I'm hoping to get Tim to do Battle Creek trail with me this afternoon. We'll see, we've had good success recently but he's often a bit uneasy about new adventures.
Turns out the MORC (MN Off-R0ad) web site has a lovely article on the trail: Battle Creek - MORC Wiki. It's not clear from the official site where you enter, turns out the entrance is on the east side ... (Google has slightly better directions exiting at 246A for Ruth street):
The Battle Creek Community Rec Center Google information is at: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=11365042498638398501
Since this is a wiki the authors can also tell us: "there is another parking lot available off Pt. Douglas Road - we don't recommend using it, as there have been quite a few break-ins at the Pt. Douglas lot"
Driving East on I-94, exit on McKnight Road and turn right (South). Drive South to Upper Afton Road (Cty Highway 35). Turn right on Upper Afton Road and drive to Winthrop Street. drive to Winthrop Street.
Turn left on South Winthrop Street, and drive approximately one block. Turn right, into the Battle Creek Community Center parking lot ... The official trailhead is located directly South of the Community Center. Just head South across the grass, until you pick up a well-worn singletrack about 100 yards later.Here's the picture of where we turn ...
The Battle Creek Community Rec Center Google information is at: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=11365042498638398501
Since this is a wiki the authors can also tell us: "there is another parking lot available off Pt. Douglas Road - we don't recommend using it, as there have been quite a few break-ins at the Pt. Douglas lot"
The trail system is a bit rambling, and the official map is not helpful, so I'm going to try to follow this guide (and carry a compass - my 3G iPhone doesn't have one)
... The trail starts climbing right out of the parking lot. Once you're at the top, you head north and bomb down a grassy doubletrack. After wandering around the northwest side of this plot of park, you make your way south, and west across the dividing Battle Creek Road.
On the west side of Battle Creek road, there is some pretty sweet singletrack, and some nice views of the surrounding area. You can make a loop within this area, or you can cross over a paved trail on the north end of this section, hit a trail spur, and drop out onto a road to the west.
From there, you continue south on the road and hop back into the park up the biggest climb Battle Creek has to offer. To exit this west end of the park, you back track on the spur that brought you across the road.
Back on the east side (of Battle Creek Road), you head south on the doubletrack ski trail. After a quick sandy climb, hang a right into some really nice singletrack. This wanders around the south end of the park.
Climbing back up out of the valley, you can wander around on the doubletrack to the southeast, or head out for another lap. This trail can get muddy in many spots when it's wet ...