One of the most epic mountain bike rides of all time, the Whole Enchilada drops over 9,000 feet of vertical and passes through every climate zone imaginable, from high alpine tundra to desert.
After a decade of working in the mountain bike media industry, Greg Heil shares his top trail recommendations.
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The world of mountain bike trails is a vast and magical place. In no way could one person hope to explore every trail in every nation around the globe—it would take multiple lifetimes to even come close. Yet the impossibility of ever achieving such a lofty goal doesn’t stop us from trying!
Over the past decade of working full time in the mountain bike media industry, employed as everything from a freelance writer to an editor in chief, I have been fortunate enough to travel extensively throughout the USA and, increasingly, abroad. These travels have allowed me to ride over a thousand superb mountain bike trails in numerous countries. Despite spending years wandering to and fro with my bike, there are massive holes in my mountain bike resume—places like New Zealand continue to elude me.
Holes aside, I receive requests via social media on an almost daily basis to share my top trail picks from my travels. In this guidebook, I’ve attempted to answer those requests by collecting the very best mountain bike trail highlights from around the world that I’ve personally pedaled.
This guidebook was assembled on April 3rd, 2019, and last updated on January 19, 2022. The holes mentioned above? I aim to fill them. Regardless of how fluid this list may be, every trail in this guidebook is bucket list-worthy and is worth however much effort you have to invest to get there and ride it.
Go forth and pedal the planet!
One of the most epic mountain bike rides of all time, the Whole Enchilada drops over 9,000 feet of vertical and passes through every climate zone imaginable, from high alpine tundra to desert.
This epic trail provides high alpine ridge top riding at treeline with views for hundreds of miles in all directions, finishing with a ripping descent down the mountain.
Possibly one of the most beautiful mountain bike trails in the world—the Welschtobel Valley is unbelievably beautiful!
An epic point-to-point route from the Verbier bike park to Martigny.
An incredible double loop covering several of the best mountain bike trails in the world!
One of the most epic and brutally-gnarly shuttle runs in the USA!
A beautiful high-alpine trail connected into a mega loop.
The 10-mile descent ripping down the Canyon Creek Trail from this route's high point atop a 12,500-foot mountain is to die for!
A gorgeous high alpine singletrack leads to an extended, technical descent.
Ride your bike off the summit of America's Mountain!
One of the fastest, rowdiest, point-to-point shuttles anywhere, with wide-open rock slab riding, uber-technical rock gardens, and big jump and drop options--experts only!
An epic length point-to-point route that breaks above treeline, providing breathtaking views.
Hiline offers stunning views of the Red Rocks region from exposed mountainside singletrack. Finish it off with a raucous descent down a black-diamond plunge!
Known as the "crown jewel" of Oakridge, the Alpine Trail easily ranks among the best shuttle routes in the world.
Gorgeous ridge top singletrack riding with a ripping descent to finish—the best trail in Park City!
An epic enduro race course that works great as a day-long shuttle ride.
20,000 feet of descending in one day in the beautiful Swiss Alps.
One of the best sections of high alpine singletrack in the state of Colorado!
Extreme exposure coupled with brutally-technical rock moves make Hangover one of the most technical--and dangerous--trails in the nation.
Kennebec Pass to Durango is a ripping enduro-style descent starting high above tree line and dropping down gnarly singletrack all the way to town.
Squamish is renowned for its slab riding, and this route connects many of the best-known slabs into one big ride.
One of the best all-around trails in the Whistler Bike Park.
Shuttle on the little-known but highly-acclaimed O'Leary Mountain.
A longer, more difficult variant of the Downieville Classic.
The classic shuttle on Doctor Park, accessible by a 2WD vehicle.