By Charles Boespflug – Love Leavenworth Mountain Biking Consultant
Rosy Boa or For The Boys? Is it a day for a Freund Trailhead start, or should we commence suffering on the Ski Hill side? If making those decisions is your problem, you’re having a good day!
Where to Go
Leavenworth mountain biking is one of central Washington’s hidden gems. Ski Hill has a great set of trails, and the best part is that many of them start about a mile from town! Make sure to bring lots of water though, as the climbing trail that takes you up to where the downhill begins, (known as the NUT, or New Uphill Trail) is quite steep. There are many spots along the way to take in the beautiful views though, and for those who don’t want to battle gravity as much, you can always start at the Freund Canyon trailhead (accessible off of Freund Canyon road), which provides a more gradual ascent. You can check out of a map of the trails on trailforks.com
As a rough guide, green trails are easiest, blue trails are for intermediate riders, are black trails are for advanced riders. Don’t be embarrassed to stick to the greens, as they’re still tons of fun, and many of them enable you to see the best country. Blue trails at Ski Hill are a big step up, and some experience with mountain biking is recommended before trying to tackle them. And blacks are pretty ferocious! A full suspension bike isn’t required, though the extra squishiness is very nice to have. Bikes with front suspension only, (known to the cool kids as “hard tails”) are typically a little cheaper to rent or buy, and more than capable enough to handle all but the hardest trails in our area.
And if you’re in the area already, don’t forget about all of the mountain biking opportunities up at Stevens Pass! You don’t even have to climb up those, they’ll put your bike on a chair lift and you can just downhill it the whole way! Be sure to check out stevenspass.com for a full rundown of prices and maps.
Need Gear?
Some great places to rent bikes here are Eastside Cycleworks, conveniently located on the eastern end of town near Dan’s Food Market. Der Sportsmann has them too, and if you want to really rev up the action, check out Leavenworth E-tours! They’ll rent you an e-bike (cheating, but we won’t tell your friends…) and they even have great guides that can take you on wonderful backcountry tours of the area.
Be Safe!
A few recommendations for how to prepare to make your Leavenworth ride a success: It’s dusty. It’s often hot. Make sure you wear long pants and long sleeves, as they make any falls a lot less impactful, by minimizing scrapes and cuts. Oh and did I mention water? You’re gonna need it, so bring more than you think is necessary.
The perfect time to mountain bike is now!
Whichever spot you choose to go to, and whatever bike you choose to use, don’t miss out on the great opportunities we have in Chelan County for rippin’ and ridin’ down all kinds of exciting trails! If you want to be close to the action for full days of mountain adventures Love Leavenworth has homes to get you on the trail hassle-free.