Routes

Bike Routes

We'll often pull from these Strava routes for our Saturday team rides. Download the GPX file and upload to your Garmin or Google maps for turn-by-turn guidance.  All of these rides start from South Campus, but they pass the Old Well ~1 mile in and Wilson Park ~3 miles in. 

Saxapahaw 60 (60 miles): https://www.strava.com/routes/2723639163711800906

“Fairyland” Loop (40 miles): https://www.strava.com/routes/2723640048010541642

Powerman a.k.a. “Flying Man” (45 miles): https://www.strava.com/routes/2723638913437573706

White Cross Loop--FAST! (30 miles): https://www.strava.com/routes/2723638360152386122

Road to Damascus (40 miles): https://www.strava.com/routes/2723637906621537386

Big Nuts Express (37 miles): https://www.strava.com/routes/2723637012972011082

Dairyland Loop + Buckhorn Detour (33 miles): https://www.strava.com/routes/2723636601972317290

Little Dairyland Loop (20 miles): https://www.strava.com/routes/2723635818231940202

Places to Run

Trails around campus:

• Battle Branch trails

  • Entrances by Jackson Hall (the Office of Undergraduate Admissions) and the Community Center park. Some people run one way on the trails and the other way on Franklin St.

• NC Botanical Gardens

  • Across from 15-501, so close to South Campus folks

• Carolina North

  • Down MLK, lots of gravel and singletrack trails

Greenways:

• Bolin Creek

  • Down MLK and Franklin

• Libba Cotten Bikeway

  • Connects Cameron Ave to downtown Carrboro; same one you use to bike out of town

Tracks:

• UNC Track (Finley)

  • Often closed/reserved for Athletics

  • 1k gravel loop outside of the track that’s always accessible

• Phillips Middle School

  • Asphalt but usually open

• McDougle Middle School

• Culbreth Middle School

Starting points requiring a drive (trails):

• Umstead Park

• Brumley

• American Tobacco Trail

• Carolina North (could also run there from campus)

• Jordan Lake

• Eno River

Check out the map on the Orange County website for more information.

How to Bike Out of Town

Getting out of downtown Chapel Hill can be a doozy, but we make it easy(ish) by following the same route out every time. If you’re following along with any of the routes below, they begin in South Campus, so you can follow those directions. Most team rides begin from the Old Well, so the following directions give you a rough guide of getting out to the country from there.

• From the Old Well, head towards Carrboro and follow Cameron Avenue until the end (~.7 mile). 

• At the dead-end stoplight at S Merritt Mill Rd, turn right and then make an immediate left onto the greenway (the Libba Cotten Bikeway, according to Google Maps).

• Follow the greenway until it ends on Roberson St (~.5 mile). 

• Go straight from the greenway exit heading towards S Greensboro St (100m, passing Open Eye cafe on the right corner). 

• Turn right onto S Greensboro St.

  • If you’re meeting people at Wilson Park, continue straight for about ~1.5 miles and turn right into the park when you see the sign-- it's right after the roundabout. It’s roughly 3 miles to get to Wilson Park from campus.

  • If you’re heading out to the Mapleview area, continue straight. S Greensboro Rd turns into N Greensboro Rd then Hillsborough Road. 

• When Hillsborough Rd ends at a stoplight (~2 miles past Wilson Park), turn right onto Old Fayetteville Rd/Hillsborough Rd (it changes around that light). 

• Turn left onto Dairyland Road. There should be a gas station to your left at an X-shaped intersection.

• Congrats, you’ve made it out of town! 

To return to town, reverse the directions.