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Chapel Hill Trails

Current Trail Status

	Status	When Updated	Who Updated	More Info		Help keep this info accurate by clicking the red bicycle
Airport Side	open	08/24 8:11 am	mancher
School Side	open	08/24 8:11 am	mancher

Average ratings submitted by users                     Write a review   User submitted reviews

Category	Average Rating
Overall :	4.2 / 5.0   based on 23 votes
Technical :	3.4 / 5.0   based on 23 votes
Climbing :	3.0 / 5.0   based on 23 votes
Freeride :	1.6 / 5.0   based on 23 votes
Scenery/Wildlife :	4.0 / 5.0   based on 23 votes
Flow :	3.6 / 5.0   based on 14 votes

Description
Location: Chapel Hill, near Seawell Elementary School
Miles: 20 miles
Skill Level: Singletrack is intermediate, Doubletrack is beginner

Special Note on Airport and School Side designations
Carolina North may now be opened and closed based on two distinct sections. These sections will simply be called Airport side and School side for the time being and their boundaries should be obvious if you take a look at a map. Seawell School road is the main dividing line between the two sections, the trails to the left of the road are the "school side" and the trails to the right are the "airport side"

Please respect the Carolina North land managers decisions on the open/closed status of each section as a rule even if you may personally disagree with the status.

Map
Park Hours and Fees
Directions
Rules of the Trail

The Chapel Hill trails comprise of two area: Adams Preserve and Williams Tract. Williams Tract is also known as Carolina North Forest. These trails comprise of a mix doubletrack and singletrack. You can ride the doubletrack without riding much singletrack and vise versa. I recommend printing out the map and take it with you. The singletrack is designed to be technical in nature. The doubletrack is predominately smooth.

More info on Adam Preserve
More info on Carolina North Forest

The school side usually dries a few days after rain. The airport side, particularly the inner and outer loops, take significantly longer to dry. Please take this into consideration when planning a ride.

Park Hours
The trails are open dawn until dusk, 365 days a year.
Please see the Trail Status at the top of the page for closures due to trail conditions.

Fees
There are no fees to ride here

Directions
There are several places to access the trails. The most popular parking area is Seawell Elementary School. Parking is not allowed here during school hours. To get here from MLK Blvd, turn on Homestead. Go 3/4 miles to Seawell School Rd. Turn left. Go 1.5 miles. The Parking area is the third one on the right.

Rules of the Trail
1. Be aware and considerate of other users.
2. Leave No Trace. Please don’t litter. Preserve what’s here for the benefit of future users! Trees, brush & grasses are not to be cut, painted, scarred, harvested or otherwise damaged.
3. No New Trails are to be blazed, cut or otherwise established. Unapproved structures & stunt features will be removed.
4. Signs, Advertisements or Notices will be removed. Unauthorized material can be claimed at the Land Management & Trail Information Office.
5. Don’t Block The Gates - The Forest Road network is for emergency use & land management operations.
6. No Motorized Vehicles - Motor vehicles (cars, trucks, motorcycles, all-terrain, off-road & utility vehicles) are not allowed in the Forest.
7. Trail Courtesies - Bikers must be aware of hikers & joggers. Hikers & joggers using bike trails must yield right-of-way to bikers.
8. Pets MUST be leashed. It's the law! Please clean up after your pet.
9. No Alcohol - Possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages is not allowed in the Forest.
10. This Area Is An Ecological & Wildlife Preserve. Hunting, trapping, fishing & gathering activities are not allowed. The removal or destruction of any object (animal, rock or artifact) is prohibited and is considered vandalism.
11. Camping is not permitted in the Forest.
12. No Fires or fireworks are allowed in the Forest.
13. Firearms are prohibited in the Forest, including air rifles & paint guns.

Rules, guidelines, and definitions for our TriangleMTB.com trail reviews

• The trail reviews should be reviews based on first hand knowledge. If you have never ridden the trail, then ride it before reviewing it.
• Obviously, the ratings and reviews should be just that, not big discussions, stuff for sale, or chit chat.
• Ratings should be made relative to the other trails in the greater triangle area of North Carolina (listed on our review page). For example, the "Technical" difficulty rating should be relative to the most technical trail listed on our review page.
• There should be no references to other reviews in your review (eg. you should not argue or state disagreement with other reviews).
• No profanity or vulgar words or context.
• Keep in mind, these reviews are opinions only. One mans pleasure is another mans pain. Take the reviews with a grain of salt.
• Please report inappropriate reviews using the link that appears beneath the rating summary of each review.

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Chapel Hill trail has been reviewed 23 times by our trianglemtb.com guests.

Reviewed by: xterraman Reviewed on: 08/28/2010 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	I'd never ridden these trails before today. I ended up riding two of the singletrack sections on the school side. I've ridden most of what the Triangle has to offer and I really didn't enjoy these trails very much. I liken them to Harris Park but with tighter turns, more roots, and more miles. It's difficult to get good flow/momentum going and though it seemed as though the trails were well marked in many places they were not. I suppose I'll go back sometime and try some of the other trails at Chapel Hill but my first experience was kind of dull. I much prefer to ride at Beaver Dam, New Light, and San Lee.
Reviewed by: Scottyb Reviewed on: 08/21/2010 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	easy to get to, challenging if you want it to be, and plenty to explore. i like to warm up on the doubletrack and then do a few singletrack rides. there is a nice mix of quiet pine stands and rough, narrow rock gardens. the trails are mostly hardpack or gravel with a coating of pine needles. i enjoyed the man-made elements thrown in as well. hard to beat if you're in the chapel hill/carrboro area.
Reviewed by: djmlibra79 Reviewed on: 07/26/2010 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	I am just getting back into mountain biking as a hobby and so I decided to start off on this trail system since it is close to where I work. I rode about 3 miles on the trail called the "Wormhole". I must say that I was very impressed with the trail. It is definitely more challenging than I had been expecting, but in a good way. I especially love the bridges on the trail. Now I am motivated to get my self back in shape so I can conquer the rest of the trails!
Reviewed by: jwest Reviewed on: 05/21/2010 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	No detailed review given.
Reviewed by: delabeta Reviewed on: 04/10/2010 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	I went over today again and it was fantastic. Rode over a couple of drops at top speed, climbed, relaxed on the double-track and in one of the singletrack loops we even got to see a deer standing 20 foot away from us. It was a fantastic ride and is so far my preferred biking spot in the triangle area.
Reviewed by: joshcamp Reviewed on: 04/07/2010 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	I enjoyed riding this trail. You can really rack up on miles and hardly see any other riders. If you are into wild life I would highly recommend riding here. While I was riding I came around a curve and almost ran into a deer. I am not sure who was more scared the deer or myself. This trail has a great flow and enough obstacles to make it interesting. I will definitely be riding here again.
Reviewed by: delabeta Reviewed on: 04/03/2010 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	It has some pretty cool singletracks. You only get to meet a couple of other riders in the trails.
Reviewed by: Forkliftdaddy Reviewed on: 09/28/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	No detailed review given.
Reviewed by: a100mark Reviewed on: 07/31/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	As an intermediate female rider this trail has much to offer. Depending on what I feel like riding, I can map my route accordingly. When we take the Trips For Kids - Triangle groups out on rides, this is always our trail system of choice. Not only does it accommodate beginner riders, it also has enough challenges to keep our better riders entertained. If there can be such a trail, I would nominate this as the best "one size fits all" trail system in the area.
Reviewed by: JMyers Reviewed on: 07/28/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	No detailed review given.

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