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Lake Crabtree County Park

Current Trail Status

	Status	When Updated	Who Updated	More Info		Help keep this info accurate by clicking the red bicycle
	open	06/26 9:30 am	monkeyman

Average ratings submitted by users                     Write a review   User submitted reviews

Category	Average Rating
Overall :	3.6 / 5.0   based on 25 votes
Technical :	1.7 / 5.0   based on 25 votes
Climbing :	1.4 / 5.0   based on 25 votes
Freeride :	2.1 / 5.0   based on 25 votes
Scenery/Wildlife :	3.0 / 5.0   based on 25 votes
Flow :	4.2 / 5.0   based on 14 votes

Description
Location: Just south of the RDU airport, off Aviation Parkway.
Miles: about 8
Skill Level: Beginner
Contact: Park office (919)460-3390 (call to see if trails are open)

Map
Park Hours and Fees
Directions
Rules of the Trail
Pump Track

Lake Crabtree County Park singletrack is by far the most popular place for beginner riders in the Triangle. Its central location is also great for relieving weekday stress if you work in RTP. The wooded trails connect to Umstead State Park and Cary's Black Creek Greenway.

Since it's so popular, plan on passing lots of other riders when the weather's good. Please be courteous and cautious with the riders you meet here. It is a great place to learn to ride and don't expect to come here and hammer people out of your way. Stopping to help out beginner riders does a world of good for our sport. There are six loops, some connectors, and the Lake Trail.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Crabtree trails are closed when they are muddy. Call ahead to see if they are open. Please respect the rules of the trail and don't ride on closed sections.

Directions
Go towards RDU airport on I-40 and exit onto Aviation Parkway going south. Crabtree County Park entrance is on the left. You may park in the first gravel parking lot or at the boat ramp parking area. One of the main trail entrances is across the road from the first gravel parking lot. Another great way to access the trail is via Connector C.

Park Hours
8:00am to sunset, seven days a week. The park is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Day.

Rules of the Trail

1. All riders must wear a helmet.
2. Respect the rights of all other trail users and obey park rules and regulations. Bikers must always yield to walkers.
3. Plan Ahead.
4. Ride only on officially marked trails.
5. Keep your bike under control.
6. Do not disturb or alarm wildlife.
7. Pets must be kept on a leash at all times.
8. Leave no trace (don't litter).
9. Set a good example and report violators/hazards.
10. Allow time to finish outings before the park closes.
11. Park management has requested that group rides park at the boat ramp parking area. This leaves ample parking for the users of the open play lot.

Pump Track

Thanks to the wonderful staff of Lake Crabtree Park and volunteers, the first public pump track in the triangle area has been built. The pump track is located near the "old field rows" label on the map near the intersection of Connector A and Loop 1. A pump track is a series of rollers and berms. Its intended to teach one to learn how to pump their bike over ups and downs on a trail, which when mastered, a person will be able to accelerate their bike with out pedaling. The pump track is not really intended to be jumped, which defeats the purpose of the track. Rules/Guidelines The building of the pump track involved uncounted hours of planning, negotiations, and construction labor. Please follow these guidelines to help preserve the pump track in a good condition. no skidding no pedaling no braking helmets required lower your seat body position should be more upright as you approach the roller push down as you come over the roller easier on a hard tail but can also be done on a full suspension bike Note that if feels awkward at first. But once you get use to it, it's a lot of fun and a really good workout. Pedaling and braking destroys the rollers and berms. Especially when you "catch" a roller by pedaling over it.

This trail is not open for night riding except under organized night ride events coordinated with cycling clubs and park staff. Stay tuned to this site for upcoming night rides.

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Lake Crabtree Park trail has been reviewed 25 times by our trianglemtb.com guests.

Reviewed by: quisk Reviewed on: 06/23/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	LCCP is a well-maintained trail system with excellent flow and good marking & maps. Compared to other trails, it's an easy ride (although Loop #6 provides some more challenging terrain than the rest). The LCCP trails are mostly singletrack and do not have any significant (long, steep) hills - even so, the terrain is interesting and pretty challenging, especially for beginners, mainly due to tree roots. I began MTB'ing at LCCP and learned good skills over the past few years riding there, but as my speed has increased, I've had more and more problems with oncoming riders that either don't know or don't care about the basic rules of 'right of way'. It seems LCCP is attracting more and more inconsiderate riders, ones that seem to think they own the center of the trail, no matter if going up or down hill, etc. The riding experience would be considerably more enjoyable if everyone was considerate enough to just moved over to the right when an oncoming rider needs to pass. Of course, there are some narrower sections of trail that (supposedly) require the downhill rider to stop to yield right of way, but many riders just treat those situations like a game of Chicken. It's gotten to the point where I've essentially given up on LCCP and have moved onto other, less popular local trails. Another thing worth noting about LCCP is that hikers walk on the same trails as bikers ride on, and hikers have right of way (which seems backwards to me, considering a hiker can far more easily move/step aside than a rider can). Most hikers are very generous by moving over to give room for riders to pass, but the occasional hiker will hold onto trail center, requiring the rider to stop, dismount, etc.
Reviewed by: ttucker Reviewed on: 06/19/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	No detailed review given.
Reviewed by: da cuz Reviewed on: 06/19/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	No detailed review given.
Reviewed by: blaira89 Reviewed on: 06/16/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	Overall, a great trail. I rode the outer loop with a stop to check out the jumps and the pump track. Over all the trail is fairly fun to ride, with a few optional obstacles that can be included for a more technical feeling ride. The jumps are fairly fun but I'd advise to only use them if you have experience jumping bikes. I grew up riding BMX so jumping is nothing new to me. The jump track is interesting and I intend to return and see what all I can learn. I'd say the one draw back is that there are no straight aways longer than 100 feet or so, the path doubles back on itself to make the most of the acreage, but really takes away from the flow. This hinders the ability to look around because your eyes are glued to the unpredicatble path changes ahead (although this was in itself semi-entertaining too, so its a minus and a plus). But if any part of my review helps people: I am coming back for more! So I'll cya on the trails!
Reviewed by: hammer Reviewed on: 05/31/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	No detailed review given.
Reviewed by: Birdman Reviewed on: 05/15/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	Nice trail, close to where I work. Not too crowded at noon, good flow, reasonable tight. Great for singlespeeding. A good intermediate trail to practice your handling skills without getting in over your head. Lots of loop options to extend or shorten your ride.
Reviewed by: crosscountrymtb Reviewed on: 05/10/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	extremely rooty and technical in sections but there is always an alternate route. A great beginner to intermediate trail.
Reviewed by: Jeff Reviewed on: 05/08/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	Crabtree can be a blast if you visit when traffic is light. Expect a lot of new riders if you visit on a nice Saturday or Sunday in season. When traffic is light you can fly in the Crab and everything is ride-able by anyone except an out of shape beginner. When the weather is great traffic in the park will be heavy and the fun factor definitely goes down. You can get a great work out by combining a ride in Crabtree with a ride on the fire roads in Umstead. Loop 6 is probably the most technical part of the trail. The lake trail is a fast flowy trail especially when you start from the intersection of loop 5 and the connector up to loop 1 and head towards I-40. Loops are numbered in the order in which they were built, that's why loop 6 is off of loop 1. Expect to see a lot of wildlife in Crabtree, numerous deer, black snakes, turtles, a heron, and an occasional fox. There are a pair of Bald Eagles that call Lake Crabtree home along with a pair of hawks. Crabtree can be accessed via the Black Creek Greenway and gate where the greenway exits on to Old Reedy Creek Road in Cary or by coming in via Aviation Parkway.
Reviewed by: Swin Reviewed on: 05/07/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	No detailed review given.
Reviewed by: vulcangreen Reviewed on: 04/27/2009 Overall: Technical: Climbing: Freeride: Scenery/Wildlife: Flow: Report inappropriate review	Crabtree is a great trail system whether you are an experience mountain biker or a beginner. In fact, if you are an experienced mountain biker, it is a great place to take your friends that are beginners because there is something for everyone. It seems that Crabtree has been very open minded about allowing local mountain biking organizations develop the trail system. There is a great beginners' rock garden, teeter totter, a few skinnys, a pump track, and a jump line. While the trail is not that long, it is very fast and very well maintained. It seems to be open more days per year than any other trail system since it drys out quickly after rain. The trails are very pretty, especially the lake view trail looking over Lake Crabtree. The only bummer is that I-40 sits right next to the trail which sort of screws up the peacefulness of being in the woods. Some loops have less road noise than others. Give it a shot. The entire system can be ridden in probably an hour or less. If you want a longer ride, try parking at the bike and bridle trail head at Umstead Park (hgwy 70 entrance) and ride into Crabtree the back way. This will give you a good spinning work out before and after the single track at Crab. Maps for Umstead can be found in a small box in front of the visitors center.

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