Great mountain biking deep in the heart of Houston? It’s no urban legend. Memorial Park, just west of the city center, has some of the best riding around.

Phil Sandoz is the author of this overivew.

Memorial Park is a gorgeous green escape right in the middle of town–it’s certainly one of the best places to ride in Houston. The park has well-maintained doubletrack gravel the whole family can ride, challenging tree-dodging singletrack, and everything in between. The trails are color-coded and marked throughout the course to help you find your way, but check the map at the trailhead so you know what to look for as you go. Expect off-camber sections, exposed roots, and bridges on yellow routes, and tight turns, sand, exposed roots, and air-inducing whoops on green routes. This route follows some of the yellow (intermediate) and green (advanced) trails on the west side of the park before moving to the Ho Chi Minh Trail’s challenging singletrack on the east end of the route–ride there if you’re experienced and can shift and brake quickly and often. There are tons of quick climbs and descents and tight banked turns here: go fast, because it’s a blast, but watch out for other hikers and bikers traveling in both directions on all of the trails. There’s plenty of parking in the west lot near the baseball fields. To start, follow the doubletrack along the soccer field back to the singletrack, or go east down the bike trail directly to the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Memorial Park

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