North American Bike Park Review Tour

Trestle Bike Park Review

Winter Park, Colorado

Photos by Dusten LaPointe

Trestle Bike Park rises from the mountains of Winter Park Colorado. Known for its participation in countless race series and appearances in more than a few magazines, Trestle is a massive park in a little town. By little we mean very little, but the bike park makes up for what the town lacks. With ample selection of jumps, flow and tech, this is a park that can keep any skill lever of rider busy for days. Of course, the beautiful setting only makes this park even more special, with 360-degree views of mountain peaks and gorgeous skies. Let’s dig into what makes this place so special, and give you all the spots we recommend along the way to plan your trip.

THE TRAILS

For $45 online or $49 at the door, riders get access to everything Trestle Bike Park has to offer. The trails range from green to pro line, and there are even two way XC trails that range from green to black for those that enjoy pedaling. This mountain has a total of 9 green trails, 18 blues, 10 blacks and 3 double blacks as well as the Banana Peel pro line slopestyle course. That’s a huge array of trails and a solid mix for all skill levels of riders. Out of all the parks we visited this summer, Trestle was one of the largest and most varied in terrain. Check out the full trail map here.

During the summer months, Trestle has three lifts available to mountain bikers. The gondola takes riders from the village to the main lodge at the top, and accesses most of the trails. The Eskimo express lift also drops riders at the lodge, but begins on the looker’s right of the mountain. Finally the Olympia lift takes riders to the highest point on the mountain, accessing trails like 36th Chamber. All lifts access trails of every skill level, which is great for families or groups who want to ride the lift together regardless of skill level.

The area was blessed with good soil, varied terrain and plenty of rock. Even better, the Trestle bike park crew does a great job building; meaning most of the trails we rode had excellent jumps, berms, rock gardens and overall layout. Speed management was also good and well thought out on the green and blue trails.

Trails like World and Roly-poly offer a great starting point for new riders, while Shy Anne, and Lower Boulevard give a good blue progression from there. Black and double black trails like Cruel and Unusual, 36th Chamber, Bear Arms, Trestle DH and Dirty Dozen will keep advanced riders coming back. Trail variety is one of the areas this park excels most in, with a solid mix of tech and jump trails. Even within one top to bottom run, it’s easy to mix jump and flow with technical rocks and single track.

One complaint we have however is that 36th Chamber, the mountain’s premiere jump trail, is located at the top of the mountain where winds are the most frequent and strong. During our 5 day trip, there wasn’t a single day with low enough winds to hit and clear the jumps. From talking with locals, our week wasn’t out of the norm, so if you go to hit the jumps be aware and try to hit the 36th as early in the morning as possible.

Thankfully there’s trails like Cruel and Unusual that are tucked into the trees and offer plenty of fun. One of our favorite trails of the trip, Cruel and Unusual mixes tech, flow and jumps into one weaving trail filled with wooden features. It will keep you on your toes and was Chili Dog’s favorite trail of the park.

For tech, Trestle DH was the standout with proper, technical terrain, steep descents and plenty of challenging rock gardens and turns. The trail is very well laid out, and challenges riders with some advanced line choices and high speeds. This one is definitely worth bringing a downhill bike to hit at full speed.

Like most bike parks however Trestle does suffer from braking bumps and holes. Unlike some mountains however Trestle Bike Park has some long traverses that require significant pedaling to access many of the trails. They’re slightly less than ideal on enduro bikes but certainly get your crew talking on DH bikes.

ON SITE ACTIVITIES AND FOOD

Winter Park Colorado has a well-designed and medium sized village. Inside there are plenty of shops, and places to eat that range in price and quality depending on your desires and budget.

Our favorite stop for a mid day lunch break was Goody’s Mountain Creperie, which has sandwiches, coffee, crepes and all kinds of other top notch lunch eats. It was priced as expected for mountain resort food, but the quality and selection did not disappoint! The village also has plenty of stops for burgers, pizza and even a Mexican restaurant.

Outside the village is where the pickings start to get a little slim. The town is located a few miles down the road (it’s a steep grade so only the highly motivated will want to ride there), and there isn’t a whole lot there. We tried both Casa Mexico and Durbar Nepalese and Indian Bistro. Casa Mexico has an excellent value for the food and portion size, but Durbar was the surprise of the trip. Who knew Winter Park had such awesome Indian food!

That said, don’t come here expecting a bustling night life. Everything closes early, and the few bars in town aren’t exactly busy after 9pm. Also, make sure to shop before you get here if you plan on cooking your food, as the only grocery store in town makes the most of their monopoly on food with some seriously high prices.

WHAT BIKE TO BRING

This bike park definitely packs DH bike worthy terrain, but we’d still recommend a 160mm or so enduro bike to get the most of the trails. That said, Trestle bike park has the largest demo fleet of bikes in the country, so finding your rental ride isn’t hard if you want to upgrade or ride something different. For those travelling from out of state or flying the large selection also makes the decision to rent even easier. It’s worth pointing out that the rocks and trails in this bike park will break parts. This park had the highest parts toll of any we visited, taking out one carbon wheel, one brake lever and multiple tires in a one-week stay. The trails here are no joke, and they’re so fun you’ll want to lap them until the last possible moment!

WHERE TO STAY

Depending on budget, Winter Park has varied lodging options. We chose to get an Airbnb for part of the time and camp for the other. While there’s lot of free camping up in the woods, we ended up choosing a paid site at Idlewild campground since it’s located half way between the town and mountain. The campground spans the distance from the road to a small creek nearby, with the creek side campsites being the most desirable as they’re tucked down in the canyon among the trees and nestled by running water. That spot is much preferred to the roadside areas so you don’t have to listen to the chorus of vehicles ascending and descending the long grade… or the train. That said. The convenience of being able to ride the bike path to the mountain or into town is awesome.

Airbnb’s in the area are affordable depending on the season and time that you’re there. If you want to stay in the village, prices are also dependent on time of season, but expect to pay around $100-350 a night for a standard two-person room. For that price, you get the convenience of never leaving the village, which is great since Winter Park has a gorgeous and fully stocked village. Check out village listings here.

LOCAL INFO

If you’re looking for family activities to do while you’re here, look no farther than the resort village. It’s got a teeming family center complete with ropes courses, a large mini golf course, climbing wall, bungee jump, luge track, and more. Winter Park also offers scenic rides on the gondola up to the lodge for families or people that aren’t into riding. Those rides are also a great way to get up into the high alpine for some hiking to Fantasy Meadow. Rocky Mountain National Park is also a short trip away and will wow you with its natural beauty. If four legs are your thing, you can also check out the Sombrero Stables at Snow Mountain Ranch, which offer horseback riding.

Hideaway Park is also a great spot to watch a concert for High Note Thursdays. From Jazz to Blues to Folk, this venue is a great place to catch live music and a true local favorite! Finally, if fishing is your jam, there’s plenty to do in the mountain rivers and lakes near Winter Park.

The Wolf’s Last Word

Trestle Bike Park is one of the most well rounded and extensive bike parks we visited this summer in our group of 10. With everything from green to pro terrain and tech to jump trails, this place has something for everyone. The only park we visited that can rival Winter Park in well rounded trails is Whistler, which is saying a lot. In fact, we’d put this place right up there with Whistler in terms of its bike park score. The downsides to the park riding however included braking bumps and frequent holes in berms, as well as long, boring traverses in the mountain.

As long as you aren’t looking for nightlife, Winter Park has lots to offer for non-bike activities too. This is a great family resort.

To learn more, visit Trestlebikepark.com

Trails: 9/10
Affordability: 8/10
Food: 8/10
Nightlife: 2/10
Lodging: 8/10
Camping: 9/10
Off Mountain Activities: 8/10