spinconn

I am thinking about taking a week and going on a vacation to a place with great mountain biking. The whole point will be to bike as many trail miles as I can. My first thought is Moab.

However, I am new to mountain biking and at my age will possibly never get beyond beginner status and it occurs to me that Moab and other MTB centers may be mostly for advanced riders.

Anyone know if Moab has a large number of MTB trail miles suitable for a rookie? If not Moab, maybe some other locale?

LS1BadBird

I went to Moab before I even had a mountain bike and took my hybrid on some entry-level trails. It was still a blast. I think there's a huge variety there and you'll have a good time regardless of your level.

Mountain Mitch

Yes, Moab has lots of trails at every level. In particular check out the three areas north of town off Highway 191: Klondike Bluffs, Sovereign and, especially, Moab Brands. You’ll have a great time! If the weather is still moderate you could also go up to Dead Horse SP, about half an hour away, and ride the trails there. They are mostly green - or a very light blue

I’ll also put in a plug for Bend, OR and Winthrop, WA. Both have excellent beginner to intermediate trails with a few more advanced trails.

carlosponti

Just returned from a day trip up to bentonville they have some nice trails up there. I've only seen videos of Moab but it looks beautiful and the trails are pretty nice.

Darth Lefty 

Depends entirely on time of year. Many mountain destinations will be snowed in during the winter and deserts are hottest in the summer-autumn.

Going out of the USA seems like fun. I know there's MTB in Chile, and South Africa, and Japan. Southeast Asia? I have no idea but it would be fun to learn

spinconn

Thank you guys, that is very encouraging. Time to start making plans for the spring. Until then I'm going to work on my skills at the FATS a few hours away from me.

qclabrat

Different kind of riding, if on the east coast, have you considered Kingdom Trails in VT

spinconn

Had not heard of it until now. I'm going to check it out now online.

grubetown

+1 for Bentonville

CodyDog

Monarch Crest (Salida, Colorado). Salida is a great vacation town to stay in as well. Lot's of mountain bike trails.

Kapusta

What time of year? As in what month? That makes a big difference.

spinconn

I have been limited to hiking trails and game trails. I just today found a small system of purpose built MTB trails near me at Witmarsh Island Preserve, outside of Savannah. I rode for about 7 miles and hit green, blue and black trails. I got lost for awhile in the system so I think I did some sections more than once. The black trails had only a few obstacles that seemed to me to require advance skills and I was able to ride around them easily. There were two jumps that I just rolled over. The only difference I could tell between the different levels was the trails got more narrow, had tighter turns, more turns and larger and more roots, with the roots being spaced closer together. I finally got to enjoy the capabilities of my bike and it was a real hoot. Much more fun than bushwacking through the brush trying to follow game trails.

I don't know if there is any uniformity with trail rating but I would guess that MTB centers have more difficult trails so I still want to plan on beginner stuff. Anyway, I plan to ride a lot and try to get better over the winter and then take a trip in the spring. I am able to pick my time but looking at the info online for Moab, Bentonville, Kingdom Trails, and Brevard, I think May would be a good month for any of them.

Mountain Mitch

Lots of trails here in the Kootenays of British Columbia. Consistency in a rating system is a dream. The ‘blues’ around here (Rossland BC) would be black or even double black at most of the places I’ve ridden in the US. The greens and blues at Moab are beginner and intermediate level respectively.

NoWhammies

Not sure if this has been mentioned before but check out Trailforks. The app (and website) is an excellent resource. Once you have your vacation spot narrowed down, fire up the app/website and take a look at some of the trails you'll be riding. Quite often the trail reports will contain photos and/or videos too.

spinconn

Thank you, I had not heard of Trailforks before.

Kapusta

One nice thing about Trailforks in your case is that the most highly rated (popular) trails tend not to be the hardest ones. At least that has been my experience in the trail systems I am familiar with.

Also check out MTB Project.

Some areas are covered better by Trailforks, some by MTB Project. It helps to look at both.

c_m_shooter

Ride what you can and walk the rest. This what these bikes are for, get out there and explore.

Fen

What do you want to do? As previously mentioned, east coast (Kingdom Trails, VT) and southwest (Moab) are very different. I live in upstate NY and therefore ride in the woods were mud and roots are common. (Gurney Lane, Elm Ridge Trails, Blue Mountain Reserve) I've only ever hiked in Moab but I've also ridden Cottonwood Valley in Blue Diamond, Nevada, and it was an entirely different animal all together. Rocks, no trees to smack into, and certainly no mud. I went to Nevada in April. At home, you may encounter ice and snow in April, It was 90+ degrees in Nevada. They are both incredibly fun, but I did find it was a bit of a learning curve going from the woods to the desert.

NoWhammies

Please let us know where you end up on your holiday.

Leebo

Check out Nembafest there, it's a hoot. .

sarhog

Lots of great riding in WNC just a few hours northwest of you. DuPont is where I’d start if I were you.

spinconn

Thanks sarhog, I'll check it out.