Mountain Bike Trails

The Vapor Trail serves up 2.6 miles of rugged freeride terrain and 1,400 feet of vertical drop. It begins at the top of the Elk Camp Lift and descends through a wide-open meadow, over bridges and berms and through groves of aspen and evergreen trees.

Animal Crackers is a most difficult technical trail in the upper zone. Narrow and raw, the trail will challenge riders for nearly 2 miles with steep descents, rock gardens and off camber traverses through loamy pine forests and alpine meadows.

Our longest freeride trail running 4.4 miles with a descent of 2,100 vertical feet, French Press forms the fast and flowy backbone of the Snowmass Bike Park. The smooth dirt, steep banks, and dynamic rollers of this blue trail can link riders to a diversity of trails. A warm-up for more advanced riders or an introduction to the Snowmass Bike Park, riders of all ages and abilities will return to French Press again and again.

Dust Bunny is an intermediate technical trail which weaves its way through mature evergreen groves and subalpine meadows ending at the top of the Elk Camp Gondola. Riders can expect a combination of turns, rolling elevation changes, and carefully constructed stone pathways across the trail’s 1 mile length and 500 foot descent. The dynamic ride surface provides a great warmup for riders looking to make their way to more challenging technical trails such as Animal Crackers or Battle Axe.

Combining some of the best aspects of Dust Bunny and Animal Crackers, this upper mountain gem is quickly becoming a favorite among advanced and expert riders. Just over a mile long, with almost 900 feet of vertical descent, Cowboy Coffee features rugged and technical rock gardens, compelling alternative lines, rock drops, and bridges, along with perfectly placed berms to maintain a high-level of flow between features.

Returning riders from the midpoint of French Press back to the Elk Camp restaurant and chairlift at mid-mountain, Papa Smurf’s a short but dynamic blue tech trail, perfect for riders hoping to upgrade their skills in the rocks and roots of the upper mountain. At just a quarter mile lone and under 200 feet of vertical descent, Papa Smurf is great for newer bikers eager to advance their handling skills, but who aren’t quite ready for the unrelenting challenge of some of our longer tech trails.

Primarily consisting of elevated wood bridges perched on a wooded hillside overlooking the Meadows learning center, the Squeezy trail is unlike any other trail in the bike park. Riders will love the carefully crafted drop zone with different size drops to a perfectly sculpted dirt landing before merging a couple turns later with the Lemon Trail to return to the top of the Elk Camp Gondola.

Battle Axe slices through the dark timber of the lower mountain with narrow trees, steeper turns and rougher terrain than its sister trail, Gargamel. Enduro oriented riders will appreciate the wide variety of line selection and more direct fall line riding through raw loamy dirt. Accessed from the Valhalla trail by forking left just before the first wallride.

Gargamel introduces riders to narrower singletrack with natural features such as roots and rocks sprinkled into the mix. Accessed from the Verde trail, Gargamel is a great warmup and opportunity to practice line selection before moving on to the more challenging technical singletrack of Animal Crackers or Battle Axe. Return to the flow of Viking trail at Slider’s Cabin or continue down Battle Axe for some additional tech.

In Norse Mythology, the Valkyries were divine winged riders tasked with assisting human warriors and granting them safe passage into the hallowed ground of Valhalla. In the Snowmass Bike Park, Valkyrie is a grand hall of swooping berms and medium-sized jumps winding their way through a perfect Aspen grove. Valkyrie provides intermediate riders with a progressive scaled down training ground to build confidence in the air before transitioning to the larger jumps of Valhalla.

Valhalla is the original freeride trail at Snowmass Bike Park. The trail winds through aspen forests over it’s 2.8 mile course, dropping 1,400 vertical feet back to the base. Valhalla challenges riders with numerous jumps, set ups and wooden features.

Viking is a more difficult freeride trail with features to prepare riders for the challenge of Valhalla. Running for 2.7 miles, the trail features medium sized jumps and bridges , taking riders from the top of Elk Camp Gondola down to Snowmass Base Village through evergreen forests, aspen trees and wide-open meadows for a scenic experience.

Verde is a beginner freeride trail, perfect for new riders as well as intermediates who are working on cornering and fundamental skills. The trail offers 3.5 miles of fun, flowing trail through pine and aspen forest from Elk Camp to Base Village.

Best ridden with total commitment, total concentration, and a mad sort of panache, Snowmass Bike Park’s expert freeride trail, Gonzo, is sure to thrill even the most experienced bike park rider. Traversing a mature Aspen grove in the bike park’s lower mountain, Gonzo features just under a mile of high speed berms, swooping wallrides, narrow cannon logs, large gaps, and elevated wood bridges with drops.

The smooth dirt surface of the EZ-PZ trail provides beginning riders with a predictable and controlled environment to embrace the basic techniques of downhill mountain biking. Wide berms and gentle rollers encourage proper body position and cornering skills, while a gentle pitch keeps the speed down while riders familiarize themselves with the bike’s powerful brakes.

An intermediate freeride trail near the Meadows chairlift, Lemon provides a first taste of the intentionally built features riders can expect as they make their way into the Snowmass Bike Park’s more advanced trails. At just .3 miles long, Lemon squeezes in a number of interesting and dynamic terrain elements like wooden rollers, small drops, rock gardens, and even a wallride, all at a scale that riders will find inspiring, rather than intimidating.

Accessed via a short climb from the top of the Meadows chair, Expresso provides a quick and compelling traverse over to the classic cross-country trails of Snowmass’s western flank, Sam’s Knob. This 1.8-mile mixed-use trail eventually intersects with Cross Mountain at roughly the high point of that trail, providing access back to the bike park to the east, or across the Trestle Bridge toward the Village Bound, West Government, and Campground Connector trails to the West.

A 2.5-mile rolling traverse of dark timber forests and open ski runs, the Cross Mountain Trail provides a critical, albeit technical, linkup between the east and west sides of Snowmass Ski Area. Beginning at the Ullrhof Restaurant (winter operations only) to the west and completing at mid-mountain near the Verde and Viking Trails, Cross Mountain also links up with the Expresso trail toward the eastern end for those who wish to make the short climb up to the Elk Camp Restaurant and Chairlift. Experienced riders will enjoy unique views and interesting riding, including a couple of small creek crossings.

Switchbacking through a picturesque Aspen Grove and crossing under bridges on both the Valhalla and Gonzo, the Powerline Trail’s 680 vertical feet connect the Tom Blake Trail at the bottom with the center of the Snowmass Bike Park, crossing the Elk Camp Work road and intersecting with the Verde, Valhalla, Valkyrie, and Government Trails at the top. Fit riders will enjoy the challenging but makeable climb, which is part of the Snowmass 50 Mountain Bike race. Descending riders will want to keep their eyes up for hikers or uphill bikers on this mixed-use cross-country trail.

Beginning at Owl Creek Road, the Tom Blake Trail climbs through pristine stands of aspen, crosses several ski runs now profuse with wildflowers, and eventually arrives at the Snowmass Village Mall.

Considered by many to be the quintessential mountain biking trail in the area, Government Trail is a beast worth riding. Traversing Snowmass Mountain and descending into the Maroon Creek Valley, it offers several stretches of scenic vistas and countless pitches of supreme challenge.  

The Campground Connector Trail, nestled on the west side of Snowmass, is a gateway to adventure. Ideal for creating a scenic loop with the Discovery and Village Bound Trails, the Connector offers breathtaking vistas of Mt. Daly. Riders will journey through open meadows and weave through enchanting pine and aspen forests while traveling its short distance.