Does anyone know of some great Single Track near Grand Forks or Fargo, ND.

I know Turtle River has some, but looking for something with more variety.

Thanks,

-Erik

As you mentioned Turtle River is an option, and you probably missed some stuff, there are group rides there Sunday nights at 6:30 and they will hit just about everything there. But the the best riding near either is at a XC ski resort called Maplelag http://www.maplelag.com/ It's about 1:45 from GF and about 50min from Fargo, lots of good stuff and worth the drive. There are some other trails around the fargo area, but I'm not familiar with them really.

Thanks for the info.

-Erik

As you mentioned Turtle River is an option, and you probably missed some stuff, there are group rides there Sunday nights at 6:30 and they will hit just about everything there. But the the best riding near either is at a XC ski resort called Maplelag http://www.maplelag.com/ It's about 1:45 from GF and about 50min from Fargo, lots of good stuff and worth the drive. There are some other trails around the fargo area, but I'm not familiar with them really.

The Martineau trails near Akely, MN are fun, if you don't mind sharing with dirt bikes. I've never had a problem.

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/ohv/trails/martineau.html

The Pipestem Dam in Jamestown is a fun trail, but only about 8 miles. It's the host of the Gear Grinder race.

http://www.mountainbikingx.com/Trails.html
www.racejamestown.com

There's supposedly a trail by Ft Ransom, but the part I tried the only trail I found was drawn on the map. It was marked but no trail. Hopefully someday it will be a real trail, looks to have potential. I have heard the part by the park is ok but I havn't been there, I think it's fairly tame.

There are a few places around town in Fargo if you don't feel like traveling, but nothing great. Probably the best is MB Johnson park in north Moorhead, there's about 3 miles of trails there.

My choices based on location would be:

From GF-
Turtle River - close and quick. Not heaven but sure as fire ain't hell, 'niether
Martineau/Paul Bunyan State Forest - Akeley, Nevis, MN about 2-1/2 hours, just south of Bemidji. Lots of enduro motorcycle trails but there's plenty of other singeltrack laced in there too. Best to take a compass and plan to get lost.
Maplelag - about 2 hours or less, just a few miles north of Detriot Lakes. Fun trails with plenty of mileage to eat up an afternoon. They race there sometimes.
Detroit Lakes - I know of two places to ride - Detroit Mountain (the ski hill) has trails that run around its base; and there are some trails that are a fun few miles at the DNR fish hatchery right in town.
Of course if you don't mind a little road trip you could head 5 hours or so east to Duluth and northern WI to the Chequamaegon area.


Fargo-
South into SD to Sicha Hollow near Sisseton. Not the best but lots of vetical in a very mall area. Water bars & horses. Somethimes a few stream crossings, depending on the amount of rain.
East into MN - hit the aforementioned Paul Bunyan or Maplelag.
West to Jamestown - I hear tell of some great new trails the local club has put in. Do a search for Gear Grinder and you'll get a website that tells directions

And my personal favoriate way to get some MTB soul into your life when you are completely sick of winter is to head over to Smoky Hills, near Ponsford MN. It's really on the way to Paul Bunyan and quite close to there, but the open fire roads and wider doubletrack are perfect for getting your woods riding jones filled, beginning as early as March some years.

Good luck.