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Murphy-Hanrehan Park

Mountain Biking Trail

Hard
9.51 mi
549 ft
Fast, flowy singletrack with plenty of optional features.

This 9.5-mile loop at Murphy Hanrehan Park epitomizes Minneapolis mountain biking. Here you'll find smooth black dirt flowing up and down a series of small ridges, crisscrossed by the occasional tree root. The trails duck and weave through a thick forest, doubling back on themselves over and over again to attain this 9.5-mile distance in a relatively small metro park.

Well-sculpted berms in the corners help keep the speed high and the flow top-notch. The trail system at Murphy-Hanrehan has been loved by riders for many years, but MORC, the local mountain bike trail organization, continues to not only maintain the trails, but improve them with new trail construction techniques as the years roll on.

Murphy-Hanrehan doesn't offer the rocky singletrack options that you'll find at Lebanon Hills—which might boast some of the rockiest singletrack in the Metro Area. Instead, the vast majority of the singletrack here is solidly intermediate, with a beginner loop accessible directly from the trailhead.

However, what Murphy-Hanrehan *does* provide to add a bit of challenge and pizzaz for advanced-level mountain bikers is a whole suite of optional trail features. Some of the features are natural boulders that form rock rolls and ledge drops. Others are manmade features, such as jumps. But most notably, Murphy-Hanrehan is one of the best place in the Metro Area to go for wooden features. You'll find plenty of elevated wooden bridges and skinnies, along with some wooden drops, tucked away in the forest here.

While you can't defy the natural topography that the local area gives you, you *can* make the most of what you have to work with. And Murphy-Hanrehan does exactly that. Written by Greg Heil
Created By
Strava Routes

Route and Elevation

Segments

NameDistanceElev. Diff.Avg. Grade
Beginner & Intermediate Murphy Hanarahan MBT Trail from Trail Head4.37 mi105 ft0.2%
Full Murphy w/Bird8.38 mi118 ft0.0%
Murphy 09269.09 mi115 ft0.0%
Full Murphy Loop + bird 20139.45 mi135 ft0.0%
First Forest Section0.22 mi-23 ft-1.5%
Murphy Hanrehan Intermediate Entrance1.17 mi-56 ft-0.6%
Murphy: Intermediate + Expert8.11 mi-115 ft-0.0%
Prairie to Forrest 1.08 mi-49 ft-0.4%
Hamburglar Hill. 0.55 mi-46 ft-0.8%
Lowest Point to Highest Point3.56 mi118 ft0.6%
Murphy Hendrehan Expert Loop6.57 mi-125 ft-0.0%
Murphy X: Hairpin to Rock Climb0.28 mi-13 ft-0.2%
Camelback climbs0.58 mi102 ft3.2%
Climb @ 3.4 miles into 2014 loop0.37 mi52 ft2.1%
Up and Down Mount Murphy0.59 mi-62 ft-0.5%
Climb @ 5.3 miles in 2014 loop0.45 mi52 ft1.9%
Fast Descent0.22 mi-46 ft-4.0%
Murphy Mini Log Ride0.06 mi20 ft1.8%
Murphy Luge0.25 mi-36 ft-2.4%
Prairie Sprint #1 0.33 mi-16 ft-0.0%
bird loop (separate)0.72 mi-33 ft-0.1%
Bird Loop0.52 mi-23 ft-0.3%
Prairie Sprint #20.29 mi-16 ft-0.2%
Bird Loop to Advanced Finish0.90 mi-20 ft-0.0%
Frantic0.16 mi-33 ft-3.6%
Advanced Loop Finish0.22 mi30 ft0.6%
Murphy Hanrehan Intermediate Exit0.66 mi39 ft0.5%
Swampy Bottoms0.62 mi36 ft0.9%
Climb Back to Beginner Prairie0.62 mi39 ft1.0%
Murphy Prairie Exit 20140.98 mi-36 ft-0.3%
Flow Down!0.06 mi-20 ft-5.3%