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Tags:
Level: Intermediate
Length: 30 mi (48.3 km)
Surface: Singletrack
Configuration: Network
Elevation: +4,426/ -3,925 ft
Total: 737 riders
 

Mountain Biking Bent Creek

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#2 of 548 mountain bike trails in North Carolina
#30 in the world

Bent Creek is the go-to trail system for the greater Asheville area, and with the deeply-ingrained mountain bike culture in the Asheville/Brevard area, and Western North Carolina in general, Bent Creek sees a ton of traffic. There are several different trailheads and ways to access the trail, and many weekends all of the trailheads are all filled to overflowing. Cars that can't fit into the parking lots line the nearby forest roads, and Lake Powhatan Campground is usually filled as well. This might be the busiest mountain bike trail in North Carolina... and as you'll see if you ride here, there's a good reason for it!

The trail system is composed of two very different areas: a flatter area, and a much more mountainous section on the ridge.

There are numerous singletack and doubletrack trails in the lower, much flatter areas near Lake Powhatan. These are great beginner trails or warm up/cool down sections. These segments include Deerfield Loop, Explorer Loop, Homestead, Lower Sidehill Trail, Pinetree Loop, and others.

If you're looking for a climbing challenge and/or some killer high-speed descending, the place to go is definitely towards the ridge. Green's Lick is the widely-renowned descent, and if you're riding here, you have to ride it! Green's Lick is very fast, flowy, jump-filled, full of massive berms and wallrides to rail (even bigger than those on Ingles Field Gap and Wolf Branch), a few rock gardens, several technical rock features, and offers absolutely no respite until you reach the bottom!

Other trails on the ridge that work well as climbs or descents include Ingles Field Gap, Wolf Branch, and others.

First added by Greg Heil on Dec 31, 2002. Last updated May 11, 2020. → add an update
Before you go
  • Drinking water: unknown
  • Lift service: unknown
  • Night riding: yes
  • Pump track: unknown
  • Restrooms: yes
  • Fat bike grooming: unknown
  • E-bikes allowed: unknown
  • Fee required: unknown
This trail information is user-generated. Help improve this information by suggesting a correction.
Getting there
Hwy. 191 south of Asheville, near the Blue Ridge Parkway entrance. You can go through the Arboretum and hang left, or take Bent Creek Ranch Rd. Don't worry, you'll see all the other mountain bikers about 1/4 mile from Lake Powhatan....
System trails (22)
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Bent Creek Trail map

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brian1675 (on Jan 18, 2024)
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Trail conditions

Good (on May 27, 2022)
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Bent Creek videos

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GoPro HD Trial 1 - Bent…
 
Bent Creek - Mt Biking 12NOV10
 
Green's Lick
 
Bent Creek - Green's Lick -…
 
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Rider questions

Q: Which is the flatter section?
A: There's a short trail around the lake starting from Hard Times trail head and a series of service roads around that area which are pretty forgiving. If you want elevation gain with great single track downhill take the North Boundary Road and head down Ingles Gap Connector... a favorite ride.

Q: e-mtb's allowed?
A: Not on Singletrack. Plenty of Gravel roads though