I've seen it on BF and heard it in person, hate for ALL Multi Use Paths (MUPs). But why hate ALL of them. I understand hating the poorly designed/executed 'sidepaths' that are nothing more then a glorified sidewalk with no thought put to the people using bikes.

Here are some examples of the MUPs in my area (Minneapolis):

Cedar Trail -


(BTW - this section of the Cedar trail is three separate trails: one for foot traffic, one for westbound bikes, and one for eastbound bikes)

Midtown Greenway -



Why would you hate these routes?

I hate them because I (typically) ride faster than the general users of them and it is a pain to have to pass them constantly.

I don't hate them. I just try to go on off times when there are less riders on it/less to deal with. Those two you posted..I wish there was something like that in PA!

We pass a lot of people and sometimes have issues, but for the most part how can you hate this? I don't fully understand the hate either.

Dakota Rail Regional Trail

Carver County side

Hennepin County side

Just imagine trying to pass this bunch of people, who admittedly are enjoying themselves. I'll just leave the MUPs to them.

In Indianapolis there is the old Monon trail where there has been a fair amount of crime. I'd rather have motorists yelling at me than get robbed, stabbed or shot.

Monon Trail | Indiana Trails | TrailLink.com

On the weekends it's way too overcrowded with people from Bizzaro World. In Bizzaro speak "on your left" means scatter about randomly in any and all directions like super heated molecules. Chaos ensues.

I use a couple of local MUPs almost every ride and I sure don't hate them. But you can't use them for training rides or Strava personal bests, and you do have to ride courteously and with consideration for other users.

I suppose it may depend on why you are riding. A very large percentage of my rides are fairly utilitarian in nature, and we have some trails that make it easy to get across town, often faster than taking roads because you avoid a number of lights. I'll also add that some of the trails around here are absolutely beautiful, taking in everything from pastoral landscapes to gorgeous ocean views. Count me in as a fan.

But you could just yell, "on your left" and they would all move over to the side. Right?!

Most MUP's (I've never seen a 3 lane designated access MUP before) are wild west free for all's. Parents with toddlers on push bikes, adolescents on training wheels, adults on cruiser bikes, racer boys (and girls) trying to set STRAVA segment records, little wheeled assemblies (skate boards, roller blades, roller skates, scooters and the like), dogs on extendable leases (or not) and every one else (walkers or runners or crawlers) distracted by electronic pacifiers and nobody in control or aware of their surroundings. I'll take a 6 lane limited access Intertstate highway full of RV's and logging trucks before you'll get me back on one of those ?safe? alternatives.

... No, Your other Left..

the one by the river shore is a nice way to go to the Grocery mongers .

Maybe it's a Minnesota thing? I ride the Dakota a ton, the east end is about 5 miles from my house. From my house to the end of the Dakota (Lester Prairie) and home is a metric century. Good times!

I'll ride them with my wife on the rare occasion she wants to ride. Mainly because she's more comfortable doing so. We putz along at a leisurely 11-12 MPH and I keep my head on a swivel to watch for riders behind us.

Hey, I'm in MN, too. :|

I would run on those trails, but not ride.

I'll hop that curb and they'll be out of my life in 30 seconds.

I love the MUP.

I don't. I completely understand why some prefer not to use them (MUPs: "multi-use paths" or 'trails'), but provided one accepts the inevitable restrictions, what's not to like?

Ours (typical views):


Three main spokes following branches of the river, plus connector sections. Each main spoke constitutes roughly a 20km out 'n back; put them together with some connectors and one has a decent ride, and the ability to extend from any spoke-end onto decent rural roads.

I don't hate all MUPs. In fact there's only one bit that I hate enough to avoid riding on it, and that's Potomac Ave. Trail north of the Potomac Ave. and Glebe Rd intersection - so many driveways and streets intersect it that it's just a glorified sidewalk.

I'd rather have MUPs in my area than not have them. I ride on streets with 2 or more lanes each way on my regular commutes too, but I'd rather ride on the MUP that parallels the GW Parkway for 10 miles than on the parkway itself, which is full of backed-up car traffic.

In another part of the city, there's an MUP that gives me an alternative to the 50-sec. wait at a traffic light to turn left, followed by another 50 sec. wait at the next immediate traffic light - often with a crazy dude wandering between the stopped cars (I once saw him put earbuds on a tree, then yell random obscenities at random people). Being able to bypass psychoman and those two long traffic light waits on the MUP is nice.

I'll repeat myself, it must be a Minnesota thing. Our MUPs are a mixed bag, some (suburban) MUPs are chaos, and some are very orderly, easy, safe, and fun.

I might use the MUP between Hastings and South St Paul after they finish it in 2017. We'll see.

Another Minnesotan here. As with any trail system, there are always going to be certain trails that are busier than others and some that are busier at certain times. I absolutely love most of the trails in the Twin Cities, but I know that if I'm riding the River Road trails or the new Browns Creek Trail or the Greenway Trail, it's going to be busier than most others, and I'll have adapt to the traffic. I don't know if it's reasonable to expect MUPs to be user-free while you're out on a bike ride - maybe not the best places to be trying for a personal best. But as the photos show in previous posts, the trails here are beautiful! If I want to ride in solitude, the best routes for me are the gravel roads I ride out in the country.

I like our Three Rivers Greenway. I don't want to do my whole ride on them, as you definitely have to contend with people taking up the entire path (I used to ride exclusively on one of them when I started riding), but it's nice to take them one way for the scenery and connect to other parts of the city that way. Back up in MD they have some good MUPs and rail trails. I think I might take my single speed cross bike up there over xmess and ride some of the NCRR trail.Pretty sure I remember it being gravel

I don't. I generally don't like riding crowded MUPs, but not all of them are crowded, and even the popular ones are not crowded all of the time. I rode about 100 miles of the Mickelson Trail in SD this past June. South of Custer on the second day I don't think I encountered even a half dozen people in that 45 miles. I had other stretches all to myself. The path along U.S. 93 between Lolo and Hamilton, MT has also been relatively user-free both times I have ridden it, and it sure beats riding on the highway. Even the GAP wasn't bad on a nice, September weekend.

In general, because people use them with their heads inserted fully in their rectal cavities.

While not paved, there is the Lower (rhymes with flower) Trail: Lower Trail | Pennsylvania Trails | TrailLink.com and the Ghost Town Trail: Ghost Town Trail | Pennsylvania Trails | TrailLink.com. During a cross-PA tour last year I rode 26 miles of the Allegheny River Trail between Franklin and Emlenton. Paved and lightly used on a nice Sunday morning. Just did the Lehigh Gorge Trail between Jim Thorpe and White Haven last weekend. Even on that busy day (leaf peepers) it wasn't scary as the trail is pretty wide. Go on a weekday and you will likely not see very many people.

Those two trails look amazing but are on the other side of the state (i'm near Phila). The trail near Jim Thorpe is really nice.

My least favorite MUP has stop signs for every commercial drive it passes across, sometimes every 200 feet there is another stop sign. I understand that the DOT has to establish a right of way, but IMO, a stop sign every 200 feet just encourages us to run them all. The businesses are closed on the weekends, you can clearly see with plenty of time to stop, why couldn't they be yield signs instead? There are a couple of sections of MUP here that are always full of darting pedestrians, toddlers with training wheels, and those viet cong trip wire dog leashes-I ride those areas when I have no agenda and am not in a hurry and can tolerate maintaining a less than 10MPH pace. There are some other areas of MUP here that a freaking phenomenal, views, shade, and no traffic. I enjoy them quite a lot and am looking forward to the stretch from my office to my house being completed (maybe in 5 years, it's drawn and partially funded).