Northside At Taos Ski Valley

Thanks!!

Hey Matthew keep bringin' the awesome reviews and new trails. I really enjoy your posts and the sense of adventure they carry. Great job adding to Singletracks. RIDE ON Dude !!!!!!!!!!

This trail is definitely a cool one. Keeping riders on their toes, its straight nature and its semi-loose tread conflict with each other. It is very easy to get too fast on this trail, which sometimes come back to haunt you. Despite this, it's still a great trail and a massive amount of fun.

I love the undulating, off-camber nature of this trail. Although it is not very technical, the trail's grip and its relatively straight path allow many riders to get a lot of speed. It is bound to please almost anyone. Enjoy!

This trail is short but sweet. It's the perfect mix of rocky, fast, and tight.

This trail is one of the most fun at Northside. Since the whole trail except the very beginning is really grippy, pretty wide, and really steep, it is extremely easy to amass a ton of speed. I imagine it wouldn't be a bad trail going uphill either because its not very technical. This would make it really easy just to grind up the steeps.

This is a great trail that makes it much easier to get to Frazer Mountain Road. My favorite part of the trail is the great riding to be found in the forest; for example, the best section consists of a series of wide, mellow switchbacks that take your mind off the climb or make the descent entertaining. Lower down the trail is straight, loose, and a little steep. Enjoy!

This doubletrack road is STEEP. around every other turn you will find another hike-a-bike section. Despite this, I'll still give it a four for two reasons. First, Northside itself is incredibly steep in general, meaning there isn't really any good way to get up the mountain. Secondly, the views are amazing the whole way, and will captivate you during the pain.

Great trail system with some extremely high altitude riding! the trails range from old school on the Wheeler Peak trail to rowdy on Jumpin' Jack Flash. With a little work I think this trail system could take off. The addition of the Gold Camp Trail this summer has made it much better as now you can get up a lot of the mountain fairly easily. Lastly, the views back into the ski valley are great, especially above the treeline.

This is one of my favorite trail systems in New Mexico! Some of the only high alpine riding in the state that is legal. The Northside property is situated between the Wheeler Peak Wilderness and the Columbine Hondo Wilderness Study Area. Elevations range from about 9200' in the parking lot to 12,163' at the top of Frazer Mountain. There are lots of trails to explore and learn, I've been riding up here for two years and stil haven't ridden every trail. There's a mix of every type of high altitude terrain, lots of narrow technical singletrack, open tundra with spectacular views of the Taos mountains and mesas, mellow flowy and curvy pine forest trails, double tracks winding thru aspen glades and old mining roads that eminate the mystique and vibes of the boom and bust times when these roads were built... This is one of the few places in New Mexico I feel like I'm in a backwoods wilderness away from the crowds of most resort areas, I wouldn't be surprised to see a ghost or sasquatch wandering around up here in the thick forest. It's clean, and pristine, the forest is healthy and the air is the best tasting anywhere. During June the wildflowers begin blooming and as the plants grow thru the Summer different flowers come out and the trails evolve into a varying kaleidoscope of micro-ecosystems... Nature... The best thing about being on this mountain. While some of the climbs are steep and a few short sections require hiking, most of the ascent routes are manageable and there's lots of places worth stopping to check out your surroundings. The downhill rides are worth every bit of effort put into the climb, some of the routes are fast up and down lines, others allow for longer up-down-up-down tours. There are legit dh trails like the Drainage Trail tho most are rideable on a cross country or hardtail rig. This is a well managed and cared for property; bighorn sheep, deer and sometimes elk are seen along with the smaller forest animals like bobcats, ermins and snowshoe hares. The only trail I've ever seen crowds on is the Bull of the Woods road which is open for public access to the Wheeler Peak Trail, for hikers and horses. Beyond this trail it is a lot more secluded and akin to wilderness, be prepared as you may not encounter another person for a while, pick up a map at the kiosk near the bottom. This is private land and the usage fees are very reasonable especially if you're going to have time to explore this area throughout the Summer. It is also a relatively young trail system, with lots of potential for new routes to be designed and built in the near future.

Wow I just went riding here for the first time and it is incredible! I live down the road and cant believe what I have been missing- I was so impressed I bought a season pass ($50) instead of a day pass. The scenery is jaw dropping and the single track is created with love by Kerrie- I met her out on the trail and she designed all the trails with mountain bikling in mind. There is an optional bike shuttle that takes you to the goods without too rough a climb. And the trails- WOW WOW WOW! Miles and Miles and Miles of Colorado-style high altitude single track that was the smoothest I have felt in the Taos area. I rode up to the top of Frazer mountain- 12,200 ft. These trails are amazing and almost nobody on them :)