Winnekenni Castle Park Conservation Area Mountain Bike Trail Review with Map and Pictures

Review by Zen - Thanks buckets

Description -   

Winnekenni Park (the name comes from the Algonquin dialect, which means "very beautiful") is a hilly, city-owned conservation area of more than 700 acres. It contains three bodies of water:
Kenoza Lake - the City of Haverhill drinking water supply (off limits)
Winnekenni Basin - Fishing and skating allowed - no swimming
Lake Saltonstall - full public access

There are two predominant hills in the park, with plenty of trails that go up, down, around them. There is only one trail connecting the two hills, a causeway over the water. There's enough stuff to keep the intermediate mountain bike happy for a few hours, but you'll need to back track across a few trails. I've managed to put together a big loop that takes me about 90 minutes to complete. The hills have some steep straight up/down trails, though they aren't very long. One path goes down a steep 45deg pitch for over 100 yards through a thick pine forest. There are a number of medium length single track trails, including the 'blue' trail which meanders up and down the side of the hill the castle is on and has three stone wall crossings. The Merrill trail is a fast gently rolling twisty singletrack trail on the east side of the lake. A real joy to take fast!

The park gets most of it's use in the mornings, so going in the afternoon is best for riding at tempo. Since it's a city park, it's hard to get lost. If you hit a paved road just turn around and you'll be back where you started in no time. Most of the trails are wide enough so that you can pass pedestrianswithout slowing down. and the single track isn't used by much of anyone except MTBrs. Don't be afraid to take what looks like a trail, it usually is one. One of my favorites is hidden alongside the 'shore road' of the reservoir, with tight twisty off-camber roots and rocks. It's short but fun. If you'readventurous, you can explore behind Northern Essex Community College, located across the street from where the Merrill trail runs along the reservoir. Following the fire roads for about a mile, you'll come to the Millvale reservoir, with alot of double track cut by ATVrs.

Loops -