Do you remember the song by Ohio Players entitled "Rollercoaster?" If you do you are definetley old. But not too old for this trail. Read on and find out why.
Lake Hope was recently voted the best MTB trail in Ohio by Mountain Bike Quarterly magazine. After riding this trail it's easy to see why. This trail is a rollercoaster. The climbing is offset by mometum so it doesn't feel like as much climbing as it actually is. This trail is great to ride anytime of year. The trail is fairly well maintained and there are no big ruts to get sucked down into. This trail is not a technical trail for the most part but it does have a few challenging sections.

There are many ways to do this trail. I prefer sstarting at the main TH by Little Sandy. You will have a slow gradual climb and some short little downhills. There will be a few climbs here but nothing to difficult. This is probably the hardest section of the trail as far as climbing. After Little Sandy you can continue on Copperhead or Wildcat. Both are good rides. Wildcat offers some nice switchbacks and downhills and a challenging climb at the end. Copperhead offers more rollercoaster style riding. Pick your poison.

After the Wildcat and the Copperhead sections, you can continue on Copperhead or do Bobcat. The last Copperhead section is my favorite. It's also the longest(about 7 miles). This trail opens up and you can sustain serious speed with only a couple very doable climbs. You will weave in and out of gorge's and basically just haul ass. If you ride Copperhead backwards there is much more climbing and you miss out on the best DH's at Lake Hope.

Bobcat is fast, fun, and a somewhat technical DH that gives you another route to come down to the Lake trail other than Copperhead. This is the most technical trail at Lake Hope. However, it's nothing any intermediate rider can't handle. There are some nice jumps towards the bottom and you can really fly on this trail. Not really a rollercoaster, but more just straight down. Regardless of which trail you take down you will be treated to several kick ass creek crossings on the way to the Lake Trail Intersection. Put it in the Big ring and pedal like there's no tommorrow!

The Lake Trail that goes around the lake is very fast and fun. It is a rollercoaster ride. It has no big ups or downs, just a constant fast pace. There are several bridges to drop off of if you can keep your speed. If you don't want to take the Lake Trail you can keep going straight at the intersection of Copperhead and the Lake Trail and take the road back. Turn right on the road and ride for abouit 2 miles. It'll save you about 10 minutes.

The Lake Hope area offers some cool stuff in the area.. There is very nice lake (duh), with an eatery and shower house, beach, backpacking trails, many cabins to spend the weekend in, and various historical brick furnaces to explore. After riding make sure and check out the Olde Dutch restaurant. It is off Rt. 33 at the Rt 664 exit(old mans cave exit) Head right off the exit and it's 100 yds on your left. Best broasted chicken anywhere!

Moab