6.4 miles
Distance
856 ft
Climb
-855 ft
Descent
01:16:22
Avg time

Black Loop Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
    • E-Bike
  • Riding Area
    Fountainhead Regional Park
    Fairfax Station, Virginia
  • Difficulty Rating
  • Voted Difficulty
    Double Black Diamond (3 votes)
  • Trail Type
    Singletrack
  • Direction
    One Direction
    Popular direction shown
  • Climb Difficulty
    Blue
  • Physical Rating
    Moderate
  • eBike Allowed
    Yes up to Class 1
  • TTFs on Trail
    A-Frame, Berm, Bridge, Drop, Jump, Log Ride, Rock Garden, Skinny
  • Global Ranking
    #4739 in Mountain Biking
  • Local Popularity
    90 in Mountain Biking [+]
    • 95 in E-Biking
  • Land Owner
    NOVA Parks

This is the hardest of the loops at Fountainhead. The trail is mostly more of a harder blue with several obstacles that really earn the black diamond rating. The start doesn't hold back with a hard rock climb from the blue trail. From there it eases off for a while. You'll have real fun flowy sections with short climbs and man-made rock gardens thrown in for good measure.
Later in the trail is when it starts to get real. I think it was around mile marker 6, that the drops start. While some of them are small and could be done by most intermediate riders, they get bigger as they go. I think the biggest is about a 6 foot vertical drop. So if you don't feel confident on medium/large drops, you'll want to scope them first. If you are comfortable, then most are pretty mellow, however one has a short landing that took me by surprise. So don't just bomb off them.
After the drop section there's a few more gnar parts, including one pretty rowdy rock garden. When you hit the little A-frame wooden features, you're coming up to it. Just know, it's going to get rocky and chunky.
The end of the trail has an easy and harder route, with the harder ending in a fun and wild decent with rocks and drops everywhere.
If you're an intermediate looking for some harder terrain, give this a go. You can easily go around the hard sections and the rest of the trail is pretty much a blue. Just keep in mind the full loop is around 12 miles.

Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Black Loop mountain bike trail trail
  • Altitude change
    -1 ft
  • Altitude min
    127 ft
  • Altitude max
    263 ft
  • Altitude start
    128 ft
  • Altitude end
    128 ft
  • Grade
    -0%
  • Grade max
    -20.8%
  • Grade min
    25.6%
  • Distance climb
    3 miles
  • Distance down
    3 miles
  • Distance flat
    5,138 ft
  • Avg time
    01:16:22
  • Avg reverse time
    01:20:35
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Jul 12, 2023
Ideal
Avg: 4.65 (19 votes)
Your vote: 0

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Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Inadequate
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
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      Directions to black-loop-40876 trailhead (38.718150, -77.324500)
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      Black Loop Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Jul 12, 2023 @ 10:23am
      Jul 12, 2023
      Large tree down across trail, blocking trail
      Jul 6, 2023 @ 6:37am
      Jul 6, 2023
      Tree, large.
      Jun 30, 2023 @ 7:48am
      Jun 30, 2023
      Tree. 12”.
      Jun 13, 2023 @ 9:17am
      Jun 13, 2023
      Tree down. I moved off main trail, now is blocking the technical b-line. Can be cut with hand saw or maybe dragged with help.
      May 27, 2023 @ 6:16am
      May 27, 2023
      Large tree, chainsaw needed.
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 6 rides
      • 12 miles avg distance
      6 Months
      • 197 rides
      • 13 miles avg distance
      All
      • 2,146 rides
      • Last: Jun 18, 2023

      Photos

      more »
      30 |
      May 7, 2023 @ 7:07am
      May 7, 2023
      32 |
      Jul 24, 2022 @ 9:11am
      Jul 24, 2022
      36 |
      Jul 24, 2022 @ 9:11am
      Jul 24, 2022
      35 |
      Jul 24, 2022 @ 9:11am
      Jul 24, 2022

      Trail Lists

      Routes with this trail

      titledistance
      Fountainhead Black Loop12 miles
      Fountainhead Full Tour12 miles

      1 Review & Comments


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      Videos

      more »
      Fountainhead Black Trails | Part Two
      40:32 | 142 | Jul 27, 2022 , Fairfax Station
      Fountainhead Feb 12 2022
      16:21 | 214 | May 4, 2022 , Fairfax Station
      Fountainhead Black Trail // VA MTB
      7:59 | 841 | Aug 16, 2020 , Fairfax Station
      Just the drops on FH Black non GoPro views
      272 | May 27, 2021 , Fairfax Station
      • By brenthillier NSMBA TRAILFORKS & contributors
      • #40876 - 5,294 views
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