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"The slower you go the more likely it is you'll crash. "As this quote by Juli Furtado makes clear, Mountain biking is exciting; it gets your blood pumping and the views and places you come across can be breathtaking. In this essay I will talk about five of the top places to mountain bike in Canada: one for BC, one for the Prairies, one in Ontario, one for Quebec, and one for Atlantic Canada. There are all kinds of places to explore, so let’s start in the Pacific.
British Columbia
While doing my investigating for the best mountain bike courses in British Columbia several came up like Smith Creek, Rossland’s Seven Summit Ridge Trail, and Alice Lake Provincial Park. But the one that experts agree is the best was Whistler Mountain Bike Park in Whistler, British Columbia. Offering trails that span over 80 kilometers and 4,900 vertical feet of lift serviced trails, this massive mountain bike park is #1 in Canada and #2 in the world.
It is #1 in Canada on my list because of its wide variety of trails, jumps and perfect berms that shoot you out with much more speed than you started with. This bike park was built by Gravity Logic, they are a combination of industry veterans, operations specialists, skilled builders, and passionate riders that made the mountain what it is today. Whistler Mountain Bike Park’s trails are classified by using different colored markers, making it easy to identify the difficulty for the trails that are for beginner, intermediate, advanced, or expert riders. An estimated 100 000 overnight and non-overnight visitors shred this mountain each summer.
The Prairies
My #1 mountain bike park in the Prairies is located on the 1988 Winter Olympics games site, and it is minutes from downtown Calgary, Alberta. The Canada Olympic Bike Park is a great spot for an after-work ride or an easy weekend day with 25 lift serviced trails. The bike park was built by Gravity Logic from Whistler. And as I pointed out in the section above, they know what they are doing so, you will have a good time and you know what to expect before going. Even though this mountain bike park seems small, you can still achieve lots of airtime and have lots of fun on sweet freeride mountain biking and downhill courses.
Ontario
Any bike park that has a trail called Party Train is certainly worth checking out! The Horseshoe bike park is just over an hour drive north of Toronto and is surrounded by cross country trails and lakes. The clay mixed in with the dirt allows for some seriously fast riding, but you should take it easy after even a little bit of rain. The park has 14 lift serviced trails which are open from May 13 to October 11. The trails feature ladders, boxes, and bridges that will keep your adrenaline going! The resort has also built a new Dirt Valley Pump Track to work on your riding and forces you to pump your way through a series of bumps, rollers, and berms. Use your weight and gravity to rip around in the dirt continuously, while making yourself a better rider.
Quebec
Closer to the capital region of Quebec City, you can go test your skills on the World Cup stomping ground of Mont Sainte-Anne. With over 40 trails to choose from, this is one of the bigger bike parks in Quebec. From the top of the gondola, you can access the downhill trails and the more enduro-oriented section of the park. Mont-Sainte-Anne claims the largest trail network in Eastern Canada as it offers more than 130 kilometers of cross-country trails and 28 kilometers of downhill trails all reachable by chairlift. It also has single tracks, a huge pump track and a new dirt track. Mont-Sainte-Anne's bike trails await bike-park fans from beginners to experts!
Atlantic Canada
Tucked away in Canada’s East coast Appalachian Mountains is Sugarloaf Bike Park. This network of 11 lift serviced downhill trails were designed and built by Gravity Logic, the same crew that built Whistler Bike Park. I think just that lets you know how great this mountain bike park really is. Sugarloaf’ season starts on June 4 to October 2. Beginner riders will love the smooth, gentle Cruiser. Intermediate riders will have a blast on the twisty singletrack. Experts will find a challenge on the tight, steep and rocky black diamond trails. Don’t be fooled by its 244m vertical, Sugarloaf has enough feature-packed, flowy trails to keep you coming back for more.
Conclusion
“It Never Gets Easier, You Just Go Faster” – Greg LeMond. Coast to coast, I created a list of Canada's top bike parks to kickstart your progression and dial in your jump skills. In this essay we talked about Whistler Bike Park in BC, The Canada Olympic Bike Park in the prairies, The Horseshoe Bike Park in Ontario, Mont Sainte-Anne in Quebec and Sugarloaf Bike Park in Atlantic Canada. Wherever you are in Canada there is always somewhere for you to send some awesome trails on a nice summer's day.
