Trip Report: Monte Bella Trail Park
Riding the Monte Bella Trails
On December 14th, I finally made it to the
mountain bike trails in Brownsville, Texas.
It was nice to ride a new trail, see some new scenery, and gain some new
experiences. If I were given 2 words to
describe the Monte Bella Trails, they would be turns and flat.
Background Information
Location: West Alton Gloor Boulevard, Brownsville, TX 78520
Admission: Free
Elevation: 790 to 950ft
Weather: Partially
cloudy, windy, 78F
Difficulty: Easy
The Monte Bella Trails were opened by the City of
Brownsville in 2007. There is currently
7 ish miles of trails that fit compactly in 100 acres. This means you see a lot of tight turns and
pass by other sections of trail as you flow through the park. The “trails” are just short segments that are
named, but there is no other way to ride.
In addition, there are 2 port-o-potties and a hand washing station on
the premises, but permanent restrooms are being built. Furthermore, there is a large field for
sports, like soccer or football.
Finally, the parking lot is large, all gravel, muddy, and full of potholes
so be careful.
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| The Monte Bella Parks Entrance |
The Outer Loop
The Outer Loop is just a smooth, easy trail that travels
around the large field at the park. This
trail is almost as easy as riding on the road.
Plus, it isn’t a required trail to make it over to the more difficult
trails. However, this trail is great for
family rides or as a warm up segment.
Ridge Line #1
After a quick ride across a canal/ditch, you arrive at Ridge
Line Trail. Ridge Line is another
smooth, easy trail that rides along one of the ridges of the canal. The segment eventually curves into the woods
and you reach a fork in the road. Turn
right (for a longer ride) to Pumba and left to Easy Does It.
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| The ride across the canal and up to Ridge Line #1 |
Pumba Trail
On my ride, Pumba Trail was marked off from a recent mountain
bike race. I went under the red tape and
almost immediately found 2-inch deep water and lots of mud. After gingerly making it past the muddy
section, I found branches growing into the trail, logs and sticks all over the
track, and overgrown grass along the edges.
It doesn’t seem like people ride this section too often and I would
avoid it in the future until it dries up.
However, the trail seems like it could be a fun trail with short climbs
and drops.
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| The Fork for Pumba and Easy Does It |
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| The long section of muddy trail on Pumba |
Easy Does It Trail
Easy Does It is another extremely flat and smooth
trail. I was able to ride this section
fairly fast, but there are some very tight turn and switchbacks throughout this
section, which kept me on my toes.
.JPG "Easy Does It: get ready for tight turns") |
| An extremely tight turn on Easy Does It |
Blair Witch
Just like Pumba, Blair Witch had been taped off for a recent
mountain bike race. This made it a
little difficult to start out because the trail starts with a decent
downhill. I started by riding under the
tape and down the hill. Right at the
bottom of the hill, I attempted to dodge a small branch at face level and ended
up falling. After getting up and dusting
off, I continued on Blair Witch extremely slowly. The trail was in rough shape with large
branches blocking the trail (to the point I wasn’t able to duck under them on
my bike) and fallen logs and sticks spread frequently on the trail. This looks like a good trail when maintained,
but I would skip it in the future.
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| The downhill entrance to Blair Witch. I can even see the spot I fell in this photo. |
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| Low Branches on Blair Witch. Frequent low branches made this a slow ride |
3-Acre Loop
The 3-Acre Loop segment was pretty similar to all the other
sections of the Monte Bella Trails. The
trail is smooth and fast with a few tight turns and switchbacks thrown in to
keep it interesting.
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| Another tight turn found on 3 Acre Loop |
Woop-Dee-Doos
Next, I came to a fork in the trail, to the left was the
emergency exit, and to the right was Woop-Dee-Doos. The emergency exit runs down the middle of
the park and is available at multiple points for a quick exit. Woop-Dee-Doos is a short segment that is
almost a straight line and mostly flat.
However, there is this wooden bridge/ up and over to add some much
needed excitement. When I first found
the structure, I rode up and inspected it.
The wood is still sturdy, but it’s beginning to look a little
dangerous. I ended riding over it once
and it was pretty nerve wracking, but thankfully, I survived.
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| The wooden bridge found on Woop-Dee-Doos. Be careful on that thing! |
Cactus Patch
Next up was the Cactus Patch segment, which turned out to be
pretty enjoyable. There was sparse
cactus throughout the tide, but nothing like the cactus forest of the Mission Trails . The track is smooth and flowing, which make
for a fast ride. Plus, there is a downed
tree that has been converted into a large mound. This was a lot of fun to ride over.
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| A few cactus patches spread throughout the Cactus Patch Segment |
Shingle Tracks/April Fool's/Ridge Line #2
I then came to Shingle Track, which was short, quick, and
nothing else worth mentioning. The only purpose
is to connect with April Fool's. April Fool's is another extremely short ride, but turned out to be the most fun I had
on the ride. It is an extremely fast
ride, which you ride down a ditch, up the sides, and over mounds all while
riding as fast as you can. You exit at
Ridge Line #2, which takes you parallel to the first segment (Ridge Line #1)
and is a smooth, easy ride overlooking the main canal.
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| A hard left and a quick descent downhill and you are flying through April Fools |
Serpentine
The final segment is Serpentine, which takes you back to the
park entrance. This turned out to be
another of my favorite sections. Serpentine
is another segment that focuses on tight turns, but many of the turns are built
on mounds. This makes it a little more
technical and a faster ride than other sections. This really increased the excitement for me.
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| Serpentine: the final segment to finish your ride |
Final Thoughts
It was nice to finally make it over to Brownsville to
ride. The trails there are nice, but
definitely not my favorite. This should
be expected because it’s a beginners course and very easy. I plan to ride it again every time I make it
over to Brownsville. If you live in the area,
make sure you get out there and try it.
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