The UCI Mountain Bike World Series is coming to Lake Placid, New York, for the first time ever, September 27-29, 2024. The 2024 race is sure to draw spectators from across the nation, and you can’t travel to the Adirondacks without bringing your own bike to sample the spectacular local trails for yourself. (If you haven’t purchased a ticket yet, get a discount on the full-price ticket via this exclusive link.)
Here are five of the best trails in the region to get you started, organized based on their distance from the World Cup venue at Mt Van Hoevenberg. While proximity to the venue equals convenience, remember that everyone else will think the same thing, and those trails will likely be crowded. Consider driving to outlying communities for a little Adirondack solitude.
5 Mountain Bike Trails Near the lake placid uci world cup
- Craig Wood, Lake Placid
- East Branch Community Trails, Keene
- Mount Pisgah, Saranac Lake
- Hardy Road, Wilmington
- Blueberry Hill, Elizabethtown
Craig Wood
- Where: Lake Placid / North Elba — 3.6 miles away
- What to expect: 7-mile trail network home to a mix of purpose-built flow trails and classic Adirondack roots and rocks
The Craig Wood trails, also known as “Scott’s Cobble” for the abandoned ski area that some of the trails traverse, are the closest mountain bike trails to the Mt Van Hoevenberg World Cup venue and are a Lake Placid favorite. Craig Wood is home to the first flow trail built in the Adirondacks — Blue Ribbon — but in this forest, you’ll still encounter plenty of classic Adirondack roots and rocks to test your suspension and bike-handling skills.
The Craig Wood trails have recently been revamped for better flow and water drainage, with the town of North Elba investing $25,000 in trail improvements. The local mountain bike advocacy group, the Barkeater Trails Alliance (BETA), matched that donation with $16,000 of in-kind labor.
These investments were made “through the lens of the UCI visitors that are expected to come,” said Patrick Carey, President of the BETA board. “We wanted to make sure that the trails could handle that influx, but also it was time for a refresh.”
While Blue Ribbon was the first flow trail in the region, deeper into the trail system, you’ll find two of the best and biggest jump trails in the Adirondacks. Green Jacket is a fantastic intermediate jump line with perfectly sculpted tables and berms. Gold Jacket provides an alternate entrance to Green Jacket, and this short line rightfully earns a “pro-trail” rating, or double black diamond plus, for a massive wooden step-down drop funneling into a gigantic table. Ninety-nine percent of riders won’t be able to ride Gold Jacket, but those who do will have a blast.
The rest of the trails consist primarily of a mix of roots, rocks, and berms. Sprinkled throughout the network is a wide array of massive rock drops that serve as superb optional double black diamond hits.
While Craig Wood alone only offers a 7-mile ride even if you hit everything, by utilizing a rebuilt section of the Jackrabbit XC ski trail and some pavement, you can connect Craig Wood to the classic Lussi & Loggers trails for a much longer ride. But be warned: Lussi & Loggers, while flat, are Lake Placid’s old-school wet, rooty XC trails and have a very different character from Craig Wood.
East Branch Community Trails
- Where: Keene — 12.5 miles away
- What to expect: 3.5 miles of beginner-friendly, professionally-built flow trails
The East Branch Community Trails comprise the newest mountain bike trail system in the Adirondacks. This is the first trail project where BETA was “able to approach it and master plan it from ground zero,” according to Glenn Glover, Executive Director of BETA.
“We very quickly saw the potential not just to put in a pump track or skills park, but we saw the land potential to build a significant trail network there,” said Carey.
The 121-acre parcel that the trails are being built on may be small, but it is a long, vertical parcel that climbs up a steep mountainside — ideal for trail construction. As of press time, 3.5 miles of singletrack have been completed at East Branch, and construction is underway on phase two. Once complete, the trail system will contain eight miles of singletrack.
Local trail builder Luke Peduzzi was hired to create the master plan and build the trails at East Branch, and the caliber of the trail building is immediately apparent. The East Branch trails have a truly modern, professional flow trail feel, with expertly sculpted singletrack, mellow climbing corners and switchbacks, and massive berms on the high-speed descent.
The current batch of trails available at East Branch are some of the easiest trails in the Adirondacks, with almost no rocks or roots in sight and predictable flow trail lines. However, intermediate and advanced trails are currently under construction in phase two. These more difficult trails will be located higher up the mountainside, meaning that East Branch will have a true stacked-loop trail system design.
East Branch is currently a pretty short ride, but it is lappable for those who just want to rip Downriver, the network’s berm-filled, downhill-only flow trail, over and over again. “Regardless of your skill level, the whole thing is just so much fun,” said Glover. “You just lap it a couple of times, and you’ve got a big smile on your face.”
For a bit more mileage, the Hardy Road trail system is located just a few miles further up the road for a convenient two-ride combination.
Mount Pisgah
- Where: Saranac Lake — 18 miles away
- What to expect: Enduro-style lap riding with a short climb leading to short, steep descents
Mount Pisgah is a small municipal-run ski area that stands just over 300 feet tall, rising above the town of Saranac Lake. During the winter, the ski area serves the local community, including under the lights at night. In the summer, the slopes of the small hill are home to what’s essentially a pedal-served downhill park. According to Carey, Mount Pisgah offers “enduro-style riding where you ride up to the top, pick a descent, pick another lap, maybe the same way or a different way to get back up to the top, another different descent.”
The best way to get to the top of Pisgah is by following Zonkers to Iron Lung, providing a steep but rideable uphill filled with roots and tight corners. Once at the top, the two most popular descents are The Cure and Senduro.
The Cure is a rugged flow trail and the most popular descent on the mountain. While the jumps and berms aren’t quite as dialed as Green Jacket, it’s a fantastic top-to-bottom romp. Senduro is a natural, technical trail with steep pitches, rocky corners, and optional drops and features.
While some online sources give The Cure a black diamond rating and Senduro a double black, in my professional opinion, these difficulty ratings are overblown. The Cure is approachable for the vast majority of intermediate riders, and Senduro is a black diamond at most. In fact, the rooty climb up to the top may pose more problems for intermediate riders than the obstacles on The Cure descent.
Hardy Road
- Where: Wilmington — 18.8 miles away
- What to expect: Hand-built trails trending toward the rugged side, with plenty of roots and rocks
If you only have one day to ride, go to Hardy Road. “That’s basically the safest place to send somebody to for a good time,” said Carey.
That “good time” comes down to a few different factors. First, the quality of the trails at Hardy Road is top-notch. My personal favorite trail from my trip to the Adirondacks was at Hardy Road: the descent off the top of the mountain on All-In, which was filled with high-speed sections, chunky rocks, flowy berms, and optional features.
Second, Hardy Road is the most reliably dry trail system, thanks to its sandy, gravelly soil. We rode Hardy the day after a severe downpour, and if anything, “it rides even better after a rain,” said Carey.
The trails at Hardy Road are quite diverse, though they trend toward the rugged end. Some of the lower trails are easy and approachable for beginners, whereas my favorite — All In — gets a black-diamond rating. Like Craig Wood, Hardy also has some alt lines hidden back in the woods, with a few massive rock drops pushing into the double black range.
If you only have one day to ride,
go to Hardy Road.
For a little extra mileage, pedal down the road and loop in the Three Sisters trails as well. Three Sisters is beginner-friendly and one of the best places in the Adirondacks to take a new rider for their first time on singletrack.
Blueberry Hill
- Where: Elizabethtown — 21 miles away
- What to expect: Steep natural trails with spectacular views at the top, providing longer loop options
The Blueberry Hill trail system in Elizabethtown is one of the only historic trail networks included on this list, as it was determined that the trails can withstand the crowds that the World Cup is sure to draw. That said, Blueberry is the furthest-afield trail network on this list (which means it may be one of the least crowded), and it’s one of the most demanding.
The miles don’t come easy at Blueberry, with stiff climbs filled with roots and rocks followed by even steeper descents. “Blueberry is not the place to start mountain biking,” said Glover in the understatement of the year.
Over the years, BETA has rerouted some of the trails at Blueberry to make them more sustainable, and a new section of trail is currently under construction in the network. Even so, you can still find plenty of Northeast chunder to entertain you at Blueberry.
Blueberry is also one of the few trail systems that provides a spectacular view at the top. As anyone who’s ever lived on the East Coast knows, finding a wide-open viewpoint is a rarity, but the upper trails at Blueberry climb to the top of a cliff face, providing expansive views over the surrounding Adirondack wilderness. The vista is breathtaking and is more than enough reward for the grueling climb to reach it.
While in Elizabethtown, you can also check out a newer trail system with more progressive and approachable trails, known as Cobble Hill. Cobble Hill can be ridden as a quick hit, or for a longer ride, pedal it in conjunction with Blueberry, as it’s right across the road.
In fact, Blueberry plus Cobble Hill might be one of the best places in the region to get a fairly long singletrack ride in with almost non-existent road connections. Most of the other trails on this list are quite short and go by quickly, but at Blueberry, you can get a real mountain bike ride in.
How the Lake Placid region landed its own MTB World Cup race
For those who are unfamiliar with Lake Placid, it might seem like an odd place to land the only mountain bike World Cup in the USA this year. But for locals, hosting yet another global-level competition is just business as usual.
Lake Placid hosted the Winter Olympic Games in both 1932 and 1980 and has continued to host World Cup events in the bobsled, skeleton, luge, and ski jumping. They also hosted the World University Games in 2023, and a connection with the right person at the Games led to landing a UCI World Cup contract.
To attract the UCI Mountain Bike World Series, the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) has drawn on its lengthy experience hosting world-class events and investments in the high-quality television and broadcasting infrastructure invested at Mt Van Hoevenberg, an area that serves as a cross country skiing venue in the winter. In addition, a professional-grade cross country mountain bike race course at Mt Van Hoevenberg has been constructed.
Thanks to substantial investment in World Cup-level infrastructure, it’s possible that Lake Placid will become a staple on the UCI World Cup circuit in the same way that nearby Mont-Sainte-Anne has. ORDA has signed a three-year contract with the UCI and Warner Brothers, so we’re sure to see the World Cup return in both ’25 and ’26.
We’re excited to watch top-tier competitive mountain biking in Lake Placid, both this year and into the future!
Remember, if you’re planning to spectate at the UCI World Cup in Lake Placid, be sure to use our link to get a discount on your ticket!
