Hurricane Mountain
Photo: Trailforks.com
Overview:
Hurricane Mountain is located in North Conway, NH just down the road from Kearsarge. The town and riders have put in a lot of effort and funding into this place which has around 6-7 downhill trails.
Pros:
Where do I begin!? Hurricane Mountain is so friggin awesome I don’t even know what to say! This place literally has every type of terrain you could possibly imagine. Flow trails with sick jumps? Got it. Super fast tech with awesome catch berms? Got it. Rock slabs and extremely steep chutes that don’t belong on the east coast? Yep! I could go on but you get the point: Hurricane Mountain is dope! One of my personal favorite things about the trail design here are the catch berms like those found on Sendero and Kandagnar. You can literally go flying down a steep straight section, only to put all your trust in the catch berm below which sets you up perfectly for the next section!
Cons:
Because Hurricane is so good, others have flocked to the area leading to some bad braking bumps, and formerly loamy trails turning into dust piles that you would mistake for a bike park. Also, while you can shuttle, you still have to suffer you’re way up a 0.6 mile sprint to the top. Lastly, one thing I would really like to see the builders make here that would avoid another logistical nightmare is a climb trail from town/ Cranmore to the top of Kandagnar and Charlie Don’t Surf. The way it is now you have to either push you’re bike up the ridiculously steep descents, or pedal all the way across town only to face a ridiculously long single track climb.
Rating: 9/10
In my opinion, braking bumps and dust are just another side effect of having an MTB mecca, and I’ve seen worse in many other places that I just don’t think it’s worth complaining about them here. Also, just adding one climb trail would lead to Hurricane Mountain having no cons to speak of. Other than that, this has got to be one of the best places to ride you’re bike in the Northeast, east coast, and maybe even the entire country! Check it out!!!