Lots of leaves as of 1/3/09 which masked the terrain a lot. A good trail map is needed as well, as you can get turned around quick

Rode this on 6/28/2008 for the Cranky Monkey relay race. Excellent ride, would highly recommend riding if you get the chance, or even doing the Cranky Monkey in 2009.

If you like Fountainhead, chances are you'll like this one as well. It has the same constant up and down, in and out of drainages. The main difference is that Fountainhead is a series of stacked, one way loops while this is a hodgepodge of criss-crossing trails. Get the map fro the MTB Quantico website before proceeding. It'll still take you a few rides to figure it all out and find your favorite loop. Some of the climbs are seriously steep, but short. You can make a good training ride out of this one as the downhills are never long enough for you to fully recover. The main problem here is erosion--most of the trails, especially the ones that go straigt up out of the drainages, are severly rutted. The bottoms also retain moisture worse than Fountainhead. On the plus side, it doesn't get nearly as much traffic. Overall, it has it's plusses, but it feels like it could be much better. * Review edited 7/24/2010

The trail overall was well kept with lots of elev changes but none that were heart attack quality. With that vat network of trails in this Quantico area I would say there is something for everyone.

One word of advice: Watch out for Marine running on these trails for some of the corners are blind and you don't want to hit anyone.

This trail has a lot of elevation changes. You are always going up or down; rarely flat. There is a nice variety of roots, rocks, small drops, etc. The highlight of the trail are the long curvy descents, which are very smooth with well placed obstacles. This network reminds me of Fountain Head without the thousands of small roots, so you get better flow with just enough rattle. The ascents are challenging and the fire roads are somewhat boring, but there is a lot of singletrack to explore and connect multiple ways. Enter at the main entrance to Quantico, bring you photo ID and tell the guards that you are going mountain biking. Once you make it though make you way to the day care center, and enjoy the terrain.

Great trail that you can tailor to your fitness level.
Can be as technical as you want to make it, or you can stick to the fireroads. However, it is hard to not find inclines that will RAISE YOUR HEARTRATE. Maintained really well...

sweet trail