Armand Bayou Bike Trail; Pasadena, TX

Directions: From down town Houston take I-45 south to the Sam Houston Toll way. Take the Sam Houston Toll way east and exit at Genoa Red Bluff Rd. Turn right on Genoa Red Bluff Rd. Go about 1 mile and turn left on Space Center Blvd. About a 2 blocks down Space Center Blvd is Crenshaw Rd. Turn right on Crenshaw Blvd and it will dead end into Holy Bay Ct and the adjacent parking lot to the right. The Armand Bayou Bike Trail starts from inside the park.

 Disclaimer: The official Armand Bayou Hike and Bike Trail starts off Bay Area Blvd and Red Bluff Rd in Pasadena, TX near the Armand Bayou Nature Center and runs the length of Red Bluff Rd for about 5 miles. The Houston off road bike trail review that you will find below is strictly for the wooded area at the end of the Armand Bayou Hike and Bike Trail.

What I call the Armand Bayou off road bike trail starts at the Holly Bay park and starts out as a smooth gravel road that leads behind several neighbor hoods in South Pasadena. To your right are the woods where you will find this Houston bike trail hot spot! Once the you cross the bridge and the trail opens up to a spill way, you will find the mountain bike trail to your right.

Once you enter the woods on the off road bike trail, you quickly have to make a decision to go right or left along the creek bank. No matter which direction you choose to go the terrain is all the same. Nice hard paved wooded bike trails that navigate through about 40 acres of woods. Having explored enough South Houston bike trails, I highly recommend this mountain bike trail for it's fast pace feel, with quick turns and sudden drops. If you like the challenge of bmx style jumps and dips, then your going to love this Pasadena bike trail.

 

There are off road bike trails on either side of the creek and there is even a nice thick rope that you can use to swing across to the other side. Obviously proceed with caution! There are also multiple mountain bike trails that spin off the main bike path at almost every turn and I would estimate that if a mountain bike rider, road all of these South Houston off road bike trails, they would combine to about 5 miles worth of wooded bike trails.

The Armand Bayou Hike and Bike Trail is a solid Houston bike path that can easily become an all day biking trip by starting this bike path from the Armand Bayou Nature Center near the Pasadena line. Because of the thick vegetation surrounding the Armand Bayou off road bike trails near the end of this Houston bikeway there is always a cool breeze to counter that nasty Houston, TX heat! I recommend this trail and would rate it an 8 out of 10. I'll end this post with some more pictures of the gravel paved portion of Armand Bayou that provides easy riding. Hope you enjoy!

Clear Creek Mountain Bike Trail; Friendswood / Webster, TX

Directions: From down town Houston take I-45 south into to Clear Lake City and exit at El Dorado Blvd. Turn Right on El Dorado Blvd and go down about 2 miles until it turns into Friendswood Link Rd. The Clear Creek mountain bike trail is in the wooded areas on both sides of the Clear Creek bridge at the Friendswood and Webster, TX line.

This is a hidden treasure located in Friendswood / Webster, TX. The Clear Creek bike trail run along the banks of the Clear Creek on both sides of the Friendswood Link Rd bridge. The best place to access this mountain bike trail in Houston is from the right side of the street just past the road sign.

The clear creek mountain bike trail has a nice hard trail with plenty of shade and cool breezes. When you enter this hidden mountain bike trail in Houston the slope is a gradual down hill pass to the creek bank with several winding bike trails that give you several options with regard to navigating the run off trails to the main bike trail course.

Once in the woods all trails lead to the creek bank and there are some narrow bike trails along the creek bank that are fun to navigate. The mountain bike trail has a terrain that is a made of hard clay in some spots along the creek bank, with loose dirt trails and rocky trails through the woods. There is also a run filled with exposed tree roots that make it an exciting bike trail with a very diverse course.

This bike trail in South Houston has something for everyone with hard step hills to flat brisk paths. There are even some man made dirt mounds for BMX bike jumping and this too also creates a unique fill to this mountain bike course. Whether you like catching air with your mountain bike or racing down sharp curved trails, this South Houston bike trail has it all.

Once you cross under the Friendswood Link Rd bridge you are not even half way done and the majority of the Clear Creek bike trail is yet to come! You cross under the bridge and to your right is another section of winding bike trails with over hanging trees and figure eight type bike track that could handle multiple cyclist racing their mountain bikes. Continuing on to the main meat of the mountain bike course you have to cross over two small bridges.

 

 

 This is where this Houston bike trail gets a bit more technical and you bike trail options expand. Every few yards the bike trail splits and your at a fork in the road. You choose one mountain bike path over another and then another and then another until you are winding through thick woods on a mountain bike extravaganza! 

As your winding through the woods on your mountain bike, there are several trails that lead into a park on one side and then back to another trail on the other side. This makes for a great place to take a rest, fuel up on snacks and then hit the bike trail again!

 The Clear Creek bike trail in Friendswood, TX near Houston has a lot of character and lets say structural attractions. One bike trail leads to an abandoned brick structure and another leads to a secret hide out which is not so secret anymore! lol

 

 To end my review of this awesome hidden treasure mountain bike trail I'll leave you with this down hill course that has a nice lip for jumping at the other end. This picture does not give this bike jump justice and there are many, many more mountain bike jumps and step slopes that can be explored. In all I spent about an hour tiding through these bike trails in South Houston / Friendswood near clear creek and I could have taken a hundred more pictures. This mountain bike trail probably covers about 1 mile of bank at Clear Creek, however, there are at least 3 miles of winding bike trails that can keep you buys all day.

I plan to go back to this bike trail soon and will be uploading video to this post in the near future! For a BMX, off road, mountain bike trail that is hidden and not over crowded, I give this trail a 7 out of 10! Hope you enjoy and I would love to hear your feed back on this one! Cheers www.houstonbiketrails.com

Jack Brooks Bike Trails

Directions: From down town Houston take I-45 south towards Galveston, TX. Exit at FM 2004 near Hitchcock, TX. Take FM 2004 south for about 4 miles and the Jack Brooks park will be off FM 2004 on the left hand side. If you reach Hwy 6 you have went too far!

If you have done any research of off road bike trails in Houston, chances are you have heard of Jack Brooks Park. Hailed as one of the best mountain bike trails in the Houston area by multiple mountain bike review sites and riders a like, Jack Brooks park is well known and talked about among the Houston biking community and Houston mountain bike associations. Naturally with so much buzz about Jack Brooks bike trails, we had to take a closer look!

 

Jack Brooks Park is located south of Houston off FM 2004 near Hitchcock, TX close to Hwy 6 and I-45. Jack Brooks looks like any other Texas park that I have seen with everything you would expect from a recreational park. The entrance to Jack Brooks park and the roads that navigate throughout the park are well paved and make for an excellent south Houston bike path or Houston bike route for road bikes and anyone who just likes to take it easy and cruise.

The Jack Brooks bike trails on the other hand are a different story. To start, I spent about 15 minutes trying to find the infamous Jack Brooks off road mountain bike trails by driving back and forth through the park with no help from the park signs. The Jack Brooks bike trails are hard to find unless you know what you are looking for. I would have saved a lot of time if I had down loaded the Jack Brooks bike trail map located at the bottom of this page. Every entrance to the visible trails that you will easily find are for Hikers, Horses or the like. NO BIKERS ALLOWED was posted in plane sight on all the visible trails!

 

After a bit of searching and eying the forest line from the road I stumbled upon a small opening in the woods with a framed entrance that said “Bicycle Trails, No Horses”. Happy to have finally found the Jack Brooks bike trails everyone has been talking about, I plunged into the wooded bike path for a test run.

 

The Jack Brooks mountain bike trails starts off like most with a paved bike path that can be used for novice mountain bikers and for anyone who just wants to ride their mountain bikes through a well shaded trail for fun and relaxation.

 After traveling down the Jack Brooks bike path for only a few seconds, you are immediately forced to make decisions. Every few 100 feet there are off road bike trails to your left and right. Each bike trail is color coded to help the mountain biker determine the skill level needed to navigate the course ahead. All of the Jack Brooks off road bike trails are complicated and technical to some degree, however, the mountain bike trails labeled as blue trails are for beginners and the red trails are for advanced mountain bikers. See the Jack Brooks bike trail map below for more information.

In some areas the off road bike trails just disappear in the woods with hard turns and steep inclines or declines. The only directional information on the Jack Brooks bike trails are the one way and wrong way signs you will find posted on the trees at the start of each mountain bike trail. Again I suggest that you print out the Jack Brooks bike trail map located above to help you navigate the course.

 On with the trail review...the Jack Brooks off road bike trails in south Houston are very technical and for advanced mountain bikers! You will definitely need to wear protective gear like your mountain bike helmet, mosquito repellent and plenty of water for the ride! The majority of the Jack Brooks mountain bike trails are very narrow, winding trails that overlap each other creating a maze like feel to the off road bike course. 

 There are plenty of inclines and declines complete with moats and bridges through out the wooded bike tail to get your heart pumping and your adrenaline running! Think of the Jack Brooks off road bike trail in south Houston, TX as the closest thing your mountain bike is ever going to see when it comes to a real mountain bike course in Houston. The Jack Brooks bike trail is one that is well worth the drive and time spent! I rate this Houston bike trail as top notch and recommend that every avid Houston mountain biker visit Jack Brooks for an extreme mountain biking experience!