Every summer we like to take a mountain bike road trip in our Sprinter van. Summer is for mountain biking, winter is for snowboarding :-).
This year we are starting near home in Seattle Washington, and ending up somewhere near Denver Colorado.
Bend Oregon
Our first stop on this years road trip is Bend Oregon. Most times when we are heading down to Bend we will make a pit stop at Hood River to ride the Post Canyon trails (which we love), but due to time constraints we are crushing miles straight to Bend.
Mountain biking in Bend is fairly mellow as mountain biking goes. Not to say that you can’t find some seriously fun stuff to ride, but it’s not incredibly hard or technical riding.
We usually spend our time hanging out (and camping) near Phil’s trails.
Favorite Trails
- Lower Whoops – Super fun and flowy jump trail! You can roll all of the jumps and still have a great time on this one!
- Metolius-Windigo (Met-Win) – The climb isn’t so fun (although it’s pretty), but the downhill at the end might be the flowiest in all of Bend!
- Funner – This is a great trail to shuttle with Cog Wild. For a few bucks Cog Wild will drop you off right at the trailhead to Funner and Lower Tiddlywinks. Funner is aptly named, as it’s a super fun, flowy trail with a few optional drops for advanced riders.
- Lower Tiddlywinks – From the same trailhead as Funner (and Tyler’s) Lower Tiddlywinks is a great trail that’s full of sweeping berm turns and optional gap jumps.
Reno Nevada
Trails
- Halo Trail (Snow Terrace to Kings Row) – This trail is rated as a black, but is much closer to a blue, UNLESS the wind is upping the difficulty level, which is what happened with us. Click here for YouTube video of our ride (coming soon).
Carson City Nevada
Trails
Ash Canyon Trail System – We stopped in here for a quick ride and found a really fun trail called the Creek Trail that we looped twice!
- Creek Trail – This is a fun, flowy trail with a climb that isn’t too bad, and the downhill that’s suited for any rider ability. It’s a fun and quick ride if you’re passing through Carson City! Here are the loop(s) that we did.
Las Vegas Nevada
Trails
Cottonwood Valley Trail System – Fun trail system in a town called Blue Diamond that seems to be built around Burros and mountain biking. Make sure to get a coffee or pastry at Cottonwood Station (they also have fast WiFi).
- The Hurl – Not my favorite climb due to all of the loose rock, but it has a pretty easy techy downhill.
- Landmine Loop – This is a fun cruiser! There are some bumps, but I bet people try to ride this as fast as possible to set new records.
Cowboy Trails – We didn’t get to explore this system as much as we would have liked. It’s full of interesting looking blacks and double blacks (if you’re feeling rowdy).
- Flow Job – We rode the Flow Job trail as a loop that started in Blue Diamond, cruised up the road for a little over 6 miles, then cut onto a dirt road to Goat Roper.
Hurricane Utah
Trails
Hurricane Cliffs Trail System – This is a great group of trails that includes the very popular Jem trail. Also, the free camping in the area is great, and makes the trails very accessible to ride from your van, RV, or tent.
- Jem – After getting this trail recommended to us over and over, we wanted to give it a run! The Jem trail is definitely a fun beginner to intermediate trail that offers a lot of peddling opportunities :-). If you like cross country riding, you will probably love the Jem trail! Here’s the loop that we rode, which I thought was fun!
Guacamole Trails – Hot dam! These are our new favorite trails in the Hurricane area! Don’t miss them if you like a techy challenge. The trails out here are a lot of work, but there’s not much elevation, and you’ll have tons of chances to practice your mountain bike skills!
- Best of Guacamole – You can ride any of the trails out here and have fun, but this route will get you an all of the trails on Guacamole Mesa and leave you with a smile on your face! We rode this in 1:30. Also, there is camping right at the trailhead, but the cell service is not good.
Cortez Colorado
Trails
Phil’s World & the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde – Riding the 12 Hours of Mesa Verde race was the first big fitness event we had on our calendar for the year. The race course is 16+ miles of ups, downs, tech, drops, and everything in-between! Emily and I rode the race as a two person team, and completed 5 laps. We would have done 6 laps, but Emily got leg cramps on her second lap and decided it was best to call it a day. What a fun day it was!
- 12 Hours of Mesa Verde Lap Route – This is a mountain bike route that gives you a great taste of everything Phil’s World has to offer in a fun 16 mile loop! This route includes Rib Cage, Here For More, and Stinky’s, which are fan favorites! We rode this loop in 1:45-1:50.
Moab Utah
Coming soon!
Leave a Reply