1.6 miles

Distance

11 ft

Climb

-434 ft

Descent

00:10:45

Avg time

Supporters, Builders, Maintainers & Land Managers of Ridgeline Trail

Friends of Dupont Forest
Sponsor

Ridgeline Details

Activities
- Mountain Bike
- Hike
- Trail Running
- Horse
Riding Area

Dupont State Recreational Forest
Cedar Mountain, North Carolina
Difficulty Rating

Blue rate
Hiking SAC Scale

T2 Mountain Hiking
Trail Type

Singletrack
Bike Type

AM, XC
Direction

Downhill Primary
Popular direction shown
Climb Difficulty

Blue
Physical Rating

Moderate
Trail Visibility

Always easy to follow
Family Friendly

Yes
Dogs Allowed

Yes
eBike Allowed

No
TTFs on Trail

Berm
Global Ranking
#155 in Mountain Biking [+]
- #29344 in Trail Running
- #4593 in Hiking
- #725 in Horseback
Local Popularity
100 in Mountain Biking [+]
- 65 in Trail Running
- 75 in Hiking
- 100 in Horseback
Land Manager

NCFS

Ridgeline is a crown jewel of Dupont State Recreational Forest. For many mountain bikers and equestrians, this is their favorite trail or at least in their top three. This trail is known for its flow. While it has no real technical features to speak of since being redesigned, it is a lot of fun to ride this glassy smooth and generally well-bermed trail. From Lake Imaging Road it is a steady but not steep climb to the high point just before the intersection with Hooker Creek Trail. Then it is a gradual descent or flat on to the end of the trail at Hickory Mountain Road and Hickory Mountain Loop.
Sight lines are fantastic and the flow is amazing.

For the ultimate downhill blast, ride to the top of Hickory Mountain Loop, take a minute to catch your breath and prepare to smile all the way to the parking lot, barely needing to pedal. (Read the Trail Notes on Hickory Mountain Loop.)

Beginning mountain bikers need to have good speed control and braking skills before tackling this and many of the other trails at Dupont. Learn how to use that front brake correctly (it is 80% of your stopping power) and PLEASE don't skid that rear tire on our precious trails.

Local Trail Association

Friends of Dupont Forest
Please consider joining or donating to the local trail association to support
trail development & maintenance.
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Traditionally Indigenous Territory

More Stats for Ridgeline bike trail trail

Altitude change

-424 ft
Altitude min

2,326 ft
Altitude max

2,751 ft
Altitude start

2,750 ft
Altitude end

2,326 ft
Grade

-5.1%
Grade max

-23.4%
Grade min

5%
Distance climb

377 ft
Distance down

1 mile
Distance flat

748 ft
Avg time

00:10:45
Avg reverse time

00:24:17
view trail stats

Status:

on May 29, 2022

Ideal

Avg: 4.75 (81 votes)

Your vote: 0

view (10,500)

Directions to ridgeline-7343 trailhead (35.219140, -82.601390)

update trails status or condition

Ridgeline Trail Reports

status	date	description
	May 29, 2022 @ 7:38am May 29, 2022	Not wet
	May 29, 2022 @ 7:08am May 29, 2022
	May 17, 2022 @ 10:30am May 17, 2022
	May 5, 2022 @ 6:00am May 5, 2022
	Apr 29, 2022 @ 6:31am Apr 29, 2022

view all reports »

Recent Ridelog Activity on Trail

Past Week

58 rides
12 miles avg distance

6 Months

1,110 rides
13 miles avg distance

All

10,111 rides

Photos

25 |

Mar 28, 2022 @ 4:00pm

Mar 28, 2022

29 |

Mar 28, 2022 @ 3:58pm

Mar 28, 2022

115 |

Aug 29, 2021 @ 5:15pm

Aug 29, 2021

182 |

Apr 13, 2021 @ 3:58pm

Apr 13, 2021

Trail Lists

My top 5 favorite trails
5 trails
Southern Trail Bucketlist
7 trails
Dupont Intermediate Loop
18 trails
NC trail checkoff list
150 trails
All of Pisgah area check list 2022
205 trails

Routes with this trail

title	distance
Bike Transylvania: Jim Branch to Ridgeline	5 miles
Broomchaser	13 miles
Quick DuPont Loop W/ Hickory Mountain Loop	7 miles
Ridgeline for beginners	5 miles

Trail Products

Trails Illustrated: DuPont Forest
Map

11 Reviews & Comments

Score Time

h-beck83 (Nov 11, 2015 at 18:53)

This trail was recently overhauled from a bit on the technical side to very fast with berms and nice banks. Sad to see the old trail go but the new one is hella-fun.

[Reply]

noravelp

(Dec 4, 2017 at 18:31)

during the recent trail maintenance performed by the forest service they removed the one and only TTF from Ridgeline. I'll miss my favorite part of the trail, the ridable log near the bottom.

[Reply]

LegitBiker9000 (Aug 11, 2018 at 12:40)

Honestly a pretty lame trail, nothing difficult or necessarily fun. The peddle up is super easy, and the decent can be done by just about anyone. However, it is well maintained, and i do recommend it to anyone trying to learn how to ride their first downhill single track.

[Reply]

LegitBiker9000 (Aug 11, 2018 at 13:10) (Below Threshold) show comment

Defiantly an over hyped trail, with no challenges whatsoever, obviously what do you expect, it's the east coast

[Reply]

cleaverwrh

(Nov 2, 2018 at 20:23)

Not really that great. On a long weekend trip, rode in Pisgah first and all the trails there were way better than this one. I guess this might be an exciting trail for someone who doesn’t really ride trails.

[Reply]

Dirt-pilot (Sep 24, 2019 at 4:43)

If you are looking for a chunky steep challenge it’s not for you but if you want a super fun fast and flowy trail I’ve ridden all over the world and it doesn’t get much better.

[Reply]

aacrump (Jul 23, 2020 at 15:40)

Super fun fast flow trail. Anybody from a complete beginner, all the way to a seasoned pro would have an amazing time on Ridgeline. There were some braking bumps when I rode it, but definitely nothing bad in comparison to bike park trails. Something else to look out for is some wildlife, as when I was riding on my first lap down, a black bear ran across the trail about 15 feet in front of me. I’m not sure how common this is, but it’s definitely something to look out for.

[Reply]

provin1327

(Apr 3, 2021 at 17:48)

One of the best trails I've ridden. Fast and flowy, a must do.

[Reply]

NERyder

(Apr 16, 2021 at 16:00)

Interesting range of comments on this trail. Here is my take. It is not techy or marked a black Diamond. It has some natural contours you can boost but it it not a jump trail. What it is is a great flow trail that you can rail down at Mach 10 and have a lot of fun doing it. If that is what your expecting I think you won’t be disappointed. I would match it with Hickory Mth Loop running it counterclockwise and it makes for a nice long Blue rated trail descent. Hickory is more technical but you can still just pin your ears back from the top of it and fly down from there to the parking lot and have a nice smile on your face the rest of the day

[Reply]

fskier

(May 26, 2021 at 7:33)

Agree with NERyder's assessment. No gnar but it's advertised that way and if you want that, plenty of other options all around here. But if you think you'd like 1.6 miles of Super-G style buff ripping, one of my faves (I said at the end, that was as fun as 401 in CB).

[Reply]

wmcelwee (Dec 1, 2021 at 11:04)

Hit Ridgeline yesterday, coming down from Hickory Mountain Loop. Seemed much faster than it was the last time I rode it (maybe 4-5 years ago). I have to rate it as the best ~2 mile downhill rip I've ever been on... which includes all the super flowy stuff at Kerr Scott Lake.