By Kate Bartlett
Ellicottville, offers a diverse mountain biking scene, featuring lift-serviced trails at Holiday Valley Resort and HoliMont with a wide variety of trails. The area also features over 35 miles of WNYMBA-managed trails in the nearby McCarty Hill State Forest, offering everything from beginner-friendly, smooth, and wide paths to challenging, intermediate-blue terrain. Ellicottville is a very bike-friendly town, and these two areas offer rentals, service, and advice on trail conditions.
The Holiday Valley Trail System and HoliMont Bike Park operate seasonally, beginning late spring running through late fall. Both offer a variety of trails for all skill levels. Both resorts have maintained and expanded on bike trials to capitalize on utilizing the property throughout all seasons. Views on the slopes are unmatched and offer unique challenges to mountain bikers.
Photo by Craig Melvin
Holiday Valley offers a mix of beginner to moderate trails, including the “Easy Rider” trail. “We have a variety of trails here at Holiday Valley that are great for beginner and intermediate riders,” explains Dash Hegeman, Director of Marketing at Holiday Valley. “Plus, what’s really cool is that the trails connect to approximately 35 miles of awesome cross-country trails in McCarty State Forest, so you can easily spend a good portion of the day exploring the network of trails in the area.”
Biking at Holiday Valley is unique, offering rewarding views and great opportunities to get active outdoors. “Our trails give riders some nice options to choose from,” says Dash. “The area is beautiful in the summer and the views from the top of the resort, and around Spruce Lake, are fantastic. The McCarty State Forest trails allow you to get out in the woods for hours and enjoy the solitude of nature.”
Trails are open to hikers and bikers alike, with a new timed trail event on Sunday, May 24. UltraTrax is coming to Holiday Valley this spring and offers 7, 14, 21, or 28-mile distances throughout the trail network with options to carry weighted packs. This hiking/rucking event is new this year and begins at 7am.
HoliMont Bike Park is known for offering an exhilarating full service bike park experience.
Lift Service at Sunset Lift with HoliMont offers something for all riders. Whether you are looking for more expert and advanced trails catering to both free riding and technical riding or Green flow to enjoy with your family there is something for everyone. In total, the park has 25 trails and over 15 miles of trail. There is also pedal access with a direct link to the 35+ IMBA Epic trail system maintained by Western New York Mountain Bike Association in the McCarty Hill and Little Rock City state forest.
Travis Wider, Director of Snowsports at HoliMont, explains the range in difficulty at the park. “We have over 25 trails ranging from 1 minute in riding length to nearly 5 minutes of riding length depending on your riding ability,” says Travis. “We have trails from beginner to expert starting with trails like Sasquatch and Boundary Line which are more cross-country focused and require some pedaling. Canfield Funnel has really been our marquis trail as a blue flow trail and trails like Dirty Bird and Newts Tail offer a more advanced, expert level technical experience.”
The number of trail systems and options for riders of all abilities makes biking at HoliMont unique, in addition to the number of unique activities for non-bikers and hikers. “The Ellicottville area offers much more for all members of the family or crew riding if there are any who do not plan to ride,” explains Travis. “We have many hiking, fishing, and outdoor options right at HoliMont including our Alpine Disc Golf Course.”
HoliMont will operate nearly 80 days this season, beginning with members and passholders day on May 22 and operating into the first weekend in November. In addition to maintaining their current trail network, the resort also plans to continue working on a green jump line.
The annual HoliMont HBP DH Race series, a downhill mountain biking racing event, will take place this summer (dates TBD in the coming weeks). The park will also offer kids bike camps in addition to their Saddle Pond Party, and EVL Trail Fest Camping weekend.
HoliMont Bike Park season passes are currently on sale at a discounted preseason rate, with a family discount available. Season passes afford a 50% discount on paddle sport rentals for the summer season.
For more information visit HolidayValley.com, HoliMont.com and follow on social media for updates.