It’s official (sort of): Whitefish is the mountain biking capital of Montana.
This week the popular online biking site Singletracks released a comprehensive breakdown of the “Mountain Bike Capitals of the United States.” Whitefish earned the honorable distinction for Montana, based on a massive database of trail information and reviews, as well as an editorial review by the Singletracks staff.
“Montana is a big state with hundreds of excellent mountain bike trails to explore,” the site’s editors stated. “The area around Whitefish, however, stands out from other towns in the state due to its location within Flathead Valley where it’s surrounded by excellent mountain bike trails on all sides.”
According to the site, there are nearly 500 miles of singletrack within 25 miles of town.
Last year, Singletracks named the Flathead Valley one of the top 10 mountain biking destinations in the U.S.
As spring arrives, the trails are starting to shape up nicely. Among my favorite places to ride are The Whitefish Trail, Herron Park outside Kalispell and Pig Farms in West Valley. South of Kalispell, Crane Mountain is a great destination, including the Phillips Trail, a singletrack trail that climbs from the Beardance trailhead off Montana Highway 209 south of Woods Bay. And in summer, it’s hard to find a better place to ride than Whitefish Mountain Resort.
Click here for Singletracks’ map of all the places to ride in the valley. I also rely on the Trailforks app when I’m out on two wheels.