3,858 ft
Distance
52 ft
Climb
-251 ft
Descent
00:07:15
Avg time
Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Lightning Trail

Lightning Details

  • Activities
    • Mountain Bike
  • Riding Area
    Oak Mountain State Park
    Birmingham, Alabama
  • Difficulty Rating
    Black Diamond rate
  • Voted Difficulty
    Black Diamond (6 votes)
  • Trail Type
    Machine Groomed
  • Bike Type
    AM
  • Direction
    Downhill Only
    Popular direction shown
  • Physical Rating
    Moderate
  • Season
    All Season
  • TTFs on Trail
    Berm, Drop, Jump, Roller Coaster
  • Global Ranking
    #2708 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

Local Trail Association
Traditionally Indigenous Territory
More Stats for Lightning mountain bike trail trail
  • Altitude change
    -201 ft
  • Altitude min
    583 ft
  • Altitude max
    784 ft
  • Altitude start
    784 ft
  • Altitude end
    584 ft
  • Grade
    -5.2%
  • Grade max
    -19.6%
  • Grade min
    30.9%
  • Distance climb
    259 ft
  • Distance down
    3,323 ft
  • Distance flat
    279 ft
  • Avg time
    00:07:15
  • Avg reverse time
    00:18:21
  • view trail stats
Status:
on Aug 21, 2022
Ideal
Avg: 5 (13 votes)
Your vote: 0

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  • Basemap 
  • Trail Style 
    • ?
  • Activity Type  
3D
Trail Conditions
  • Unknown
  • Snow Groomed
  • Snow Packed
  • Snow Covered
  • Snow Cover Inadequate
  • Freeze/thaw Cycle
  • Icy
  • Prevalent Mud
  • Wet
  • Variable
  • Ideal
  • Dry
  • Very Dry
Trail Flow (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%
  • bi-directional trail
  • no data
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
Contribute Details
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
ATV/ORV/OHV Filter
Max Vehicle Width
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Radar Time
x Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public ridelogs from the past 6 months.
  • mountain biking recent
  • mountain biking (>6 month)
  • hiking (1 year)
  • moto (1 year)
Activity Recordings
Trailforks users anonymized public skilogs from the past 12 months.
  • Downhill Ski
  • Backcountry Ski
  • Nordic Ski
Jump Magnitude Heatmap
Heatmap of where riders jump on trails. Zoom in to see individual jumps, click circles to view jump details.
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      Directions to lightning-53478 trailhead (33.341580, -86.723820)
      update trails status or condition

      Lightning Trail Reports

      statusdatedescription
      Aug 21, 2022 @ 5:55am
      Aug 21, 2022
      Jul 9, 2022 @ 5:16am
      Jul 9, 2022
      Jun 18, 2022 @ 6:07am
      Jun 18, 2022
      Apr 28, 2022 @ 12:28pm
      Apr 28, 2022
      		 Tree down
      Mar 28, 2022 @ 6:28pm
      Mar 28, 2022
      view all reports »

      Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

      Past Week
      • 16 rides
      • 18 miles avg distance
      6 Months
      • 420 rides
      • 14 miles avg distance
      All
      • 3,418 rides
      • Last: Oct 1, 2022

      Technical Trail Features (TTF)

      Photos

      more »
      18 |
      Sep 4, 2022 @ 2:30pm
      Sep 4, 2022
      208 |
      Jul 24, 2020 @ 8:10pm
      Jul 24, 2020
      301 |
      Aug 31, 2018 @ 7:53pm
      Aug 31, 2018
      572 |
      Nov 10, 2014 @ 6:41am
      Nov 10, 2014

      Routes with this trail

      more »
      titledistance
      Thunder and Lightning Loop (Short)8 miles
      BSA 83 Ride, Down Lighting to BMX Track6 miles
      OMSP - Thor's Hammer13 miles
      Oak Mountain Maximum Downhills30 miles

      7 Reviews & Comments

      • + 1
      JDCMTB2007 (Aug 24, 2022 at 18:15)
      Definitely the most fun trail at the state park. Super fast and flowy and littered with jumps.
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      TreyChristensen (Sep 27, 2021 at 15:48)
      Definitely a single black.
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      Olemanmtb (Dec 13, 2019 at 18:12)
      Wish there was a shuffle up as only had time for one run down. What a hoot it was????
      [Reply]
      • + 1
      Bubblegumwuff (Oct 15, 2019 at 19:04)
      A great mtb trail, probably my favorite in alabama
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      manglermixer (Oct 13, 2018 at 5:00)
      What they said, single black trail.
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      marcvane (Aug 30, 2018 at 11:53)
      Really fun single diamond...
      [Reply]
      • + 0
      cdraper122 BUMP (Jul 30, 2018 at 18:10)
      This is a single diamond trail
      [Reply]





      Videos

      more »
      First drop in years.
      0:16 | 1033 | Aug 29, 2017 , Birmingham
      oak mtn lightning trail
      2:38 | 1050 | Nov 1, 2012 , Birmingham
      Oak Mountain
      1:14 | 399 | Sep 28, 2015 , Birmingham

      Nearby Trails

      Oak Mountain State Park

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