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Biking Thunder Trail in Binangonan

Thunder Trail BinangonanThunderbird Resorts in Binangonan Rizal is familiar to Metro Manila mountain bikers who frequent Antenna Hill and the Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs.

Thunder Trail however does not seem to be as famous as either of these two biking destinations. This is a shame because this winding singletrack and fireroad which leads to a hilltop lagoon is one of the better MTB trails near Metro Manila.

Binangonan Rizal is my hometown. It makes me proud that the Angono-Binangonan Petroglyphs have now become part of the “must-visit” places among Metro Manila weekend warriors. Over the years, I’ve also seen Antenna Hill attain much deserved fame in the mountain biking community for its challenging climb (which offers great views of the Laguna de bay) and the excellent downhill track which was built there by gravity aficionados.

Thunder Trail complements these two destinations. This trail has got plenty of twists, fast flowy descents, and sections that require you to dip into your bag of technical tricks.

Thunder Trail BinangonanThunder Trail BinangonanLast weekend, I biked to Thunder Trail to familiarize myself with the layout of the route for the upcoming “Padyakan sa Lagoon” race.

I really like what the organizers have done here. Last time I was at Thunder Trail, it was overgrown with tall talahib, which made it difficult to read the trail. The route has now been cleared. I even got to try out sections which I’d never visited before.

Thunder Trail BinangonanThunder Trail BinangonanThunder Trail BinangonanThe race route looks like it will be 50 percent trail and 50 percent paved road. Trail purists shouldn’t fret though because most of the paved sections are uphill. From what I’ve sampled, the race looks like it will be an all out sprint since the entire course is quite short. I forgot to turn on the GPS on my phone, but I don’t think it’s more than 7 kilometers.

I’m really excited about this race. The last time there was such a race in Binangonan was way back in 2010 when my buddies in Binangonan Rizal Offroaders and Mountain Bikers Association organized a very well attended event in the hills of Cardona. Too bad, they did not get enough support from the local government then, as it could have become a yearly event.

thunder-trail-binangonan-6 thunder-trail-binangonan-8 thunder-trail-binangonan-9 thunder-trail-binangonan-10 thunder-trail-binangonan-11Thunderbird Resorts RizalIf you want to get the most out of your biking visit to Binangonan, I suggest you 

  1. Climb Antenna Hill
  2. Cross over to Village East and Thunderbird resorts
  3. Ride the Thunder Trail
  4. Visit the Petroglyphs
  5. And ride back to Antenna Hill to cap it off with some gnarly downhill

If your downhill mojo isn’t up to it yet, you can also descend the paved road going to Angono highway which is also wicked fast.

thunder-trail-binangonan-12I would really love to promote my hometown as a biking destination, so I’ll be writing about another bike trail there that’s relatively unexplored. Watch out for my post on the Pumarada Trail.

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9 Comments

  • Are the trails here easy to pass thru or there is a bit of a challenge? Haven’t been to trails in several months, usually only road nowadays. I would like to join the race this coming April but not sure if I can do it.

    • outsideslacker

      March 24, 2014 at 9:32 am

      What is the Race Route Like?
      Thunder trail presents plenty of challenges. The opening part presents plenty of twisties that will have you quickly alternating between descending and climbing positions. The blackout section is a short but punchy steep climb. and after that is a fast downhill on loose gravel. Then it’s uphill again past the lagoon and into the finish line.

      If you want to join, it might be wise to do a track read and do plenty of practice on Thunder Trail itself 🙂

  • Where can I find Pumarada trail sir?

  • Sir. goodday! tanong ko lang po kung saan ang thunderbird trail? nagpunta kasi kami dun and walang makasagot ee? from antipolo ang daan sana namin sir. thank you sir!

    • hi john, last time nagpunta ako dun may tarpaulin signs pa directing bikers to the different trails, pero baka binagsak na ng bagyo. anyway, maraming sections din kasi yun. pero yung pinakakilala is the trail leading to the lagoon. you can see it starting as a fireroad on the right side if you’re coming from angono, and from the opposite side if you’re coming from guido road. tanong lang kayo sa mga tao dun kung saan yung daan pababa ng lagoon.

  • Mga sir, ung thunder trail ay common na at madaling makita… Pero yung acacia trail, mahogany at anahaw trails ay hindi ko po mkita.. San po naka direct un? Salamat po sa reply..

    • hi alexander, mga trail yan na pumapasok dun sa mga bakanteng lote na maraming puno. not sure if the management has maintained those trails, kasi pag tag-ulan, natatabunan ng damo at kahoy yan