The Best MTB Destinations I’ve Ridden

Photo: Me!

Since I started mountain biking, I’ve taken every opportunity to ride somewhere new. This obsession has led to me using family vacation as an excuse to ride on a different continent, or even planning epic trips centered around just riding. Here is a list of some of the best places my bike has taken me:

Disclaimer: I have been to many more amazing places, but have barely scratched the surface of them, so I won’t add them to this list until I fully know what the area has to offer.

Park City, Utah

Obviously Park city is an extremely famous riding destination, but most people see it that way due to iconic alpine epic rides like the Wasatch Crest or Mid Mountain trail. While these rides are pretty sick, this is a site about downhill, and there’s much more to park city than these two trails. For example, there’s lift access downhill riding at Deer Valley, the Canyons (the gondola is running again!), and the brand new Woodward Park City! Plus, there’s some great shuttle laps on PCMR like Evil Empire, Red Bull, and Moosehouse, and some secret ones like Foreplay and Fanny Pack. Finally, there’s a few places that make great half day rides like Trailside Bike Park, or Gorgonza Park that have some awesome jumplines. If you’re willing to go out of town, there’s also Corner Canyon in Draper that has some awesome flow trails.

Laguna Beach, California

Southern California is a massive mtb mecca, but I’d say its all centered around the trails at Laguna Beach. While there are many fun legal trails here like 5 Oaks and Rock It, I’d say this place is most well known for its endless amount of steep and loose unsanctioned trails. There are some like Telonics and Silver Surfer which have become iconic classics, but there’s others like Mickey’s, Dog Park, Holy Mac, and of course, Valhalla which scare the hell out of you as you slide your way down. The other side of the canyon also has many classics, like T&A, Lizards, and Sweet Tilly that are just as steep. As I said before, there’s tons more trails in Socal, so don’t spend too much time in Laguna and check out neighboring destinations like Greer Ranch, San Clemente, and Lake Elsinore (probably the gnarliest trails I’ve ridden). There’s definitely many more secret trails nearby, so do your research and you’ll have the trip of a lifetime.

North Conway, New Hampshire

You might just think I’m putting this place on here because its a website about northeast trails, but I seriously think North Conway comes close to some of the west coast meccas. For lift access riding, there’s the brand new Cranmore Bike Park, Atitash (which was closed when I went there), Bretton Woods (also didn’t get to ride), and nearby, there’s Highland Bike Park which is just awesome. In town, you’ll find some hike a bike trails like Kearsarge, family friendly blue trails like Shumway and Muzzys, and of course, there’s Hurricane Mountain which has tons of variety and awesome trails. Its basically the reason why North Conway is so awesome.

Bellingham, Washington

When I went to Bellingham, I barely scratched the surface of what this town has to offer. Luckily, I’m about to go back and have found many more trails to ride. Almost anyone whose heard of riding in Bellingham has likely thought of Galbraith Mountain, where epic flow trails like Evolution, Unemployment Line, and SST are located. These trails have the jumps and Berms to make you think you’re riding in the Bike Park, but also aren’t nearly as crowded or rough as true downhill trails. At the base of Galbraith, there’s Cedar Dust which is a bike park with jumplines for all abilities. Did I forget to mention they’re also extremely well built?! In addition to Galbraith, you’ll also find Chuckanut Mountain which has quite a few more technical cross country trails, but also contains Double Black/Double Down which is a downhill shuttle lap that’s more rooty and rough than Galbraith, but still extremely fast with a couple of optional features like a 6 foot rock drop. Back on the east side of town, there’s Lookout Mountain which has a lot of unsanctioned trails that I probably shouldn’t name to protect the trails. Anyways, the trails here are much gnarlier and steeper than anything else in town, and if you think Bellingham doesn’t have any serious dh tech riding, you might want to ride Lookout Mountain. If you decide to ride outside of town, you’ll find some awesome shuttle trails in Darrington, lift access riding at Stevens Pass, and there’s an endless amount of trails in Seattle, but I’d say Duthie Hill is a must hit.

As I travel more, I’ll continue to update this page with some more epic riding destinations in the country.