| Turn | Dist. | Cum. | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| A0 | 0 | 0.00 | The Little Loop begins at the Picnic Pavilion adjacent to the Park Office. 1 |
| L1 | 675 | 0.13 | From the Picnic Pavilion, head down the road, taking the left fork. Enter the Hiker's Parking Lot, and cross it to the Trail Head. 1 2 |
| L2 | 134 | 0.15 | At the trail head, continue straight on the White Trail, ignoring the Blue Trail to your right. You will come to a fork, with the White Trail to the left and right. Take the right fork. 1 2 |
| L3 | 704 | 0.29 | After a short ways, you will come to a big trail crossing. This is the Fire Tower Trail, and it is marked with red blazens. Turn left here. 1 |
| L4 | 951 | 0.47 | The Fire Tower Trail is wide and well marked with red blazens Ignore the trail branching off to the right. 1 |
| L5 | 1394 | 0.73 | The trail rolls over one hill and then at the top of the second rise is the intersection of the Bog Trail (Orange) and the Fire Tower Trail. Take the middle (Red) fork. 1 |
| L6 | 1440 | 1.00 | When the Red Trail joins the White Trail, take a sharp right onto the White Trail. 1 2 |
| L7 | 828 | 1.16 | Follow the White Trail as it turns to the right and downhill. The bluff will be on your left. When you begin to climb again, you will come to a fork. The Bog Trail (Orange) is to the right. Stay left on the White Trail. 1 |
| L8 | 4327 | 1.98 | Continue on the White Trail - you will cross a series of three wooden bridges. After the third bridge, the trail forks - take the left fork. A little farther ahead, there will be a small connector trail to the right - turn right here. 1 |
| L9 | 950 | 2.16 | You will almost immediately cross the Fire Tower Trail - continue straight ahead on the White Trail. When you get nearly to the parking lot, the trail goes the the right, and it looks like a dead end straight ahead. Go straight ahead, and the trail will turn to the left and back to the Hiker's Parking Lot trail head. 1 |
| A0 | 758 | 2.3 | At the Hiker's Parking Lot, exit on the right side of the lot. Go across the road and get on the gravel footpath. This goes back to the Park Office. Go to the pavilion entrance directly across from the Park Office. This completes the Little Loop. 1 2 3 4 5 |
| Turn | Dist. | Cum. | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| A0 | 0 | 0.00 | The North Loop begins at the Picnic Pavilion adjacent to the Park Office. |
| N1 | 0 | 0.00 | After you've eaten / refilled water bottles, exit the pavilion area towards the Park Office using the exit in the right corner. You should now be on the pavement. This time, head down the road to the right, past the Hiker's Parking Lot. There will be an entrance to the trails on your left, just before the split rail fence. Turn left here. |
| N2 | When you come to an intersection, take a right to pick up the Blue Trail. You will stay on this for nearly 1 mile. You will cross on a wooden foot bridge, then see the Monte Sano Lodge on your right. Next, you will see the Amphitheater on your left. Continue running past the picnic grounds, and you will get to a pavilion right on the edge of the cliff. Proceed straight past it, down a few stairs, and you will run down a short hill to another wooden bridge. Cross on this bridge, and then take a sharp right. Proceed about 100' and you will pick up the Blue Trail going left into the woods. | ||
| N3 | 5921 | Travel into the woods, gradually climbing a hill. You will come to Nolen Avenue. Cross the road to pick up the Blue Trail on the opposite side. The campground will be on your right - continue straight back towards the bluff. The trail will turn slightly downhill and to the right - you will now be running on the edge of the bluff, with the campground on your right, and a steep downhill on your left. | |
| N4 | Turn sharply left down the hill onto the Cold Springs Trail (Red). Continue on this trail until it forks - take the right fork, which will take you across the paved road (Bankhead Parkway). The trail on the opposite side of the road is the Mountain Mist trail, and it veers to the right, paralleling the road. | ||
| N5 | You will travel on the Mountain Mist trail for a fairly good ways until you come to a large intersection. Stay to the left and you will head downhill. | ||
| N6 | Just past the bottom of the hill, there is a trail to the right - this is the Sinks Trail. Turn here. You will run on a gradual downhill into the Sinks area. After you have passed the Sinks (on your left), the trail will begin to climb. When the trail terminates into another trail, turn right up the hill. | ||
| N7 | After a fairly short climb, you will reach an open area with three benches. Stay to the right, heading up the hill. After a short climb, the trail flattens out briefly, then starts to climb again. At the top of the second climb you will come to the intersection of the Sinks Trail and the Mountain Mist Trail. Continue uphill on the Sinks Trail. | ||
| N8 | The Sinks Trail continues uphill, gets steeper, and has a few switchbacks towards the top. Very near the top, the trail forks. Take the left branch. The trail dumps out into a parking area. | ||
| N9 | When you get to the blacktop, stay to the left and look for an opening in the stone wall directly across from you. Take that trail out of the other size of the parking area. This trail winds to the right and terminates into a larger trail. Turn to the right. | ||
| N10 | 13011 | After a very short ways, the trail dead ends into a road by the entrance of the parking area. Stay to the right - this is a short road with a number of cabins on it. | |
| A0 | 1562 | 4.00 | At the very end of the road, the Blue Trail exits to the left. Take the Blue Trail left. The North Loop terminates at the back of the Pavilion. Refuel at the aid station here. |
| Turn | Dist. | Cum. | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| A0 | 0 | 0.00 | The South Loop begins at the Picnic Pavilion adjacent to the Park Office. |
| S1 | 675 | 0.13 | Start just like the Little Loop: head down the road to the left from the Park Office, and go to the trail head at the Hiker's Parking Lot. |
| S2 | 1095 | 0.34 | Go straight back into the woods, ignoring the Blue Trail on your right. But this time, when you get to the next intersection, go left on the White Trail instead of straight towards the Red Trail. The White Trail crosses over a wooden bridge, nearly intersects the road, and then turns to the right. Shortly after it turns right, there will be a trailhead again to the right. This is the Family Bike Trail. Take it. |
| S3 | 6167 | 1.50 | The Family Bike Trail will wind and turn so much that you will lose all sense of direction. However, there are no trails that join it, so just keep moving forward. After about 1.2 miles, you will come to a 5-way intersection. Take the second trail to your right to continue on the Family Bike Trail. |
| S4 | 2753 | 2.02 | The Family Bike Trail continues to wind, just stay on it. You will cross a big trail (Fire Tower Trail) - just continue forward on the smaller Family Bike Trail. |
| S5 | 3234 | 2.64 | A short while later, you will cross a gravel road leading up to the Fire Tower (on your right). Keep going straight ahead. Finally, you will get close to O'Shaugnessy Point - there, the trail will make a sharp U-turn to your right. Take the U-turn. |
| S6 | 3194 | 3.24 | Continue on the Family Bike Trail. It will climb slightly, and you will see the Fire Tower on your right. When you encounter the Fire Tower Trail (Red) take a left onto this trail. After a short distance, the Fire Tower Trail briefly joins the White Trail. When this happens, turn left onto the White Trail. |
| S7 | 432 | 3.32 | After a short distance, the White Trail takes a 90 degree turn to the left. Ignore the small trail headed down the hill to the right. |
| S8 | 2912 | 3.88 | Continue on the White Trail all the way back to O'Shaugnessy Point. Here, you will stay left to make a u-turn back towards the Hiker's Parking Lot. Do not go straight - that will take you down a steep hill. If you encounter a steep downhill anywhere on the South Loop, you have goofed! |
| S9 | 4490 | 4.73 | The White Trail continues back towards the Hiker's Parking Lot for nearly a mile. Along the way, you will join the Fire Tower Road, a gravel road coming downhill from your left. You should now be running on a fine gravel / dirt road. Ignore trails leading off to the left and right. You will be running parallel to a power line. At the end of the series of telephone poles, the Geology Fossil Trail opens to the right. Take this right turn. |
| S10 | 3018 | 5.30 | The Geology Fossil Trail crosses a paved road (Nolen Avenue) at the Ranger's House. Continue across the road. The trail will turn to the right, rejoin the White Trail, and will run roughly parallel to the road on your right. Continue on the White Trail - you will come to the entrance to the Family Bike Trail that you took some 5 miles earlier. |
| S11 | 290 | 5.35 | Just past the Family Bike Path junction, the White Trail nearly joins the road. This is the only section of trail where you will possibly encounter runners going the other way. When you get to the opening, instead of staying left on the White Trail, go straight/right to the road. |
| S12 | 710 | 5.49 | Run on the pavement towards the Hiker's Parking Lot. Where the road forks, take the right fork. Immediately at the fork, a gravel path leads up the hill to the right. Turn right here. |
| A0 | 518 | 5.58 | Run up the gravel footpath, past the restrooms and park office, to the pavilion. This concludes the South Loop. |
