Forum menu
Thinking about putting together our own mountain biking US road trip style holiday for my 50th in a couple of years. Just trying to get ideas of good XC type locations at the moment. Don't want to just default to the honeypot places like Slickrock, but am unsure about the less obvious options. Like the look of the riding around Sun Valley, Idaho - doesn't look overly technical, but miles & miles of undulating flowing singletrack 😀 Has anyone ridden the trails around Sun Valley/Boise, or can recommend any other areas with similar riding?
TIA
Destinations depend on the time of year and the amount of time you have available for the trip.
Not fixed to any time of year at the moment. Duration of stay wise, I'm thinking of 6 weeks, whilst my wife is thinking 4 weeks!
I had a trip recently and it was awesome! If you're interested in looking at somewhere other than Sun Valley/Idaho, then this would be my recommendation....
[url= http://www.singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/awesome-california-tripwith-a-few-pics ]Link to my post[/url]
I can give you any advice for the areas mentioned.
Durango, CO and Crested Butte, CO are both good locations with lots of riding for every skill level in the areas. June through October the best as the mountain snows set in as you go into November. I used to live in Boise, but before mountain biking took hold--but knowing the terrain around Boise and Sun Valley I'd bet there is some awesome riding in the area.
Angel Fire/Taos area here in New Mexico is good as you can stay at one location and get riding in at both areas. If you do, don't miss the South Boundary trail in the area.
Moab area great of course, but just south of there in the Manti LaSalle mountains has some great riding that you could wrap into a visit to Moab.
[url= http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp271/repackrider/avatar235.jp g" target="_blank">http://i419.photobucket.com/albums/pp271/repackrider/avatar235.jp g"/> [/IMG][/url]
[url= http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/mtbwelcome.htm ][b]2retro4u[/b][/url]
Marin County, Cali
What time of year did you have in mind? Some great US riding areas are seasonal, some less so.
A couple of years ago I spent a week in Boise, and the locals I stayed with would get us a truck ride up into the mountains in the morning, and we would spend the rest of the day getting back to town from an elevation 5000 feet above it.
For towns to ride out of, Moab or Crested Butte should be at the top of the list.
Or, as my buddy ltheisinger mentioned above, you could come out to California and hit a different legendary trail every day for as long as you could afford it.
The riding out in Idaho is Pretty Nice but with all the time you should think about taking in a few locations rather than just one
Park City in Utah has some great riding and is not too far from Sun Valley, and Bend Orgeon isnt too far away either
Once we did a great trip starting in Seattle and and ending in Denver
We rode some fantastic trails along the way and most of the riding was wife friendly
[img] 
[/img]
Check out my web site for a full trip report - plus trip reports to other parts of the states
[url= http://www.mtb-hol.com/MTBUSA2007/MTBUSA2007.html ]Seattle to Denver MTB Rode Trip[/url]
Have a good Trip
I always love the photos of Fruita. That looks some awesome flowy singletrack.
Did a trip to Moab a couple of years ago and as mentioned above the La Sal mountains were excellent for nice singletrack. Fruita was also good-stopped on the way to Moab for a day to get a ride in. Also did some riding around Beaver/Vail area. Nowhere near as well know as the trails in Moab but some excellent rides in the mountains there as well. I guess you can't really go wrong if you fly to Demver and then drive west through Colorado towards Utah.
I guess you can't really go wrong if you fly to Demver and then drive west through Colorado towards Utah.
We did exactly this last month - two days in Fruita and a week in Moab and it was all really good. When I was skiing in Vail 2 years ago I was assured by locals that the riding there was good and it would be surprising if it wasn't. US food is mainly $hite but micros produce good beer (even in Utah where there is a 3.2% alcohol limit on draft beer) and locals always super friendly. Bike shops in Moab provide a good uplift service to top of Porcupine Rim and other local trails. Its a long way to go but really good riding.
I think a long trip is is very useful for Colorado and Utah as it does take a while to acclimatise.
I biked in America years ago. Crested Butte and being great. I can't say they are the best as I haven't ridden enough places.
What I would say is that the scenery and terrain aound Moab was more special to me as it was so different to anything in Europe. I have to say that this was in 1994, the crowds then didn't put me off. What they'd be like to day I'm not sure