Southside Park

Southside Park is an amazing MTB trail made by MTB Atlanta! The trails are located right next to a sports facility at you guessed it, Southside Park. There is ample parking here so feel free to drive down. It’s located about 20 minutes away from downtown Atlanta near Hartsfield-Jackson airport. There’s free parking. However, bathrooms and water fountain areas are usually closed.

Although mileage wise, this park doesn’t appear to have much, it’ll be totally worth it. Also, who says you can only ride it once?? These trails are totally a repeat and improve kind of trail. I’ve ridden here so many times for enjoyment and practice.

What are the trails at Southside Park?

There’s three loops here of three different levels. You can check them out on the MTB Atlanta Website. But here’s my rundown on the trails.

The Beginner Green Course at Southside Park

The green beginner-friendly course is the Evergreen Trail and Southside Park Connector Trails. The Evergreen Trail involves lots of turns but can catch speed quickly. It’ll really help you improve at making turns efficiently. It’s a great warmup course as well. I would typically always start on this loop to “get my groove back”.

For riders like myself who jumps between riding styles (paved, gravel, MTB), it’s great to have a beginner course that lets me remember to use my arms, legs, body weight, etc.

The Intermediate Blue Course at Southside Park

The Southside Park Connector Trail is used to get to the blue intermediate course. The connector involves a shallow river crossing. It’s shallow but chunky, so try not to fall. I’ve cleared it very minimal times (maybe 2) out of over 15 tries. But this connector goes by real quick since it’s downhill!

The blue intermediate course, the Oak Trail, is 3.2 miles long and has tons of turns with lots of ups and downs. I absolutely love this trail. I’ve ridden on this trail with a fixie and a gravel bike. Totally doable! The trail has nice dirt single track to rocky areas. But most of the rocky stuff can be avoided if need be.

The Expert Black Course at Southside Park

In the middle of the blue course, there’s an entrance to the black expert course. The Hickory Loop. I did this trail on a gravel bike but was very difficult. A significant portion of this loop is big chunky rocks. It’s fun for those who aren’t looking for super fast rides. It’s very technical, requiring a lot of balance and bike control. There is a short downhill segment where you can get some good speed. But very short.

The YouTube video below goes into this expert loop so check it out!

Southside Park is really fun for sure! It’s great for all rider levels in my opinion. I definitely improved my bike riding skills here by riding on my gravel bike.

It’s very close to the airport and highways. You’ll be hearing planes zoom over you and cars zooming near you for a decent bit. You’ll eventually tune it out but it can be pretty loud.

Make sure to check out MTB Atlanta Trail Status before going for a ride if it rained recently or is raining currently! Let’s preserve the great park that was made!!