Aspen Snowmass Mountain Bike
Trail Guide
Aspen and the Roaring Fork Valley have a bounty of amazing mountain bike trails, from sporty lift accessed downhill, to expansive alpine singletrack with the possibility to ride over the mountains from Aspen into Crested Butte. These trails are spread across four ski and snowboard areas of Aspen Snowmass, and throughout the valley. While each area has trails, Snowmass is the only ski area to offer lift access riding. Though the trails are lift accessed, a full on downhill bike is not a necessity at Snowmass, thanks to a variety of cross country and all-mountain riding. Alongside the trails described below, there are many more miles of trail up and down the valley, that make Aspen a true mountain bike getaway.
| Total Trails | 50+ | Difficulty | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert |
| Total Distance | 200+ miles | Style | Cross County, All-Mountain, Downhill |
evo's Favorite Trails
Snowmass bike park
Valhalla
Advanced | 3 Miles | 1,545' Descent
Vallhalla is an amazingly fun downhill mountain bike trails with incredible flow and plenty of jumps. The trail drops into buff single track and machine built features. Mostly all of the jumps and features are rollable, or they have go-arounds, making the trail more approachable than its advanced rating. The rollers and tabletops in the middle and lower sections will leave riders smiling ear to ear. Verde
Beginner| 4 Miles | 1,599' Descent
While Verde is rated a beginner trails, it’s got plenty of speed and flow to make it a really fun mountain bike trail for riders of all abilities. The trail is smooth and flowy, snaking its way down Snowmass mountain. There aren’t many features except for a couple rollers and optional side-hits, making Verde beginner and family friendly, a great introduction to downhill mountain biking.
Viking
Intermediate | 2 Miles | 845' Descent
Viking is a short but sweet intermediate downhill trail with some good flow and nice features that are approachable for intermediate riders. This is a nice trail to practice some skills on, as a lot of the features can be jumped at higher speeds, or rolled by a slower riders. The fast sections through the aspen forests are a ton of fun. Vapor
Intermediate | 3 Miles | 1,507' Descent
Vapor reaches the highest elevation at the Snowmass Bike Park, dropping in from the Elk Camp chairlift down to the rest of the trails at the Elk Camp Gondola. It’s easy to tell the theme of this trail just by looking at the map, turns. Smooth berm after smooth berm descend through open meadows. Vapor into Viking makes for a great intermediate top to bottom run at Snowmass.
Tom Blake
Intermediate | 4 Miles | 596' Climb | 948 Descent (West to East)
The Tom Blake trail is a very nice cross country style trail that connects from Owl Creek Road to the Snowmass Village. The trail rolls up and down through the forest on mostly smooth singletrack. The Tom Blake trail is a great trail to connect with any number of others for a longer cross country style ride.
Sky Mountain Park
Intermediate| 7 trails | 20+ Miles
The group of cross country mountain bike trails in the Sky mountain park open space offer great singletrack and even better views. The area is situated between Snowmass and the Aspen Airport. Airline is a nice flowy trail, but is open to traffic in both directions. Skyline Ridge trail runs down the ridge that is the centerline of the area, the views are pretty unreal from here. Deadline has fun flowy and features like berms and jumps. A sample ride of the trails is posted below.
Government Trail
Advanced | 7 Miles | 2,238' Climb | 879' Descent (East to West)
The Government Trail is an awesome stretch of Colorado singletrack that provides rugged technical section, big views, and big time fun. The trail can be ridden in either direction, but starting at Snowmass and heading east means a lot more descending. Towards the eastern end of the trail near Buttermilk Ski Area, there are some rock gardens and big technical features, but they can be avoided. There are definitely some rocky areas throughout that will frustrate beginner riders and some intermediates.
Our Favorite Mountain Bike Pads for Aspen Snowmass
Sky Mountain Loop (from Owl Creek Road)
| Total Distance | 11 Miles | Difficulty | Intermediate |
| Elevation Gain | 2,481' | Style | Cross Country |
| Route | Lowline → Ditchline → Brush Creek Bike Path → Cozyline → Skyline → Deadline |
Earn Your Bike Park Turns
Start at the small parking area at the end of the Tom Blake Trail, and grind your way up Snowmass ski area, descending to the village, and returning to the trailhead on the Tom Blake Trail.
| Total Distance | 8 Miles | Difficulty | Advanced |
| Elevation Gain | 2,125' | Style | All-Mountain, Enduro |
| Route | Tom Blake → Anerobic Nightmare → Government → Valhalla → Snowmass Village → Tom Blake |
Driving from Denver to Aspen takes about four hour. For mountain bikers visiting from afar, three major airlines fly directly into the Aspen Airport from nine major cities. The mountain bike trails at Snowmass can be accessed from the ski area village. The Sky Mountain Park trails can be accessed from the parking area near the eastern end of the Tom Blake Trail, on Owl Creek Road, Buttermilk Ski Area, or the Brush Creek bike path.
Our Favorite Bikes for Aspen Snowmass
Rental and demo bikes are available at evo Seattle, evo Portland, evo Denver, evo Whistler, evo Salt Lake, and evo Snoqualmie Pass. (Note: The cost of up to three bike demos can be applied toward the final cost of purchasing a new or used bike from us.)
The Snowmass Bike Park is typically open from mid June into early October. This is a pretty good indicator of the riding season in Aspen. Some trails in the valley will melt out faster. In the summertime the trails can get pretty dusty. The mountain bike trails in Aspen definitely ride best a day or two after some summer rain, when they’re tacky and fast.
