Gooseberry Park Trail

Dogs Leashed

Features Birding · Fall Colors · River/Creek · Spring · Views · Wildlife

This trail loop at Gooseberry Park is easily the best hiking (pretty much the only trail hiking) you can get within city limits of Fargo-Moorhead. It is a nice 3-or-so mile loop (that can be shortened) that twists and turns through woods and prairie.

The surface is black dirt, and is almost completely singletrack. Gooseberry Park encompasses the inside part of a large curve in the Red River on the Moorhead side. There were some houses here in the past that were bought out and cleared away after flooding, and they have turned a lot of the land into park space. There is a decent 15-or-so foot elevation change that the trails take advantage of with frequent small ups and downs. While this may not be much elevation, for being right in the middle of these flat towns, it is pretty nice.

There are some red posts that help guide where the "official" trail is, and following the tire tracks can be helpful, especially in winter. They do change the route every so often so this map might not be accurate forever! There are some "obstacles" being that it is a bike trail; some little dirt mound jumps and built-up wooden jumps that can be fun for hiking or that can easily be avoided. The trails were crafted and are maintained by a local mountain biking group - The Fargo Moorhead Trailbuilders.

There are a couple parking lots within Gooseberry Park, but you can also park on the Fargo side in Lindenwood Park and use the pedestrian bridge that leads you right to a starting place for the trails!

Most of the trail goes through trees, with part of it in an area of prairie grass. Squirrels and rabbits abound, but in the winter there are sometimes deer, turkeys, owls, and other big birds.