Route

One of the more common places to park is at the Redway Loblaws Parking Lot Trailhead. From Pottery, multiple routes run north on both sides of the railway, with The Ridge being the most popular. Keep in mind, the ridge does see a fair number of hikers and dogs. However, there is very little foot traffic once you get past Redway. After roughly four kilometres the ridge trail ends, and this is where the trail branches off into three different directions. The options are to head towards Catalyst, Motown or Boomarang. Some trails are marked, but very few, so best to have a route uploaded to your Garmin, find a local to follow, or try your best to navigate via Trailforks. Here is a decent TrailForks Route you can upload and navigate via a Garmin. Following someone is your best option.

Route

The trail starts out by passing under some power lines, and witches to double track as you enter the trailhead. The green trail connectors are great for warming up the legs. All the trails here have some nice distance and link up well, so you don't have to check the map at every turn. Ridgeline is the most popular trail in this network, with its super fast valleys. The system is setup so that is possible to do two giant loops and ride different trails most of the time. 

Route

After paying the $4 park entry fee, the park attendant will offer you a free trail map. The trails are marked well, but you will need a map to make your way around. There are some great loops once you get a handle on all the junctions and side trails. Roller Coaster is a nice trail for getting the legs going. The North Creek Trail is a more picturesque part of the trail system, as it wanders through a bunch of small swamps. The more challenging trails offer some rocky and rooty bits, with tiny back to back climbs that will get the heart rate up.

Gators, Wooden Berms and a Bike Shop

This is gator country, and it did not disappoint. Right at the end of the ride, I ran into a gator sun bathing on a corner. Good thing another rider had kindly blocked off the trail. The wood work in Florida is fantastic. All their stuff is high quality, built right, and blends in with the flow of the trail. Finally, it is such a treat to have a bike shop at the trail head. This trail system has everything you need for a great ride.

Nearby Trails

Less than a 10 minute drive from Alafia State Park is the Balm Boyette Scrub Preserve trail system. Certainly, worth visiting before or after your visit. This spot is another trail system with some of the best MTB trails in Florida. 

Route

The trail is a bit tough to navigate as some of the markers have fallen over, or they are just really hard to locate. Strongly recommend bringing an offline map of Grasslands to stay on course. The trails are only about a foot wide, which seem to quickly disappear under the tall grass. Give yourself 3 to 4 hours to navigate and stop for photos/wildlife. The trail is blazed by 3 feet high wooden posts spaced about about every 300 meters. 

Herds, Antelope and Colours

It only took 10 minutes to find a bison hoofing its way down the Eagle Butte trail. Even better, just over the next hill was a giant herd 100 strong. Truly awesome, to see them running through the fields. Spotting antelope was a little tougher, as they prefer to keep their distance. Two prairie dogs provided a wonderful wake up call, when they came to inspect my tent at sunrise. Don't let the wide open spaces fool you, there is wildlife everywhere you turn in Grasslands National Park. The wide variety of colours were the complete opposite of what I expected from Saskatchewan, and was the main reason why this park is such a nice surprise. 

Tee-Pees, Signal and Nearby Dinosaurs

The park offers a few accommodation options for those who want to stay a while. The Tee-Pee sounds pretty interesting or there is your standard front camping options. Cellular signals were absent on my into the park, so make sure your GPS/directions are on point. If you are heading west after your visit, the drive through the Canadian Badlands in Drumheller is something worth considering.