Which State Has the Best Mountain Biking? According to me.
I’m going to start off this post by saying there’s a good chance I’ve ridden many more places in the US than you 😉 Even Kansas. I’ve ’shredded’ the loamy PNW, lived to ride in California, pedaled many miles in the deserts of the Southwest, explored pretty much every inch of Arkansas, and spent many hours in the saddle in my home region of the Northeast.
But, no, I have not ridden everywhere.
I have yet to experience the Upper Peninsula (I know…), I could use more time around Salt Lake City, Wyoming, and Montana, and I’m excited to spent more time in the southeast in places like Georgia and Maryland (is that considered the SE?)
But I do feel like I have a very good grasp on where the best mountain biking is around the US. Below, I make an argument for which state has the best singletrack overall and which ones are runner ups. You may not agree with me (just read the comments), but this is ‘merica so you’re entitled to your opinion.
The Criteria
First, let’s determine a framework. What makes for great mountain biking? Here’s my criteria:
1. Varied Terrain & Trail Options
In order to be awarded the best mountain bike state in the US, the mountain biking terrain needs to be unique and varied.
Personally, I like to ride a wide variety of trails from slickrock slabs to high alpine traverses and everything in between. Therefore, in my opinion, the winning state must have lots of different options when it comes to where and what to ride.
Bike parks? ✔️
Old school trails? ✔️
New school flow? ✔️
Miles of XC singletrack? ✔️
Cool and interesting features? ✔️
2. Local and State support
There’s nothing worse than riding somewhere you feel like you’re not welcome. Whether that’s passive-aggressive comments from selfish NIMBY locals (or worse, they shut down a bike park) or even other riders judging you for riding your e-bike, I’m really not interested in spending my time or money where I’m not welcome.
The best mountain bike state the US must be welcoming and open to local and visiting riders alike. It should also have infrastructure for those riders, like safe bike paths, tool stations, and plenty of places to get a post-ride beverage and food.
3. Innovation
Mountain biking today is not anything like mountain biking 10 years ago. Bikes have changed, trail building has changed, the whole sport has changed.
So which States have kept up?
The best States for mountain biking should be embracing innovative trail design, working with Federal, State, and Private agencies to create new networks, and have a plan to keep up with trail maintenance.
Bonus points for ‘extra’ innovation like cool trail art, community events, festivals, and the like.
4. Natural beauty
I don’t know about you, but one of the reasons I love mountain biking so much is because it allows me to spend time outside in nature. I love big rides with big views that make you feel like everything is going to be ok.
Unfortunately, not every state has the majestic Rocky Mountains of Colorado or the beautiful red rock towers of Sedona, but the best riding destinations should at least have something in the way of unique natural beauty.
My Top 3 Picks For The Best Mountain Biking in the US
Drum roll, please! Here are (what I consider to be) the top three US states that are home to the best mountain biking:
Winner: Utah
For me, Utah is a clear winner when it comes to the best mountain biking in the US. There is just so much riding there and so many different types of trail.
TERRAIN: The mountain biking terrain in Utah is all over the place, and that’s a good thing! From the slickrock slabs of Moab and Hurricane to the dialed bike parks in Park City to the cross-country trails around Salt Lake City, Utah is hands-down home to the most extensive and varied mountain biking in the US.
LOCAL & STATE SUPPORT: Fun fact, Utah ranks third for percentage of public lands after Alaska and Nevada. 75.2% of Utah is public land and a lot of that land is open to recreational use, including mountain biking. There’s also a big community of mountain bikers who live in Utah, so there’s not much pushback from locals.
INNOVATION: There are a lot of great things happening in Utah to maintain and build upon the mountain biking networks already in place. One project I’m really excited to check out is the Pahvant Trail System in Richfield, Utah. I’ve heard Spinal Tap is one of the best descents in the state!
Moab also just opened its trails to e-bikers. Controversial? Probably. Future-thinking? Yes.
NATURAL BEAUTY: Um, check.
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Utah Mountain Biking
Runner-Up: Arizona
For me, Arizona is a strong runner-up to Utah. It’s home to tons of mountain biking including one of my favorite destinations of all time: Sedona. But it doesn’t quite have the variety or extensiveness of trail that Utah has (like bike parks).
TERRAIN: The mountain biking terrain in Arizona is stunning. From the red cliffs of Sedona to the blooming desert singletrack in Tucson to the pine forest trails of Prescott, Arizona may be the most scenic place to ride in the US. But it doesn’t quite match up to the variety that Utah offers. Sadly, Arizona has only one bike park: Sunrise Park Resort in Greer, Arizona. It’s small and owned by the White Mountain Apache Tribe.
LOCAL & STATE SUPPORT: Over half of Arizona is public land, which provides a lot of open space to explore on two wheels. Much of the public land is open to mountain biking. That said, I feel like the local opinion of mountain bikers is not quite as rosy as that of Utah. There are some pretty conservative places and people in Arizona and depending on the area, locals may or many not be happy to have you there.
INNOVATION: Page, Arizona is a place to watch. They recently received several grants from IMBA to build singletrack around the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
NATURAL BEAUTY: 100%! From the stunning red rock towers of Sedona to the saguaro studded deserts of Phoenix to the pine forests of the northern regions, Arizona is full of natural beauty.
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Arizona Mountain Biking Posts
Runner-Up: Arkansas
Moving away from the west and southwest, Arkansas may be a surprise for some people, but over the last few years, Arkansas has really pushed mountain bike trail and community development. It’s actually my favorite place it ride.
TERRAIN: Nicknamed The Natural State, Arkansas is surprisingly beautiful with unique rock formations, waterfalls, mountain ranges (I swear!), rivers, lakes, and dense forests. It really has it all. Sure, it’s not the Rockies, but what Arkansas lacks in elevation change, it makes up for in creative trail building and features – natural and manmade. Almost every network you visit in Arkansas will have some bike-park like features and unique natural terrain.
LOCAL & STATE SUPPORT: Have you heard of Walmart? Well the Walmart home offices are located in Northwest Arkansas and the grandsons of this massive empire are avid mountain bikers. They have lobbied and spent who knows how much money to build local and state support for trails in all corners of the state. I’m sure there are some disgruntled local Arkansans who have lived in the same town all their lives who don’t appreciate the change, but every time I visit, I feel very much welcomed and even see many pre-Bentonville boom locals shredding the trails. It’s pretty amazing what Walmart money has done for this state and it seems like the changes are mostly appreciated.
INNOVATION: Where to start!? Arkansas has really embraced mountain biking over the past few years and it seems like there’s always something happening whether that’s the Walton grandsons buying Rapha, the development of the Monument Trails networks, the approval of a Trail Building program at a community college, and a new lift-serve bike park in Bentonville… the innovation is endless.
NATURAL BEAUTY: Arkansas is one of the most underrated states in the US in my opinion. It is stunningly beautiful with limestone caves, peaceful lakes, turquoise rivers, and rugged mountains, and so much more.
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Arkansas Mountain Biking Posts
Honorable Mention: Vermont
I grew up in Vermont and I come back to visit often. I’ve ridden Kingdom Trails dozens of times and Killington Bike Park is always a blast.
But my two biggest gripes with Vermont and the reason it didn’t make my top 3?
- There is no year-round riding. You have to fly or drive 8+ hours in the winter and for me – someone who wants to bike year-round – that’s simply not acceptable.
- The ROCKS AND ROOTS. Don’t get me wrong, I love some good technical riding, but the non-stop rocky and rooty tech in Vermont can be a bit much ride after ride. The good news is that over the past few years, more variety of trail has been built throughout the Green Mountain State with good machine-built flow options to smooth out (literally and figuratively) the east coast chunk.
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Vermont Mountain Biking Posts
Honorable Mention: Colorado
Haters are gonna hate, but I’m going to say it: I think Colorado is overrated (even though my favorite trail of all-time is there!)
Yes, absolutely, there is amazing singletrack in Colorado. But a lot of the trails are still just repurposed hiking trails that go straight up the mountain and straight back down. You climb for two hours, barely able to breathe because everything is over 10,000ft and then once you get to the top and enjoy the (spectacular) views, you’re back at your car in 10 minutes.
Of course, I jest and this doesn’t represent the entirety of Colorado’s mountain biking offerings, but it seems like every time I ride in the Rocky Mountain State, I question whether at least 50% of my outings are worth the effort…
And the local support? Coloradans have a reputation for being… “socially selective”.
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Colorado Mountain Biking Blog Posts
Need gear recs?
Head over to my gear closet! I’m always testing out new pieces of bike gear and if I really like them, they earn a place on this page.
And there you have it! My very biased list of the best states for mountain biking. As I said at the start, I’ve ridden many, many places around the US and while I know every rider has their opinions on what ‘the best’ is, I personally thing that Utah, Arizona, and Arkansas deserve the top 3 spots.
Care to disagree (or maybe you agree?) Leave a comment!
What are your top three states for mountain biking? Which ones are you hoping to ride soon? Let me know below!
Until Arkansas gets their anti-trans/LGBTQ crap together they need to stay off any and all lists and WA State is far and away better than Arkansas in every way.
Bike companies aren’t moving to Bellingham for no reason.
Our state-wide advocacy group (Evergreen.org) is in a very friendly competition with Vermont for most members, but they draw from multiple heavily populated states. It’s on the list to visit.
I love Washington. I lived in Seattle for a few years and just got to Bellingham this past year. And yes, I agree that Arkansas is backwards (and moving even farther backwards) in terms of politics. But maybe if enough liberals move there for mountain biking we can change the future 🙂
Do they prevent Trans/LGBTQ’s from riding there? That’s the issue.
Hartman rocks? really?
how about the 401, captain jacks, monarch crest, horsetheif, my local Dakota ridge, not to mention banana peel. lift served, destination, technical and social. CO has it all in spades. just don’t tell anyone. Fat biking too.
Vermont? mount snow has 600 vert, all blue by our standards. your killing me but thanks for keeping our secret. Utah. well yeah Moab is Moab.
Love Hartman Rocks! Colorado does have some great mountain biking – agreed. Hoping to spend more time exploring it this year.
When I saw Colorado was put below Arkansas I questioned it because Arkansas has no lift served parks, and that was one of the criteria, while Colorado has 4 at least, with Trestle, which is one of the best on the continent,
Arkansas is actually opening up a Lift Serve bike park in June! They also have several shuttle-accessed networks like Lake Leatherwood and Ponca trails.
Vermont is pretty awesome, lots of great singletrack, kingdom trails, some great parks at Killington, Burke Mtn and others
I agree! I’m actually from Vermont 🙂 There’s been a ton of trailwork there since I wrote this post, so I may add Vermont as a runner-up.
I agree with most of this list, but in defense of my home state, I think it checks a few more boxes than you mentioned:
1. Exciting new developments: Colorado is (probably) getting a purpose built lift serviced bike park (like highland, etc). That should be here in the next couple years. Additionally, there has been a bigger push lately to build more bike optimized trails. Local clubs have been really great in this regard. Maryland mountain and Floyd Hill are just two examples near Denver, but there are others elsewhere in the state.
2. Bike parks: Without using the internet, I can name 11 lift serviced bike parks in Colorado. There may be more.
3. Varied Terrain: I’m with you in terms of not living the uber-steep non-bike friendly multipurpose trails. There is also a lot of desert and otherwise low country riding here. The area around Grand Junction, for example, has some really great stuff that (I think, anyway) is just as cool as most of the stuff in Moab. There are other areas like this too: Phils World in Cortez, for example, and to a lesser extent, the areas around Gunnison. Closer to home, the Northern Front Range has stuff like this: Hall Ranch (although the hill comes climbs can be a little much there) and the hogback trails in Larimer County (though these aren’t as fun as desert ride rides on the western slope).
Anyway, I had to mention these because I used to live in Arizona and, while the riding there was great, Colorado kicks the crap out of that place.
Haha, thanks! This is actually an old post that needs some major updating. Colorado is growing on me now that I’ve ridden there more. I loved Hartman Rocks outside of Gunnison and I know I need to get to Fruita/Grand Junction. Ridgway Colorado is a new favorite as well. I’ll bump Colorado up when I update this post next 🙂