The Bike Park at Vail Mountain is less than 2 hours drive (97miles) along interstate 70 from Denver, Colorado. Cradled in the Gore Mountain Range, Vail Ski Resort was established in 1962 by tough-as-nails 10th Mountain Division troops lucky to have survived their tour during WWII. Today, Vail Resort has a glowing reputation as one of the premier ski destinations in North America. However, their bike park is candidly referred to as a-work-in-progress. Although, Vail does have a storied history in mountain biking as the host of the UCI World Championship Race in 1994 and 2001.
In 2009, the Vail Daily Newspaper interviewed a Vail Mountain Spokeswomen about the future of downhill mountain biking at Vail. In that interview, the spokeswomen said "the resort has no plans at the moment to expand any of its downhill program." Currently, Vail really only has 2 worthy DH style mountain bike trails. The rest of the trails are more intermediate-flow trails without much to offer in the form of features. However, on a positive note, Mark Hendrickson is Vail's new summer programs manager. Mark previously managed the bike park at Mammoth Mountain in California. Hopefully, this means that the bike park at Vail will expand and take advantage of the potential that exists for some truly epic gravity trails.
If 5 star accommodations, spas, and restaurants are your thing, then Vail has you covered! They also have bike and gear rentals available from multiple shops in the the village as well. The cross country trails can be ridden up from the base of the Gondola at 8,120ft.-to-11,250ft at the top of the Grand Traverse trail. Arguably, the views, aspen groves, and wildflower displays are some of the best anywhere. For now, 1 or 2 days riding in the park is enough to sample everything and not get bored. Our favorite line down the mountain was Magic Forest-to-Old Nine Line-to-Mane Lane. These trails are black & double black diamond rated with steep, natural DH-tech terrain.
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