The Anthills at Terry Hershey Park

Nice trail and close to the city. What I don't like is you have to get onto pave roads to navigate to some sections, as you have to watch out joggers and cars. But it's literally in the city.

To start off, I am very biased, and I live less than a mile away from these trails. These are basically the only trails I have ever ridden, by the way.

I absolutely love these trails. There is a lot of variety in what you can ride here. One minute you could be riding flowy sand and then hop right onto a well-packed small-ish jump trail.

The trails are pretty well maintained and one of my only complaints is that the erosion of sand makes the trails very rooty. I mean, VERY rooty. I would almost call it tech for the severity of the roots on some climbs and descents.

My last complaint is that after rain, the trails can get very muddy and can even be submerged after torrential rain or hurricanes due to the proximity to the bayou. It can erode the soil, but most of it will dry after a few days for rain and about a week after it is submerged.

The trails are pretty flat in general. There are no 'real' downhills or climbs, only mini ones. You will find yourself pedaling and shifting gears very drastically, very often.

I started mountain biking a few months ago during the summer of 2019 and have not ridden any other actual mountain bike trails. Now that is is mid-December and I am less of a beginner rider and more of an Intermediate rider, I must say that with just these trails, my interest has been held with new things to ride every day I go out. I have ridden more and more features and jumps on this one system and even though I have ridden these trails probably 50 times, There are still features I'm trying to work up to.

I love these trails and continue to ride them multiple times a day some days. I recommend two trails in this system, "The Dog Pound", and "Show Me Where the Big Berm Touched You".

With that, I really like these trails and would recommend it to anyone. I'm sure that advanced riders as well as beginners could find certain trails that they like.

I love riding every weekend, but I can't seem to master the "S" incline. Any tips or advice is welcome. So far my SO and I are doing 25 miles on a Sat or Sun (yes we only do it once a week) but we love it.

When they are dry enough to ride, It is one of the best trails in the Houston area.

Dirt trails are wet. Rode on paved trail on north side of bayou

Great inner city trail. Definitely gets plenty of traffic from hikers and bikers alike. You'll be doing plenty of calling out on this trail.

The lower trail closest to the bayou is extremely sandy and muddy, virtually unrideable. The upper trail is pretty good tho with some minor washouts in some places and mud every so often. Overall great ride tho.

Lots of trail to cover, fairly well kept, and a nice escape from the city life.

No longer any dirt trails in northwest portion of park. Entire park is better suited to road bikes.
Dirt trail in northeast quarter of park is under water in many places and under construction by Corps of Engineers.

A fun trail, it was my first mountain bike trail and offers a variety of routes of varying difficulty for beginners and more experienced riders. I like parking at the dam at Highway 6 and riding through Terry Hershey Park, up and down the hills where I can till getting to Eldridge where can cross under the road where the paved path crosses to the other side of the bayou.

Between Eldridge and Diary Ashford you get the option of an easier single track path that is pretty simple with some gravelly climbs and descents and a few obstacles to maneuver, and some more complicated branching paths with options for steep climbs/descents, jumps, and much more technical maneuvering.

After Dairy Ashford the trail gets much more difficult as it gets more forested. You have the option of sticking close to the bayou which I have found to be the most difficult option full of exposed roots to navigate, wet dirt, and sand. Alternatively you can take the higher route as narrow paths (alsos full of roots but I found more manageably) cross through the hills and trees through very technical climbs and descents that require you to have a good plan of getting from point A to point B.

I have only been a little ways East of Dairy Ashford, it is a little hard to tell how far when lost among the trees and hills, so I can't say yet how the difficulty compares the rest of the way to Beltway 8. It is my goal to ride the rest of the way. So far though I have been content going as far as I have, I always find something new to try, something a little more difficult to attempt.

There are often others on the trail but I have never seen it anywhere near crowded and often have long periods of feeling alone on the trail which is great.

Very fun if you can keep a fast pace and use the small hills to your advantage.

The Anthills are home to some of the most technical and rugged trails in Houston and as such are generally much less trafficked. The relatively short 5 mile out and 5 mile back trail can be done in sets of 2-5 depending on how much workout you'd like to get.

The first sections nearest Beltway 8 are by far the gnarliest. There is a lot of fun to be had in these sections as there is a high road path that goes through the woods and a low road that hugs the bayou as well as some really steep short connectors between the two. After the first two bridge crossings the path gets more mellow and eventually turns into a wide single and double track in the middle of open fields.

I would still classify the Anthills as more of a locals hidden gem, it's much less accessible than other trails like Memorial and Cypresswood because its on the opposite side of the bayou from the paved trails. Even in the middle of the day Saturday with nice weather there are usually only a dozen or so bikers and hikers on the trails at one time.

The recent memorial day flooding in 2015 did quite a bit of damage to the trails but they are mostly clean now though the additional erosion has made several of the low road sections much more difficult. Unless you are a very accomplished rider you'll probably need to walk a few of these steeper low road features.

Very good trail along the bayou's near memorial. Park either off of I-10 or off of Memorial. Trail has good up and down and the roots make it technical in places. ~ 10.5 miles out and back and takes around 1hr 30 min. The lower trail is wet almost all the time. The upper trails are almost always in good shape. Each time you ride it feels like it's a new trail.

A good change from Memorial Park. Can be a little more challenging. Stays muddy for a long time after rain. Trails are hard to follow.

Very unkept. Almost like riding free through the woods. Confusing, unmarked. All-in-all not bad for an inter-city trail. Riding Memorial tomorrow. We'll see how that one rates.

I always park off of Diary Ashford, because I can get to the trail much faster parking there. Some of the lower trails are harder to follow because they have been washed away by the bayou. The ride is very rewarding, if you keep going you can eventually end up at the anthills, and that is pretty neat to see.

My new park. Two miles from my new home. I am just happy to have some place to ride close by. The trail has good points: some nice root action and short drops, enough to get a good pump. Then take the rolling sections to stretch your legs and get some speed.

Memorial Park and Cypresswood trail in Spring are much better rides in my opinion as far as the Houston Area goes.

There are some forest trails that were made by indiiduals that arent bad but other than that its all paved work out paths

Very clean. Kid friendly.