Louise Lake, Whitehall, MT
In my first article on great climbs, I extolled the virtues of the remote and almost incomprehensibly beautiful Lost Cabin Lake trail in southern Montana. Louise Lake National Recreation Trail is its sister trail, branching out from the same trailhead. It is similar in distance and elevation profile and the lake waiting at the top is maybe even more stunning. What’s more, it’s easy to ride the two as back-to-back out-and-backs totaling about 17 miles and 3K verts of climbing the most pristine singletrack you could ever hope to see.
Flying Dog, Park City, UT
Park City is another destination rightfully famous for its quantity and quality of singletrack. After the initial climb, there are multiple loop options ranging from simple to complex, and a single sweet climb to a series of equally excellent uphills. Pick your poison based on your legs, lungs and ambition.
We rode it starting from Jeremy Ranch TH, going up 24-7 trail. This shortened the ride and got the “fun” ratio up. 24-7 has a few hundred yards of steeper starting out, but then mellows. We rode Flying Dog loop CCW, and had a blast. Quite smooth yet, nice climb, and very fun downhill. This is really one of the “must rides” in Park City. Moderate climbing (if you start in Jeremy Ranch) and great loop. — gregval
Hymasa, Moab, UT
Amasa Back was long known as a good ride with a better downhill than up, until the addition of Captain Ahab and Hymasa vaulted the network into the upper echelon of rides in America’s main mountain biking mecca. While the addition of Captain Ahab as a great downhill was most welcome, what I find most impressive is the effort put into creating an equally awesome climb on Hymasa. Make no mistake, this is a challenging climb as it gains elevation rapidly on technical terrain, but the tech is laid out in the most entertaining way possible. I relish, rather than rue, each ledge and every switchback.
East Tensleep Lake, Ten Sleep, WY
This is Wyoming’s version of Montana’s Muskrat Creek. Remote, rugged, and with no concessions to mountain bikers, this is an old school trail on which you’re more likely to see moose than humans. If anything, it’s more scenic than Muskrat, with a beautiful lake up top and stunning views of the Bighorn Mountains. Despite appearing in the Falcon Guide Mountain Biking Wyoming, this trail remains under the radar and, if you like, nobody need witness your grimace as you struggle to make the grade.
Phillips Ridge, Wilson, WY
A Teton classic with unobstructed views of the entire Jackson Hole valley.
Starting out the grade is pretty mellow and the terrain is very smooth. The further you climb, the rockier and more technical it gets. Eventually, you get on top of the ridge and, although fairly flat, seems to go on forever until one last punch to the top. Along the ridge, I couldn’t take my eyes off the amazing views of the valley floor. — Chris Daniels
Ape Canyon to Plains of Abraham, Mt. St. Helens, WA
This one is especially interesting to those of us who are old enough to remember how the power and fury of the Mt. St. Helens eruption captured the imagination of the entire nation in 1980. But you need not be an old timer to enjoy the climb through a combination of volcanic wasteland, recovering forest, and pristine old growth that escaped the carnage. There are simply no words to adequately describe the scenery along this route, which is good, because the grade can be punishing. Fortunately there are less steep spots along the way where one can make a brief recovery before the next surge or switchback, and it’s all so very worth it.
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Your turn: Add your comments below to tell us what climbs you love the most, or are looking forward to busting up in 2017.
7 Comments
Feb 21, 2017
Feb 21, 2017
The good thing is, you can hit them both (and the grin-inducing Pinhoti 2) in the same ride.
Feb 21, 2017
The views from the look out are stunning.
Feb 22, 2017
I arrived at the TH at 6 a.m. after a two hour drive only to find the cloud level was within my arm's reach as I exited the forest and entered blast area. Continued on to Windy Ridge and returned to Ape Canyon before encountering another rider. At that point the skies began to clear and low and behold Mount St. Helens magically appeared! After several pictures, I completed my ride to find the parking lot full of riders preparing to ride.
Feb 21, 2017
Feb 21, 2017
Feb 22, 2017