Perry Hill

Deserves its place. Absolute near the top for Vermont, and thats saying something. If you are VERY GOOD, this place is for you. After a long ascent, the trail down is not for the faint of heart. The technical - I think Rasta Man? is as technical and as fun as it gets. Do not attempt if you are not in great shape, and a very good technical rider. There are other, easier yet still very fun trails here. Although Campfire/Smores is down as green, they are very fun, and not boring. Its like skiing in the East , then skiing in Colorado at the end of the season. Work up your base and technical skills before you come here. You will not be disappointed if you are expecting a tough, technical trail

This is one of the most fun trail systems I've ever ridden. The terrain here is insanely cool, and there's some good variety as well. We first rode S'mores which is a super fun machine-built flow trail with rollers and berms, and it makes for a good warn up run. After that we rode Burning Spear to Rastaman and the rocks and what not were extremely awesome. You can choose so many different lines and it makes for a good downhill technical challenge without being annoyingly technical. You also get to end the ride on one of the fastest descents I've been on which swoops back and forth and has plenty of opportunities for a bit of air. If you're anywhere near here I would absolutely recommend this place.

My favorite trails in VT. Hard Climb but 100% worth it. The new Disneyland trail is insanely fun.

We rode this on vacation from the Midwest. We don't have trails like this at home where you climb continuously for several miles, and that is the type of trail this is. We took the first option to get some downhill, Campfire, and thought it flowed well. Given the ease, I decided I was up for trying Rastaman, and we climbed to get to the top for that. This is a technical trail with several larger drops. It has flow to it, and other features that test you. It is for the intermediate to advanced rider, but fun and rewarding when you have the skills to ride the features. We decided to make one more climb to try out S'mores, and that was our favorite trail in VT! A large sweeping downhill flow trail that is SO fun. Of course, we had to do it again! The ride back to the parking lot is a nice fun reward for your early uphill climb!

Copy and paste the link below for an awesome of the Rastaman trail at Perry Hill in VT. Perry Hill is now one of my top 10 favorite riding spots in New England! This place has it all with around 800' of climbing to the top and multiple fast trails winding back down to the lot. You have to work for your runs, so bring lots of water, but the trails down are fast, technical, flowy, and riddled with chunk, berms, and natural features. Rastaman is one of the longest trails down and has plenty of pedaling throughout, but this video focuses mainly on the fast and chunky. If you are ever in the area MAKE SURE that you stop by this place and tear it up. I post new videos from different spots in the Northeast every Monday, so be sure to subscribe for more! Link: https://youtu.be/yZykaJOFD3w

The trail builders have done an excellent job utilizing the natural rock features here. Very creative use of the terrain. The ride is a leg burner up a double track to near the top and then basically 3 choices back down. The campfire run is a fun flowy easier run with lots of smooth bermed corners. Joe's, Permission and Rasputiin are all rockier and more challenging. Some of the rock features have significant drops so depending on your ability it might be a good idea to scout out the big ones before riding the first time.

Can't believe I hadn't ridden Perry Hill earlier. Incredible trails. A fairly long and exhausting climb gets you to the summit. I believe its about 1600 feet of climbing from the parking lot to the top. Its doubletrack most of the way up until you shoot off on an actual trail. We rode the double track up to Duct Tape, then Permission to the summit, Burning Spear down onto Rastaman, which put us back on the doubletrack and headed to the parking lot. Burning Spear and Rastaman are a pair of challenging and fast black diamond descents. Plenty of obstacles, big drops, and some tiny bridges to keep you on your toes. Two thumbs up!

Come on fat bikers! Get out there and ride. The snow shoers have a good start to packing the trails but it needs more FAT traffic!!

Fun trail. Can't comment much on all of the terrains as this was my first time. The combination of folleage, roots, rock and wet ground was kind of tricky for me as a beginner rider. I also might have hit some of the hard trails too (blue and green markings).

On finding the trails head:

The info for finding this was a bit confusing . The GPS coordinates are
44.326484, -72.741413
Also it might help to type in google maps River Rd. #3 and then continue pass the house towards the "Ice center". The parking lots is before reaching it on either side. If you are coming from I-89 you'll drive through Waterbury and as you are exiting the town you'll see a bridge that bears right. Before the bridge to your left is River road. When you park, cross the rail road and go straigh ahead through a small tunnel that goes underneath the highway. The trails starts on the other side.

These trails are owned by the state but maintained by Local Volunteers and the Stowe Mountain Bike Club- while the state requests the trails open memorial day, there is nothing stopping people from riding sooner. With that said, if you ride here before that date and the trails look kind of bad, stick to the lower loops, they are easiest to maintain and stay dry most of the time. With better weather, ride the trails, but be aware of anything that looks rough- walk around bad spots or ride around so the trails can dry out. This Spring has been very dry and many many people have been enjoying the trails daily since mid April. Also, be sure to check out the new bike park at the bottom of the trail head with a new pump track and up and coming skills park!
Also, watch for animals not on leeshes! While there is a leesh law in VT, many feel they should let animals run loose- no collissions yet, but just be aware running or riding, there is some 2 way traffic at the beggining!

Not open until memorial day...

Fantastic option for mountain biking in VT with plenty of climbing, flowy singletrack, and some decent technical features. The long climb right at the front without a warmup is tough but rewarding.

A great network of singletrack with something for everyone. There is a tough initial climb that is rewarded with some nice, flowy single track mixed in with some tech stuff. Very well kept secret.

Best riding in Vermont hands down. Very technical sections as well as flowing single track.

This is simply one of the best trails in the area and one of the few to have some pretty aggressive riding. The trails are maintained pretty well and feature long uphill climbs followed by amazing downhill sections. In the Perry Hill network there are four different trails that all connect back to the main trail. The trail that is marked as yellow is called Lower Loop and is probably the easiest trail on the network. The trail marked as red is called Joe's and features a fairly short climb followed by technical downhill singletrack that flows great. The green trail is called Burning Spear and features a gradual climb on narrow singletrack which brings riders to the top of Perry Hill. Again there follows a great downhill run on Burning Spear. The last and in my opinion most challenging trail on the network is called Rastaman which is marked as blue. Rastaman features very technical descents which include sections of trail that ride next to some very steep drop offs as well as a ladder bridge that is about 10 feet off the ground. Perry Hill is a fantastic trail network that should not be missed if you are in the Waterbury/Stowe area, although, be sure to give it a good day to dry up after raining. * Review edited 8/2/2010

4 trails to choose from. All start with the same killer climb - bailed out at the yellow trail. Locals told me after the yellow the climb continues but is singletrack with switchbacks so it isn't as sever a climb. Trails were in great shape, marked well, maintained and had great flow. Coming back down was definitely worth the hellish climb, awesome flow through pine trees. Pump track area prior to trail was fun... needs some attention as it was getting a little overgrown and soft.

The Perry Hill network has something for everyone. Each of the three loops is well-marked and one-way, so you don't have to worry about getting lost or getting into a head-on collision. These trails hold up well into the weather. The trails aren't too technical, but the climbing involved and the potential speed you can get will certainly make them a challenge. A few nice rock spines at the top. Trees.