THE DETAILS OF THUNDER MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK.
Nestled in the picturesque Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts, Thunder Mountain Bike Park stands as a true hidden gem, offering a surprising amount of challenging and diverse terrain for riders of all levels. Across the 30 official trails dropping the 920ft of vert on their mountain, they have managed to produce an excellent range of jump and tech trails designed with rider progression in mind. It once had the claim to fame of being the only ski area in the world to run on 100% renewable energy produced on-site, and though it has been joined by others, it’s still something they are proud of.
Thunder Mountain Bike Park is located within the grounds of the Berkshire East Mountain Resort, on the edge of Charlemont, MA. With proximity to Boston and New York, Thunder serves New England with some excellent trails and fast laps thanks to the High Speed Summit Quad chairlift. Joining the operation during the busiest periods is the Mountain Top Triple chairlift, helping to speed riders to the top to keep them fed with as many laps as they can stomach.
Whether you have come off your bike and caused some damage, or you’re just looking for a tune-up, the fully equipped bike shop at the base of the mountain is likely to be able to lend a helping hand. You can also rent from a large fleet of bikes, in case you don’t have your own.
THUNDER MOUNTAIN’S HISTORY
Thunder Mountain began as a ski area way back in 1953, and has endured quite the history in the snowsports world. Fast forward to 2014, a key summer activity was desired to utilize the infrastructure and terrain in the months outside of snow season, and with the aid of Gravity Logic, Thunder Mountain Bike Park was conceptualized.
Over the following year, a network of trails was built which immediately landed Thunder as the East Coast’s top rated bike park. In the ten years that have followed, TMBP has developed and refined their trails, solidifying their spot as one of New England’s must-ride mountain bike destinations.
THUNDER MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK TRAILS
Thunder Mountain has a range of trails across the spectrum of grades, from low-gradient Greens like the 3.5-mile Sugar Line, through to steep and technical Double Black Diamonds like Cliff Clavin. TMBP have been smart and worked on their trail construction and grading to ensure riders can visit and work on their progression. There are tech and flow trails of all grades to keep beginner and intermediate riders excited to move up to the next level. For the advanced riders looking for their fix of airtime, there’s even the Pro Line jump trail Fort Hill, which has some serious jumps.
A particular highlight for our crew was the Cat and Mouse Blue, which has to be the smoothest bikepark trail we’ve ridden. With berms and rollers that have been expertly made to flow down the hill, this 8+ minute run served as the perfect warm up run for our crew to start their day. Once we were up to temperature, we enjoyed getting stuck into more challenging runs like the double black jump line Hawleywood and huge variety of black and double black tech trails.
Evident was the commitment of the Thunder Mountain Bike Park dig crew, who we witnessed every day shifting dirt and sculpting perfect berms on the trails. Their efforts are undeniable when you’re riding Thunder, which had some of the best condition bikepark trails we had ever ridden. They all featured flow and features in the right places to link up the hill and make good use of the terrain.
For Cole on his Pivot Firebird enduro bike, the Warfield trail network on the opposite side of the valley offered up an enjoyable alternative to bikepark lapping. These pedal-fed trails are built with a slightly different flavor to the bikepark runs, and just so happened to drop us straight into our accommodation in Charlemont.
LODGING OPTIONS AROUND THUNDER MOUNTAIN
We stayed in the Hawk Mountain Lodge in the local town of Charlemont while we were visiting Thunder Mountain, which offered a perfect base to get showered and sleep in between our long filming days. Located just a 10 minute ride or two minute drive from the bike park, it served us well for our trip.
If you’re suitably equipped, Thunder Mountain offers on-site camping for tent or RV. These sites are basic, but get you as close to the mountain as you could wish, and provide restrooms and showers. If you have more luxurious demands, there’s a range of AirBnB’s available in the surrounding area that should cater to most budgets.
DINING OPTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
At the foot of the trails, the Thunder Mountain Bike Park Taqueria kept us fueled throughout the day with tasty sustenance. Once our bodies had endured enough punishment through relentless bike park lapping, we made our way upstairs to the Crazy Horse Bar and Grill which is also on-site. We were provided some delicious food and great ambience as we ate with our fellow bike park visitors and talked about the good times at the park over the day.
Outside of the park grounds, Charlemont has a limited selection if you’re in a pinch. Nearby Shelburne Falls however has a number of great options, with the Blue Rock Restaurant and Bar and the West End Pub both delivering seriously tasty meals on the days the Crazy Horse wasn’t open.
Not to forget Sabrina’s Scoops, an ice cream truck at the foot of the chairlift. It felt like an oasis, as delicious ice creams were delivered with a bright smile to help cool us down after some seriously hot laps.
OFF-BIKE ACTIVITIES
There are a range of activities to enjoy whether you’ve got non-biking family members or just want to give the hands a rest after smashing out too many laps. An on-site zip line and ropes course give alternative aerial adventures. The mountain coaster was surprisingly wild, ensuring everyone can get their fix of G-forces and perhaps scaring Rob and Cole more than the trails did. Popular in the local area are watersports such as the white water rafting, which we were sad not to experience as we had heard some very good things.
The Wolf’s Last Word
Where in some Bike Parks you can feel a little tense as you queue to get on the chairlift, Thunder Mountain couldn’t have a friendlier and more relaxed vibe. With this relaxed feeling at the bottom of the hill, it would be easy to assume that the trails aren’t challenging or that it would be difficult to obtain the adrenaline and excitement to fuel the nerves, but that was far from the case.
What Thunder Mountain Bike Park provides is truly special, combining that friendly “small park” vibe with some stellar trails that spread the full spectrum of gravity mountain biking. The delightful flowy runs of the greens and especially the Cat And Mouse blue allow beginner riders to work on their skills or more advanced riders to ease into their day. On the other end of the spectrum, the double black diamond tech challenges the most competent riders, littered with rocks and roots to keep you on your toes. For those with big air aspirations, the pro level Fort Hill jump line and Double Black Hawleywood give serious airtime, with kicky lips and hips going both ways.
Ultimately, we were blown away by how well Thunder Mountain used their terrain, quashing all of the “small mountain” reservations that we’d previously held. While we wished for just a little more gradient at times to maintain speed easier in some of the tech, it’s safe to say we had no lack of enjoyment over our few days of lapping this excellent bike park, and can’t wait to go back. 
Lift Ticket Price:
$45 – $72 | Adult
$30 – $45 | Junior (14 & Under)
Website: Berkshireeast.com
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