I don't mean which country has the best terrain, which country has invested most and has the best network of trails and facilities?

Bhutan

err… austria. switzerland.

mountainous contries full of mountains, trails, ski resorts, etc.

Probly Canadia (as in BC) only been on hollyday though, not a biking one either.

Yup, Bhutan.

I meant Bhutan, thats where I'm going next year.

Which countries have good access rights and bridleways (…or equivalent)? To me this is so important for a country being good for mountain biking. I lived in France (Brittany region) and tbh was disappointed at the lack of footpaths/bridleways.

North Korea.

Nepal

Surely Scotland has the best of everything…..depending on the weather.

Holland

Vatican city.

But that's not to say they can't learn from us.

Isn't the Pope over here to check out the 7Stanes?

I can’t believe there wasn’t even a mention of the United States. I mean, I am biased but we have trail systems with anywhere from 50K to 100K to over 200K. Our local mountain bike organizations have built and maintained these systems to an incredible level of quality, resulting in trails of every type: fast-packed and flowy, super technical with rocks and roots galore, to the slick rock of North Carolina and Utah. You could spend months in Oregon and never ride every trail in that state, yet you would be blown away each and every ride. There is a trail in my state that is about 200K of wilderness singletrack. Not to mention the 400-mile Colorado Trail – one of the highest, most beautiful rides in the world – and the 3,000-mile Continental Divide Mountain Bike Route.

So while I would kill to ride in any and all the countries mentioned before, consider the US next time you’re looking for a riding holiday. Especially when our economy is in the shitter as it is and things are so relatively cheap.

Norway …

France maybe. There are the FCC centres, the long distance bike trails and all the bike parks. There are also loads of organised events.

Per OP’s question – best network of trails and facilities, has to be either Scotland, Colorado, or North Shore in Vancouver. None of those three locations fit the strictest definition of “country” of course…

Canada.

United States,
Sweden,
France (Alpes),
Wales,
Scotland.
England.

Lots of effort in all the above countries, the US has enough trails to keep us trail busy for the rest of our riding days.

Sweden has some of the most remote trails, further north you go the more remote, where we holiday quite regularly they have a 150km trail which is awesome with everything in it.

French Alpes is a paradise for gravity assisted grins and grimaces for some of the most horendous climbs, but I think that they have (and have still) created some very good trails with scenery nearly as nice as the Lakes.

Hopefully most of us have ventured out and made the best of the last countries on my list, they all have something else to give us that is different to the one before but not a replica of some of the others.

Trails are trails to us all but I think it’s what we put into our adventures that make them or break them. Have fun !

With USA being so big its hard to imagine it being beaten really. Particulalry on the variety of terrain and enviroment

If you mean trail centres than I don’t know, but in terms of proper wilderness, nobody seen for a few days, wild forests and mountains where paths are made by wild animals than Southern Carpathian areas are fabulous. Romania, for example.

You would have to compare the US with Europe as a whole, rather than individual countries. The problem with the US is that outside of national parks and set trails I believe (although this is going on what I have read on other website and forums) access is limited.

Germany is worth a mention loads of trails, good access to forests and trails and importantly a general good attitude to shared usage (missing in the UK).

Full of yanks though – got to be a downside shirley?

I’d say England. Biased? Yes but all year round riding (its ok saying the Alps etc which are superb during the summer, not so good for the 6 months of the year they’ve got snow all over them) and I’d say as much variety in terrain as anywhere else but all within a few hours drive. Plenty of investment into trail centres, HUGE array of ‘natural’ trails and I suppose if you can include it, 2 hour flight to the Alps for your summer lift assisted fix.

Suits me anyway.

Gotta be the USA. I’d love to live there as a cyclist.. Oregon, Colorado, so many places i’ve seen in the magazines that look utterly stunning. Canada and Scotland would be close too I expect.

I think the Uk’s pretty well supplied wih trails though, I can ride enough different loops from my doorstep to not get bored. Some bigger hills / mountains and wider expanses of wilderness would be nice though. I think if you lived in the Lake district, Scotland, Wales or the Peak dist you’ve probably got it as good as almost anywhere in the world.

It’s got to be the US, namely Colorado, I stayed with a mate in Colorado Springs 4yrs ago and I’m still full of the incredible riding he had on his doorstep, in 2 weeks (well less than that as we had a few Awesome nights in LoDo Denver which prevented any riding the next day!) we rode trails/ski runs which were so long and diverse that it makes my Euro Alps trips look like a day out in Hadleigh Farm!

The trail facilities were pretty good too, loads of ski lodges convert to walker/rider hostels in the summer, although the only downside is you have to know where they are as the riding area is so vast