Lift-Served Trail Riding at Crested Butte Mountain Resort

The downhill bike park on Crested Butte Mountain Resort (CBMR) is known as Evolution Bike Park. However, CBMR in conjunction with the Crested Butte Mountain Bike Association has built a large network of two-way singletrack trails across the flanks of Mount Crested Butte that provides superb connectivity to the greater Crested Butte trail system.

While of course you can pedal up and down all of these two-way trails, the access from the top of the lift, along with the nearby bus service, creates an interesting opportunity: the chance to ride classic singletrack without the climbing. Instead, you can buy a ticket and and catch a lift to the top of the Evolution Bike Park, but instead of hopping on the gnarly downhill trails, you can opt for the classic backcountry-style singletrack spreading out in all directions.

That isn’t to say that the two-way trails are easy. On the contrary, one of the best backcountry runs—dropping from the top of the lift all the way into the town of Crested Butte via the Westside trails—is rock-strewn and technical. Still other trails like Meander are flowy and mellow, offering stunning views of the surrounding mountains and valleys.

Thanks to the lift ticket, you should quickly be able to score a bunch of trail riding in a short amount of time. Enjoy!