The Memorial Park Mountain Bike Trail is located on the North East side of Ottumwa and South of Indian Hills Community College.

Nestled in Memorial Park, there are many trail entrances but the main trail-head is at the Park Entrance near N. Elm St and E. Highland Ave. MAP

Trail explanation from Ottumwa Park & Recreation:

Memorial Park features a Mountain Bike Trail.Volunteer built using International Mountain Bicycling Association standards, these unpaved trails wind though the wooded sections of the park and is intended to be a challenging off-road experience. The main trail-head is located at the timbers edge under the Bulldog Water Tower off Elm Street.

The Mountain Bike Trail is also open to hikers.

Our Review

This compact trail is 5-6 miles in length and includes sections of short, punchy climbs, tight switchbacks, fast descents, berms, off-cambers with an array of rocks and roots.

Once on the trail, the signage is superb marking the one-way Green (Easy), Blues (Difficult) and Black (Most Difficult) allowing you tyo follow the section of trail that most suites your skill-level.

You can follow the Green Section around the entire park and add difficulty and distance by taking a Blue of Black section and ending right back up on the Green Section.

We were pleasantly surprised (and tired) by the level of difficulty. We took our single-speed and had to walk a few hills.

We chose the most difficult trail sections every time.

Don't expect a super-flowy trail. You'll be on the gas, then the brakes and back again all throughout. It has some raw sections, but that is what mountain bike trails are. If you want super-smooth, go ride the paved trails.

What we can tell, it is a one-way trail. We were the only ones on the trail as it was mid-afternoon on a Tuesday and we wanted to ride it in reverse, but didn't have the time.

We stopped at the Local Bike Shop - Riverside Cyclery on E. Main Street and chatted with Josh Gettings, the owner. He opened the shop in 2000 and business seems to be doing well. We dropped off some BIKEIOWA swag, so if you are in the area, stop in and get some.

What we Liked

We enjoyed the difficulty and compactness of the trail. You were constantly "on your toes" riding
from feature to feature. We definitely got a climbing workout.

There is that adrenaline rush of riding a trail for the first time. The unknowns... How fast to go? What is under all those leaves... The first time is just as much fun as the 50th time.

What we Disliked

We'd love the trail to be longer, but there is a LOT of mileage packed into such a small area.

We experienced some Ripe (sewage) smells at the bottom of a couple of gullies, and this isn't really a dislike, but just something we noticed.

MAPS

GIS Map from Jan 2016. We are sure there are new segments since then, but you'll get a good idea of the area. MAP

Google Map to trail-head: MAP

VIDEO

We found five videos from 2013. All by Robotron2084Guide

Single Track - Video #1
Single Track - Video #2
Single Track - Video #3
Single Track - Video #4
Single Track - Video #5
Single Track - Video #6

LEARN MORE

Greater Ottumwa CVB

Memorial Park Mountain BIke Trail Facebook Page

Riverside Cyclery