NORTH AMERICAN BIKE PARK REVIEW TOUR

MOUNTAIN CREEK BIKE PARK
WELCOME TO JERSEY

SEASON 2 | EPISODE 6

Photos by Dusten Ryen

Distinctly East Coast, Mountain Creek Bike Park is a ton of fun and we’re stoked to say that we’ve finally checked this park off our list. With 52 different trails covering the 1,040 feet of vert, Mountain Creek is a mountain that caters to those searching for chunky gnar but has plenty of beautifully built jumps that offer a welcomed respite from the never-ending rock gardens. Mountain Creek’s got over 40 miles of trail that offer a wide variety of terrain, as long as that terrain is rocks on rocks on rocks. In all seriousness though, Mountain Creek has some very technical and challenging terrain but they have put a lot of work into finding some mellower ways down the mountain for more beginner level riders to progress on. Outside the large menu of trails Mountain Creek has a bike shop and rental fleet on-site, an infamous water park, beautiful on-site lodging, and a Biergarten restaurant and dining area. Options outside the park in the small town of Vernon, New Jersey are varied although it is a small town so things due get pretty quiet early on.

LODGING AND ON-SITE AMENITIES
Mountain Creek Bike Park has one of the most casual and fun set ups we’ve seen on the East Coast. Although the village isn’t as fancy as Killington, it has a great vibe, high energy visitors and some great options for activities and food. We ate lunch and sometimes even dinner at the Biergarten surrounded by lots of stoked riders who were friendly and welcoming. Plus the food was reasonably priced and quite tasty.

Of course lodging is available in the form of Airbnb’s, luxury condos or motels, but we were lucky enough to stay at the Appalachian Hotel. Sitting proudly at the base of the slopes, the Appalachian is a beautifully built hotel with a pool, gym and clean rooms that have small kitchenettes, which we greatly appreciate as it let us save our leftover pizzas safe and tasty.

Speaking of pizza, Vernon, New Jersey treated us to some of the best pizza we’d ever eaten! Thanks to the recommendation of our new friend at the Mountain Creek Rental Shop, we found ourselves at the Tomato Garden, stuffing ourselves full of all sorts of flavors of pizza. The spinach and artichoke pizza was unreal!

Beyond the Appalachian Hotel and pizza, visitors can enjoy a fun day at the water park, which has a rather storied history, enjoy a round of golf, horse back rides and several other activities. Of course, we know what you’re thinking, we’re here to ride, who cares about anything else. Well alright then, let’s get to the trails.

THE TRAILS
For a mountain with just over 1,000 feet of vert, it was really amazing to see how lost we could feel deep in the woods and rock gardens. The terrain at Mountain Creek is hard packed dirt with a metric ton of rock, and if you know anything about us, you know we like the chunk! That being said we did find a couple of the really old-school trails to lack a little bit of flow and seemed more like tests of mettle than modern-day bike trails.

Just when we’d wonder if we’d ever find the flow we’d make a turn at a trail junction and end up on a new trail that had us hooting and hollering all the way down. The way the crew at Mountain Creek can blend tech with beautifully constructed berms and lips. We absolutely loved the feeling of leaning back and charging through roots and rocks only to exit the corner and find a waist high berm leading into a massive booter with beautifully shaped edges and lines. George Ryan and the trail crew at Mountain Creek are passionate and know what they’re doing when it comes to shaping dirt.

Not into plowing rocks? Well be sure to check out what is one of our all time favorite Flow lines, Dominion to Pipeline to Lower Dominion to Salvation to Crap Chute has to be one of the most fun lines of all time! The trail offers just a bit of natural tech but mostly features steep, poppy lips with tons of features like rainbow bridges, on-off features, step-on step-offs and more. It’s like a slopestyle course on speed. One of the best examples is a massive step up that requires a full tuck down a service road with no brakes! Hitting the bottom of a lip at what feels like 30MPH is crazy and even then, you’ll still find plenty of landing before a mellow step down into a bermed shark fin step down. What a rush!

Our crew was pumped to meet up with friendly locals that helped tow us into some of the biggest jumps on the mountain and it’s safe to say the building and riding talent is deep at Mountain Creek, and so is the positive energy. Everyone we encountered at Mountain Creek was stoked to be there and riding and nothing exemplified that more than the final race of their weekly Thursday Night Race League. Even with COVID-19 restrictions, the turnout was great and racers were happy and supportive. It was a treat to be a part of such a rad event and after seeing how involved the mountain is in their weekly race series, it’s easy to see why their fans are so dedicated to the Creek.

THE WOLF’S LAST WORD

Mountain Creek Bike Park is definitely worth a visit if you’re on the East Coast! We all had an absolute blast challenging ourselves on the rocky terrain and hitting large, lippy East Coast style jumps. The dirt, build style and community all make this spot a worthwhile destination…and the pizza!  We’d like to thank the crew at Mountain Creek for hosting us and making it such a special trip as we wrap up the East Coast and our second season of the Bike Park Review Tour.

If you enjoyed this series and would like to see more, we ask that you please take a moment and leave a comment and let us know and thank the amazing brands who’ve helped make this season possible! Without them we wouldn’t have been able to tackle such a series and we’re beyond thankful for all your support.

For more info visit, Mountaincreek.com

Thanks for watching.