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

Black Diamond rate
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

Mid-Atlantic Off Road Enthusiasts (MORE)
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Traditionally Indigenous Territory

Manahoac

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	date	description
	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.

title	distance
Fountainhead Black Loop	12 miles
Fountainhead Full Tour	12 miles

Black Loop

Black Loop Details

Local Trail Association

Traditionally Indigenous Territory

More Stats for Black Loop mountain bike trail trail

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Technical Trail Features (TTF)

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1 Review & Comments

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Nearby Trails

Fountainhead Regional Park