Platte River State Park / South Bend, NE


Trail Notes:
A) 0.2 miles  Stone Creek Falls
B) 0.5 miles  Left turn to east trails
C) 0.7 miles  Short steep section down to wide horse trail (do not ride 9a-4p, Memorial Day-Oct 31st)
D) 1.2 miles  Horse trail uphill grunt
E) 1.5 miles  Singletrack begins
F) 2.3 miles  Left turn on a flowy ridge ride
G) 2.6 miles  Platte River overlook
H) 3.0 miles  Trail opens to meadow
I) 3.2 miles  High point of trail 1199ft
J) 3.4 miles  Rollercoaster downhill begins
K) 4.3 miles  Small rock garden
L) 4.7 miles  The Gully begins
M) 6.25 miles  Arrive back at vehicle

Platte River State Park is one of the best trail systems in eastern Nebraska.  It is a beautiful network of fast flowing singletrack cut into the bluffs above the Platte River.  These trails wind themselves up and down the forested bluffs, across open fields at the crest, and rocket down gullies in between.  It is a haven of mountain biking bliss! 

 

The drawback to the trail is the limitations on when it can be ridden.  Mountain bikers are only allowed to ride before 9am and after 4pm daily on the eastern side of the park from Memorial Day to roughly October 31... which is where the best riding is.  During this time, only horseback riding is allowed.  The western half, aside from playing on the rocks by the waterfall, is mostly washed out roller coaster hills.  These can be fun, but are nothing compared to the trails on the eastern half. 

 

The best route through is to take a left after the park entrance, then your first right into the parking lot.  Hop on your bike and start pedalling through the mostly flat section past the waterfall, then up the last trail on the right.  This will come to a wider gravel trail that will lead to the observation tower at the top, but take your first left 200 feet or so up this trail and follow it to a double track on the other side of the bluff.  This will lead you to the sweet eastern half. 



                                                                                                                    Small rock garden

The fun will begin after a grunt up the first hill (unless you enjoy hills, then the fun will have already started!).  The trail winds down through thick vegetation (and most likely spider webs) and then climbs back up to make a left at the top, leading to an overlook of the Platte River.  During the summer, this overlook becomes completely obscured by trees, damn nature!!  Another climb follows and opens to a meadow at the top.  The main picture on the homepage of this blog is of this meadow.  After the meadow, work your way down to what you rode your ass up here to do!  The first trip down is a blast!  Quick drops coupled with fast ups with roots and random logs to contend with, not to mention the stray deer or two.  Once the trail reaches the bottom it climbs back up with an optional rocky mini-loop to take or skip.  The rocks are not too difficult to negotiate (says the guy that has walked them more than once), but add more variety to an already diverse trail.

                                        The Gully                                                                         ridge on the Gully

At the top of the last climb, it's time for the Gully.  Fun, fun, fun!!  The Gully winds its way in splendid fashion down a gully (imagine that) throwing rollercoaster dips and dives, sandy washouts, rooty climbs, and rocky playgrounds!  The rest of the ride back to the car is a good cool down and playing in the waterfall wouldn't hurt either!



Platte River State Park is located just east of South Bend on highway 66.

Mapquest map