Mountain Biking Barton Creek Greenbelt, Austin, Texas

Mountain Biking

Barton Creek Greenbelt

Austin, Texas

104 degree heat + no lunch + 14 miles = BONK!

by Dana Farnsworth, Outdoor Travels

Austin, the home of Lance Armstrong, is by no surprise, home to a vibrant biking community. The bike shop that I rented my Trek Epic from was nothing short of a giant toy store for bicyclist. It was with great excitement when I decided to extend a work trip into an extra day or possibly two of mountain bike riding. After a bit of research and some great advice from the bike shop, I decided to ride the Greenbelt first.

I began my ride from the entrance at Zilker Park. The Barton Creek Greenbelt runs approximately 7.9 miles along Barton Creek, sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other. During my ride, the creek was more or less dry, making the crossings, no harder than plowing through deep, loose gravel. I can’t imagine how this ride would work when the river is up. It would definitely require getting quite wet several times.

After getting my bike and gear ready, I was off, with some big expectations - that were initially squashed by the double track gravel road during the first mile or so. I really was about ready to give up on any hope of a good ride, when things got a tiny bit more exciting. The trail narrowed slightly, and things got a bit rocky as I rolled into a waterless dip that looked to be a spring crossing during the rainy season. Soon after the trail began to shrink in width. Unmarked side trails began to spring off of the main trail, coinciding with my boredom with the main trail. So, I decided to explore. My first diversion terminated quickly at what appeared to be someone’s fishing spot. Undaunted, I spent the next mile or so on the main trail, looking for these side trails, that I hoped would lead to more interesting terrain. At one point, I think I strayed onto a hiking only trail. This portion was a real adventure since I knew that I was not on the main path. With some dead reckoning, I headed in the general direction of the main trail. A cool little ascent down the side of a hill was about the highpoint. When I finally crossed upon another trail, I found that I had connected with a hikers only trail. Luckily, it connected back with the main trail in a short distance. Reviewing the less-than-stellar map, I still do not know exactly where I was.

Eventually one of the side routes ended up on some very rocky single track that was located right after the Route 360 underpass (a navigational landmark). This area proved to be more exciting and certainly more challenging. The only problem was that, the trail was either rocky and navigationally challenging, or impassible. Little or no flow, little or no elevation change, just a lot of rocks that made for a bumpy beating. Honestly, disappointment was creeping into my experience.

I found that if a side trail was a viable bicycle trail, it eventually connected with the main trail. Some side trails terminated at odd spots. The river crossings for this first timer, were never clear. This is mostly due to the erosion of a true single path that leads from the main trail across the river. Often, several routes would emerge leaving me wondering where the hell the trail on the other side of the river was.

I would recommend becoming very familiar with the trail map before beginning. I didn’t, and ended up on the west side of the river that terminated in a brushy thicket. After a map check, I noticed that I needed to cross the river once more to experience the final mile of the trail. It was indeed, a strange way for a trail to end. It just sort of stopped a little bit at a time, until I found myself standing in a brush thicket with my bike.

On the way back, I decided to stay on the main trail as much as possible, and experience some of the riding I had missed while exploring the side trails. The main trail, was mostly fast, easy hardpack, that as usual, would splinter into several small trails as it approached a stream crossing. At one point, I was so confused that after seeing a rider looking for his wayward hydropack mouthpiece, I passed him again a few minutes later. “I hope I didn’t just ride in a circle” I said. “Yes you did” replied the rider. As it turned out, Oscar is a local, and was more than happy to help guide me back to my trailhead. He had started from the opposite terminus, which meant he was completing the first half of his ride, while I was finishing mine. Bonk! I went, trying to keep up with Oscar’s fresh legs. I had no lunch, it was about 2:30, 104 degrees, and I had already rode about 12 or so miles. My face felt burnt, my arms and neck beaten from the rocky pounding, and my head dizzy from the heat. It was all I could do to keep up with my newfound guide.

Back at my starting point, I was happy to find a shady tree and a picnic bench where I could lay motionless for a while. Alas, hunger called and I needed to get up and get some fluid and food in my aching body. This proves that although I would not consider the Barton Creek Greenbelt a tough ride, it can kick a rider’s butt given the right circumstances.

Barton Creek, is an asset, to local Austin mountain bikers. However, it does not serve up a level of trail enjoyment to make it a destination ride. If you live near Austin, enjoy the Barton Creek Greenbelt. If you travel to Austin for business like I did - it’s worth a ride. If you seek a new and exciting destination to bike - look elsewhere. The Barton Greenbelt, while not disappointing overall, was certainly not awe inspiring either.