Mountain Creek Bike Park
Photo: Teton Gravity Research
Overview:
Mountain Creek Bike Park first opened in 2012, yet it’s predecessor, the Diablo Freeride Park opened all the way back in 1999. The park has 52 trails including connecters, and has long been famous for it’s insanely gnarly and ungroomed tech trails. However, this hasn’t stopped the park from adding a number of flow trails, many of which are beginner friendly. Mountain Creek is my local park, and each time I go I have an absolute blast riding there.
Pros:
There is a lot of variety to be found here starting with the super highway flow trails like Deviant, Breakout, Dominion, and Alpine. Then there is the bermy tech found on Twist, Fat Lip, and Slayer. On the North shore, you’ll find Exodus, and Triple Drop, and the classic East Coast gnar that is found on almost every other trail on the mountain. Another thing I love about Mountain Creek is how fast the trails run. While this does end up adding some braking bumps, it’s always fun to bomb down the steep corners of alpine and send each jump as deep as possible. The final thing I enjoy is the fact that there’s always a feature left to challenge me that isn’t too out of reach. For example, there are plenty of double black challenges. I feel that I’ll never run out of new trails. There’s always a slightly bigger feature than one I’ve already hit on the flow trails.
Cons:
Because this bike park is so old, many of the original features from the ‘90s still exist. You can see this on the extra steep flow trails on the lower mountain which probably attract way more traffic and braking bumps than was originally expected. Also, some of the drops, most notably Phantom, have incredibly short and sketchy landings that would probably work far better on a bike with geometry from 20 years ago. One thing I wish to see more of at the park are the flow tech hybrid trails like Twist. This is because most of the other tech is essentially a pile of rocks that would be a good occasional challenge, but gets boring and slow after awhile.
Rating (Bike Park Scale): 6.5
In my opinion, only a small fraction of the many trails offered at the bike park need work. Other than that, it is a must hit if you’re ever in the area, and can put a smile on almost any rider’s face.