National Geographic Names The 'Dacks As A Top Mountain Biking Destination

A little north if us 

Wilmington gets a big thumbs up as a top 20 destination for mountain bikers from National Geographic, a rare and well earned hat tip. Hand-built flow trails, and challenging slick slab climbs get a special mention at The Poor Man’s Downhill Read more in our Kids and Family Fun section. 

Wilmington gets a big thumbs up as a top 20 destination for mountain bikers from National Geographic, a rare and well earned hat tip.

From National Geographic:

"Six-million-acre Adirondack Park in upstate New York, though touted as one of the outdoor capitals of the East, has never been a mountain bike destination. But in last six years, the Barkeater Trails Alliance has built more than 20 miles of new singletrack in the communities of Lake Placid, Wilmington, and Saranac Lake.

Wilmington boasts a main street with ride-from access to the state trail systems, the region’s only dirt jump park, the Wilmington Whiteface 100-kilometer race, and the annual Bike Fest, which now draws more people to the town than any other single event. And Whiteface Mountain Bike Park offers 2,426-foot downhill runs, the longest vertical drop in the East, and some of the gnarliest, techiest, lift-accessed trails in the country.

Wilmington’s Flume Trails offer smooth, intermediate singletrack down low and rugged, rocky, technical riding higher on the mountain. Hardy Road attracts 20 to 45 riders every Friday evening for “Hardy Hour” on the network’s smooth singletrack, hand-built flow trails, and challenging slick slab climbs. The Poor Man’s Downhill lures riders with a $5 van shuttle halfway up Whiteface Mountain to ride down 1,200 vertical feet over three miles."