MTB Trail Signs - Novice, Intermediate, & Advanced

Most mountain bike trail systems are marked to let you know the difficulty level of the terrain ahead. This varies from place to place, but today we’ll look at how it’s done in South Florida. Your trails are likely similar.

If you’re new to mountain biking, you’ll probably start on the green dot trails, which are novice level. These trails are wide and flat, with very small obstacles only a few inches high at most. Even with a hybrid bike, the green dot is a great place to start. You won’t need any advanced skills to ride these trails, just a bike and a positive attitude. This is also a great place to stay if you’re riding with your family or young children.

When you’re ready for more of a challenge, look for the blue square for intermediate difficulty. These trails can be narrow at times, and feature everything from loose gravel, to big roots, to significant elevation changes. Obstacles on these trails can be much bigger, but usually there’s a way around them if you don’t feel comfortable. Here at Oleta River State Park in North Miami Beach, most of the trails are labeled with a blue square. These trails can be super fun, even for advanced riders.

When you’re ready for some serious action, try a trail marked with a black diamond. These are designed for advanced riders, and can feature super skinny lines, low branches, and large obstacles with no detours. There will also definitely be some serious climbs and descents. Once you go in, you must go balls out.

If the trail is even gnarlier, it’ll be denoted with a double black diamond. I’ve even seen double red diamonds and all sorts of other stuff. As the sport of mountain biking progresses, we’re running out of trail markers, but the name of the game seems to be adding more diamonds and coloring them. Works for me.

Always remember to bring plenty of water, and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do. Thanks for watching, ride safe, and I’ll see you next time.