The SE Michigan and NE Ohio Suburban Singletrack Shootout #2: WHAT ONCE WAS

The Tree Farm trails in Novi and the Hampton Hills trails near Cuyahoga Falls were both once something different. My assumption is that the Tree Farm was once…. a tree farm. Hampton Hills was once something less tree huggy: a landfill and toxic waste dump.
The Tree Farm is a relic of the past when skinnies and logovers were cool. Not much of that left now, but what remains is fast and flowy, but not “flow” in the worst sense of that word. Probably around 10 miles of true singletrack, with plenty of small features and a pump track/dirt jump area. I rode there years ago, but there’s just too much good stuff nearby to do anything other than a nostalgia ride. The Tree Farm hosts some fun “dress up in a costume” style events, and people have a lot of fun there.
Hampton is completely different. A Summit County Metropark located basically within the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, its only been around a few years and was machine built, expertly in my opinion. The site is a former dump for the city of Akron (I think) and there are signs along the ponds to prove it. Nevertheless, it is around 10 miles of fast, flowy, fun singetrack that has both a beginner green loop and a slightly more technical, jumpy climby section (the climb at the end will bust yerballz every time) that is an absolute hoot to ride, if only once a month or so.
I call this one a tie, even though the trails are radically different. I ride Hampton A LOT more than I ride the Tree Farm, but you can’t discount the legacy factor of a trail system that’s been around a long, long time, and every time I splash through that small pond outlet at Hampton, I have to wonder when I’ll start growing a third eye.
Tree Farm 3, Hampton Hills 3

Next up: Mayberry vs. Bedford