3,912 ft
Distance
40 ft
Climb
-215 ft
Descent
00:08:43
Avg time
Trail Supporters, Builders & Maintainers of Lightning Trail

Lightning Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
  • Riding Area
    Oak Mountain State Park
    Birmingham, Alabama
  • Difficulty Rating
    Double Black Diamond rate
  • Voted Difficulty
    Blue (2 votes)
  • Trail Type
    Machine Groomed
  • Bike Type
    AM
  • Trail Usage
    Biking Only
  • Direction
    Downhill Only
    Popular direction shown
  • Physical Rating
    Moderate
  • Season
    All Season
  • Dogs Allowed
    Yes
  • TTFs on Trail
    Berm, Drop, Jump, Roller Coaster
  • Global Ranking
    #1705 in Mountain Biking
  • Local Popularity
    90 in Mountain Biking

The trail starts with a test- a skinny with a 2 ft. drop to give you an idea of what you're getting into. This is optional, but recommended way to test how prepared you are for the trail ahead. Lots of Flow Immediately the trail drops into medium rollers and doubles, winding it's way back down the mountain with steep downhills, and a brief rolling climb. Lots of opportunities for big air. There is an optional drop 1/2 way down. The trail finishes in switchbacks coming down the mountain with some good berms.

Ideal bike: 5-6in Trail bike

More Stats for Lightning bike trail
  • Altitude change
    -174 ft
  • Altitude min
    682 ft
  • Altitude max
    864 ft
  • Altitude start
    864 ft
  • Altitude end
    690 ft
  • Grade
    -4.457%
  • Grade max
    -14.156%
  • Grade min
    16.11%
  • Distance climb
    607 ft
  • Distance down
    2,984 ft
  • Distance flat
    321 ft
  • Avg time
    00:08:43
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Jul 22, 2019
Very Dry
Avg: 5 (10 votes)

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  • Layers  w
  • Basemap 
  • Trail Style 
    • ?
  • Activity Type  
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Ridden Direction
Trailforks scans users ridelogs to determine the most popular direction each trail is ridden. A good flowing trail network will have most trails flowing in a single direction according to their intension.
The colour categories are based on what percentage of riders are riding a trail in its intended direction.
  • > 96%
  • > 90%
  • > 80%
  • > 70%
  • > 50%
  • < 50%
Trail Last Ridden
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine the last time a trail was ridden.
  • < 2 days
  • < 1 week
  • < 2 weeks
  • < 1 month
  • < 6 months
  • > 6 months
Trail Ridden Direction
The intended direction a trail should be ridden.
  • Downhill Only
  • Downhill Primary
  • Both Directions
  • Uphill Primary
  • Uphill Only
  • One Direction
ContributeDetails
Colors indicate trail is missing specified detail.
  • Description
  • Photos
  • Description & Photos
  • Videos
Trail Popularity ?
Trailforks scans ridelogs to determine which trails are ridden the most in the last 9 months. Trails are compared with nearby trails in the same city region with a possible 25 colour shades. Think of this as a heatmap, more rides = more kinetic energy = warmer colors.
  • most popular
  • popular
  • less popular
  • not popular

LEGEND
Trail Difficulties
  • Access Road/Trail
  • White
  • Green
  • Blue
  • Black
  • Double Black Diamond

Trail Report Status
  • Clear / Green
  • Minor Issue / Yellow
  • Significant Issue / Amber
  • Closed

  • Land Owner Overlay
  • Wilderness (typically no bikes in USA)
  • BLM (public)
  • USFS (Wildlife sanctuaries darker than usfs)
  • State land
  • Indigenous
  • Military
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
  • Map Markers
  • trail Trail Head
  • photo Photo
  • place Directory Listing
  • region Riding Area
  • TTF TTF
  • Parking Parking
  • Viewpoint Viewpoint
  • Information Information
  • Warning Warning
  • Directions Directions
  • Sight Sight
  • Restrooms Restrooms
  • eBike Charging Point eBike Charging Point
  • Water Fountain/Source Water Fountain/Source
  • Gate Gate
  • Trail Sign Trail Sign
  • Table or Bench Table or Bench
  • Ladder Ladder
  • Stairs Stairs
  • Bridge Bridge
  • Camping Camping
  • Cabin Cabin
  • Lodge Lodge
  • Bear Cache Bear Cache
  • Dock Dock
  • Ranger Station Ranger Station
  • Summit Summit
  • Other Other
      Directions to lightning-53478 trailhead (33.341620, -86.723720)
      update trails status or condition

      Lightning Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Jul 22, 2019 @ 2:42pm
      Jul 22, 2019
      Apr 20, 2019 @ 7:24pm
      Apr 20, 2019
      Aug 22, 2018 @ 7:38am
      Aug 22, 2018
      Jul 26, 2018 @ 5:36pm
      Jul 26, 2018
      		 Tree down
      Jul 14, 2018 @ 11:09am
      Jul 14, 2018
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 16 rides
      • 13 miles avg distance
      6 Months
      • 254 rides
      • 13 miles avg distance
      All
      • 423 rides
      •  

      Photos

      more »
      87 |
      Aug 31, 2018 @ 7:53pm
      Aug 31, 2018
      79 |
      Jul 26, 2018 @ 5:37pm
      Jul 26, 2018
      306 |
      Nov 10, 2014 @ 6:41am
      Nov 10, 2014

      Routes with this trail

      more »
      titleratingdistance
      Thunder and Lightning Loop (Short)
      		8 miles
      OMSP - Thor's Hammer
      		13 miles
      Oak Mountain Maximum Downhills
      		30 miles
      Oak Mountain Tech Loop
      		27 miles

      4 Reviews & Comments

      • + 0
      flag cdraper122 (Jul 30, 2018 at 18:10)
       This is a single diamond trail
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      flag marcvane (Aug 30, 2018 at 11:53)
       Really fun single diamond...
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      flag manglermixer (Oct 13, 2018 at 5:00)
       What they said, single black trail.
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      flag Bubblegumwuff (Oct 15, 2019 at 19:04)
       A great mtb trail, probably my favorite in alabama
      [Reply]

      Post a Comment



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      Videos

      more »
      First drop in years.
      0:16 | 336 | Aug 29, 2017 , Birmingham
      oak mtn lightning trail
      2:38 | 497 | Nov 1, 2012 , Birmingham
      Oak Mountain
      1:14 | 171 | Sep 28, 2015 , Birmingham

      Nearby Trails

      Oak Mountain State Park

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