Two new mountain bike trails, West Gate and Gnawbone, are now open to the public in Brown County State Park.

The trails are the last two of four new trails at the state park constructed with a $200,000 Next Level Trails grant awarded to the Hoosier Mountain Bike Association in May 2019. The grant previously funded the Weed Patch and Limekiln East trails.

“The trails at Brown County State Park attract visitors from all across the state and country,” said Indiana Division of Natural Resources Director Dan Bortner.

The mile-long, beginner-friendly West Gate Trail provides a connection between the Weed Patch, Bobcat and Hesitation Point trails. The Gnawbone Trail, a 1.3-mile downhill-only trail, can be accessed from the West Gate Trail. The Gnawbone Trail provides an alternative to the Hobbs Hollow and Hesitation Point trails for intermediate and expert riders to further access the park’s 35-mile-plus mountain bike trail system.

In total, the NLT grant has helped fund development of around 7.5 miles of new mountain bike trail to complete the trail system. Work supported by the grant has also improved connectivity between existing trails and park amenities, including the campground, nature center, fire tower and Hesitation Point.

Mountain bike trails in Brown County State Park are multi-use and are open to hiking and trail running as well as bicycling. Riders should obtain a $5 daily or $20 annual off-road cycling pass before using park mountain bike trails.

As part of Gov. Eric J. Holcomb’s Next Level Connections initiative, NLT is the largest amount of trails funding in state history. The $150 million program is administered by the DNR and facilitates critical trail connections within and between Hoosier communities. Including this project, 11 of the 73 NLT projects are complete, totaling 37.8 miles of trail.