America’s 20 Best Mountain Bike Towns
To foster authentic bike culture, a town needs more than just high quality trails. These 20 mountain bike hamlets around the country (in no particular order) offer bucket-list rides, new trail development, a variety of outdoor recreation, and a fun, bike-friendly vibe. Bike on.
It’s almost impossible to overhype Moab. Its red-rock landscape is truly like nowhere else on Earth, and the best way to appreciate it is by riding it. Famed trails like Porcupine Rim, Slickrock, and the Whole Enchilada steal the spotlight, but it’s the area’s newer and lesser known trails that make a trip to Moab a mandatory pilgrimage for any mountain biker.
The new intermediate-friendly trail systems north of town—North Klondike, Sovereign, Klonzo, and the Brands—all connect. Navajo Rocks, off the road to Canyonlands, offers 18 miles of slickrock, flow, and scenic views and Magnificent 7 (or Mag 7) links upper and lower Gemini Bridges Road in one ledgy, memorable traverse.
With sunbaked desert riding, high-alpine singletrack in the nearby La Sal Mountains, and everything in between, it’s possible to ride in Moab year-round, but temperatures are most comfortable in spring and fall (fall being your best chance to ride the Whole Enchilada).
Beyond the riding, Moab is the gateway to Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, a spectacular stretch of the Colorado River, and world-famous climbing at Indian Creek in Bears Ears National Monument.
#4 Park City, UtahThe International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) designates destinations as “ride centers” when they offer something for every rider, from backcountry epics to beginner-friendly singletrack. Of the 37 in the world, the first gold-level status was awarded to Park City. Beyond the sheer quantity of trails—about 400 miles of singletrack—Park City’s active and productive bike community has helped link them in a highly functional, user-friendly network.
Park City’s trail options include long, flat cruises, intermediate rolling terrain, and alpine singletrack with challenging climbs and thrilling descents. There are even lengthy tours like Mid-Mountain and Wasatch Crest. Plus, Deer Valley, Canyons Resort, and Park City Mountain Resort (now one property) all offer lift-assisted riding, which makes access to the higher alpine trails even easier. Gravity aficionados flock to Canyons Bike Park for its freeride trails (the lifts also access 20 miles of cross-country trails).
The town of Park City boasts scores of bars and restaurants, affordable accommodations (for a ski town), tons of kid activities, and cultural events like concerts.
Photograph by Danita Delimont, Alamy
Photograph by Whit Richardson, Aurora Photos
