The 20 Best Mountain Biking Towns (article)....

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/lists/biking/best-mountain-biking-towns/

A buddy of mine, who used to be one of the top dogs at IMBA for several years, sent me the above article by National Geographic. I haven't ridden out East but to summarize, the 10 locations listed out West are....Moab, Aspen, Eagle (CO), Park City, Boise, Sun Valley, Crested Butte, Bend, Santa Fe and Downieville.

What do you think? What areas are missing from that list?

Bonus question....how many on the list have you ridden your mountain bike? I've been to all but Santa Fe but haven't ridden my bike in Aspen or Eagle.

 

Sedona is missing. I haven't been to any of those yet. Still chasing the local good stuff.

 

Aaaahhh!!! A listicle!!! Click to see more!!!!

Thank you so much for the summary. I turned back after the first page. I’m sure I’ll get more good info from this site.

I’ve only ridden one place on the list, and Crested Butte deserves the recognition. I’ve skied or otherwise visited most of the the other spots. I’d still pick CB as #1 for summer fun.

 

I love these lists, but almost hate talking about it. I've seen all sorts of places that were amazing get some publicity, and then they got inundated and not much fun anymore. For that reason, I'd recommend __________, _____ _______, and ________! I've ridden all three and I'd go back anytime.

 

One. Well really two halves.

Moab in 1990 on a fully rigid bike, and a tiny sampling of Crested Butte in 1991 or '92, with my wife. Oh yeah, I also rode The Canyons at Park City on my DH bike in 2014.

How about Durango?

 

Actually, Durango made the list as well. I go there every year because my wife's Dad lives out there from May thru October. I actually enjoy the riding over in Cortez (Phil's World) and above Mancos (Boggy Draw), especially when I riding solo. I love the Hermosa Creek ride north of town but it's "out there" and not a place you want to get hurt riding solo.

 

I would say California and Colorado are states perfect for mountain biking. I have not heard of half of these places. Looks nice, but we're they mtb trails before? Or were they hiking or moto trails turned mtb trails?

I personally haven't ridden any of those places yet. Mainly travel the state. Would like to to, maybe when I am a empty nester, I will have more time and lots more money!!!

The only other place I have ridden a mtb bike was a place called middlesex fells which is 10 miles north of Boston. Had a local take me up there and the riding is 180 degrees from most of Cali. It's very comparable to Santa Cruz.

 

interesting all those places are seasonal and need tourist $$$. I would rate them by 24-7-12 months. Also by rainfall. Then there is the wet root factor. Geeze Toto, I guess we are all not on the So Cal Bight after all. How would I rate them? Climbs that are doable and go on to the heavens. Downhills that put a big smile on your face, and make your hands ache. Narrow trails with all the blood drawing scratchy stuff trimmed back. Exposure, ditto, and more exposure. Techno and twisty turney trails. No lifts, no or almost no people, no fees to park, no Sierra Clubbies not sharing the trails, and no bells.
Happy local trails

 

Yeah it's fun to read these, but they're generally pretty useless. I always find these lists a bit suspect when they mention things like "IMBA ride center," "machine built flow trail," or "trails for all levels" to justify almost every location. All those things suggest to me is mediocrity. It becomes impossible to take the list seriously when its justification for Durango omits the Colorado Trail and nearby high alpine riding and instead trumpets Hermosa Creek (tied with Cannell atop my list of most overrated trails in the US) and the local town trails. To me that's a total failure and causes me to question every place on that list I haven't been to. Yeah everyone has different tastes but c'mon....we're talking world class riding versus trails on par with what you can find in almost any town out west.

My other criticism is that the they don't explain the criteria and weighting for why places make the list. Everyone has different priorities and preferences. This would add some much needed context and make it a lot more useful. They also don't explain the purpose of the list to begin with - by mountain bike town do they mean great place to live, or great place to visit? Or just great trails? Those are very different things that would produce very different lists for a lot of people. Take Downieville. Yeah the trails are amazing, but there isn't much of a town left there and it doesn't have the services that most people would need for more than a couple days visit. And living there? Unless you're retired or can work remotely you can forget that idea. Ride destination, for sure - but I don't see how you can call Downieville a great MTB town.

I've ridden six on the list - Moab, CB, Park City, Durango, DVille, Boise. Easy to add names but hard to do a real comparison to the list since I haven't ridden most places on it. But I'd put places like Big Bear, Carson City/Tahoe, Sedona, Flagstaff, Prescott, St.George, Hurricane, Jackson Hole, Bozeman, Salida, Breck, Oakridge, Hood River, Bellingham up against anything on that list. For destinations these are higher on my list than most of the Top 20 list. For living there, I'd have to consider a bunch of things like employment - proximity to family/airport - weather - ride season - size of town/services - trail mileage - terrain - variety - difficulty - accessibility to other destinations, etc etc. The more you're looking at these as a place to live and have to factor in employment, the more you might start looking at larger towns and cities and less at places like Downieville or Oakridge.

 

What he said!

(Agree about Hermosa Trail too.)

 

evdog.....I agree 98% and I just threw it up there for discussion purposes. However, I really like both the Cannell Plunge and Hermosa Creek. They aren't perfect but I have a great time every time. My choice for overrated would be Bend, Oregon. For some reason, it's just kind of 'meh' for me every time I'm up there. Too much traffic, fu-fu restaurants and bland, repetitive trails.

 

My girlfriend and I went to Bend the summer before last with the intention of buying there. We'd been there separately about 20 years ago and fell in love with it. Well, it ain't the same small town no mo. Sort of a compacted Orange County with traffic circles, crowds, and what looks to be a dying forest. Sorry, just our opinion, but we were much happier with ________.

You know, I used to live in Mammoth, first in winters only and then year-round. We had these cool natural hot springs outside of town. You could almost always find one not being used.. Then somebody went and wrote a book about them and it was over. Same with a small mining camp in the general vicinity. A local reporter decided to write an article and it was overwhelmed. Same with surf spots along the California coast once morning radio reports and webcams went up. Before that you could use local knowledge and tide charts/swell direction to know where to go. Afterward, it all went to hell.

But if I ever need some advice of places to live/ride, my first choice'd be to check in with @evdog. I've never met him, but man, that dude knows his stuff.

For the record, @mtbMike, my rant is in no way directed at you or your buddy. Just a reflection on the concept of "Best Places.." lists. For some reason, we get Sunset magazine and they always have these lists. I cringe every time I see someplace I like in them. Might as well dock the cruise ship and bring on the moving vans..

 

For me moving out of SoCal will happen only after retirement.......

Once I decide that I got more them enough, and my kids are somewhat independent, I'll start taking those list seriously.
I would love to visit each one of those places for a few weeks to really get the feeling and the vibe of each location.
The Journey could be more fun than the final destination.

Ultimately, I would like to have a few locations to call "home" and rotate them according to the season......... That would be nice!



....... Now back to work!

 

No offense taken as I agree with everything you said....about Bend and every place else that gets on one of these "best of" lists. I was just reading a couple weeks ago about a town in Canada that was dying due to the fact it was a timber town and once the mills closed, the entire town fell apart and 90% of the residents moved away (kind on like Oakridge). Fast forward X number of years and some MTB trails have been developed in the area and it's been "discovered". The once quiet town is "booming" and in ways that many are not happy about. Others have sold out/cashed in to move on. Who knows, maybe it will be the next Bend? I've said for years that I'm shocked Oakridge hasn't become another Bend. It has better riding, greener forests, a river just like Bend and housing prices that are easily 50% lower than Bend. What it doesn't have is any doctors, hospitals, major grocery or drug stores so pretty much zero employment opportunities.

Unfortunately, these lists aren't going away and no place will remain a secret for long with message boards and social media like it is. As I mentioned to evdog, I just threw it up there for conversation sake.

 

The nice thing is that the country is big enough that there’s plenty of room for the “next great spot” to come along. Ridgway CO probably got a little too expensive too soon, being so close to Telluride, but it’s got a great trail network. The good trails are on the less expensive side of town, heading towards Montrose. And the BLM and state parks seem to play nice with the Ridgway Area Trails (RAT) folks and let them build. The acronym does unfortunately mean that all the trail names have a connection to rodents or cheese.

I didn’t plan to ride Ridgway, I just pulled in on my way to Crested Butte some years ago, and was pleasantly surprised. The town will get a good close up look when retirement gets closer.

 

I haven’t ridden Hermosa, I have ridden a loop that includes a chunk of the CO trail, and it was excellent. Durango is actually a real town too, not just a name on a map like Oakridge or Downieville, and they don’t think they’re too good for Walmart, which is nice.

 

I’m not ready to attribute the overcrowding of our favorite spots to listicles. The state’s population has nearly tripled since my childhood, and people have more money and more free time. They will go somewhere...

 

The Hermosa Trail is a great trail, but it's not a destination trail. It's a 26 mile (one way) trip up (or down) a beautiful creek from Purgatory to Hermosa or vice versa. There's a substantial climb either direction. Combined with other phenomenal riding in the area, Durango is a riding destination. And a great town. Don't move there.

 

I had heard of Ridgway and the RAT trails but really had no idea where it was until I drove thru on my way from Crested Butte to Durango last Fall. Ridgway blew me away. Absolutely stunning scenery. I hope to get over there to ride this October when I’m in Durango again.

 

I saw Ridgway on a drive through as well. It seemed like a very cool, artsy little town in an inarguably awesome setting. Not sure I'd want to live there year round though, imagining what the winters are like.

 

I love Durango for this.

 

The smog?

 

Sucking in coal particles while relaxing in one of the open cars! Oh and the view, and the sound. Choo-Choo!

 

I've experienced almost none of the list... But what jumped out at me right away in the Bend section was that they started off by listing Oakridge trails- as if they were the same locale.

 

It looks to me like your kind of place.
They love building trails.

http://ridgwaytrails.com/

 

More Durango railroad stoke....and the dreaded Hermosa Creek Trail

 

Uh oh.

From the website: "With Exterminator,the RAT system now features, in addition to the familiar assortment of super-fun, fast, swooping, rolling, rollicking descents and long, gradual climbs – an extremely gnarly, rocky, technical descent."

And when I was there, I drove up and down all the streets, and one of the houses was my favorite of any home I've ever seen. Am I allowed to build trails there in summer and live somewhere a little warmer in winter?

 

Sure.

I never spend a winter in snow country.
I can see how it can get old quickly.

 

I've spent plenty of winters in snow country. Used to shovel roofs in Mammoth so I could live/ski. Good $ and training. By the time the roofs were done, the backcountry was safe.

OK, lets see.. t.r.u.l.i.a..

 

Great photos! That little choo-choo used to go right past the house I rented for two years. Like in the front yard close. 3 trains a day in summer, each way. Chugga Chugga...

Here's a shot from Google maps from the front yard.