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Recreation
Trails at Shelby Farms and Nesbit Park Keep Mountain Bike Riders Pumped
Biking trails, both off-road and paved, are found in abundance in several of the parks in Shelby County. For mountain bike riders, Shelby Farms and Nesbit Park offer some of the most challenging trails.
Bartlett is for bikers mountain bikers‚ that is.
“The Stanky Creek trails are the best trails in west Tennessee‚” says Eddie Nunn‚ a rider and a member of the Mid-South Trails Association.
Located in Bartlett’s Nesbit Park‚ Stanky Creek is composed of three loops that can be combined to make an 8-mile trail. Riders get a varied experience with a tight single track‚ rolling hills‚ fast open trail sections‚ jumps‚ log crossings‚ creek crossings and bridges of all shapes and sizes. Beginners enjoy the main loop‚ and expert riders are challenged on the front sections.
Also popular with riders and bike clubs is the Tour de Wolf at Shelby Farms. Suited for both the amateur and experienced mountain bikers the Tour de Wolf is a 9-mile rolling‚ off-road loop featuring sections of hardwood single track and wide open prairie grass. Surrounded on two sides by the Wolf River‚ Shelby Farms’ 4‚500 acres of open fields and hardwood forest make it one of the largest urban parks in the nation.
Aaron Sanderson‚ another member of Mid-South Trails Association‚ rides the Tour de Wolf trails up to three times a week and also enjoys the Stanky Creek trails.
“I love the way these trails prepare me for some off-road triathlons‚” he says.
While Sanderson is a competitive rider‚ he says the trails don’t require expert skills. “Biking can be about limits and going beyond those‚ but at the same time it can be a relaxing ride with some friends‚” he says.
Other popular trails in the area include the 3-mile paved Chickasaw Bike Trail at Shelby Farms‚ the 4-mile off-road technical and narrow single track White Trail at Shelby Farms‚ the 6.5-mile Herb Parsons Lake Trail‚ the 5-mile loop at Arkabutla Lake and the 2‚000-mile Mississippi River Trail from the Gulf of Mexico to Minnesota.
“Each trail is like conversing with a different person because they each have different personalities‚ and you have to adapt to each one if you want to get along and stay rubber side down‚ shiny side up‚” Sanderson says.
Story by Kim Kinnecom
Photo by Woodie S. Knight
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