If you live in Alberta and love to ride mountain bike you have to check out Hinton Bike Park. Located in Hinton, Alberta it is easily one of my favorite mountain biking destinations. It is great for all skill levels and has something to offer each and every mountain bike rider. They built the park with mountain bike progression in mind and it shows!
For me it is close enough for a day trip with about three hours of highway between me and the Hinton Bike Park.
Hinton Bike park is never to busy. You will find it is way easier on the wallet than some of the more popular destinations, looking at you Canmore! My son and I were able to make it out for a quick overnight stay and we packed in as much mountain biking as we could handle.
Getting there
Located right on Highway 16 Hinton is about 3 hours west of Edmonton. Short enough for a day trip if you don’t mind driving after a day in the saddle. With a ton of hotel, motel, Airbnb and campsites nearby we prefer at least an overnighter to make the drive worthwhile.
Campsite
When it was time to setup camp we drove out to one of our top camping spots. Gregg Lake Campground is about a 25 minute drive from the bike park. It is a very well maintained provincial campground. We always find the facilities clean and well stocked and its a great place to spend some quality family time. Highly recommend!
Time to Ride
Day 1
Hinton Bike Park
When we arrived around dinner time Saturday we went straight to the bike park. If you have never been to Hinton Bike Park you are truly missing out. We managed to get about 5kms or riding in over the course of a couple hours. Our favorite trails are Flow Master and Stinger which are both blue flow trails. Shout out to the Hinton Mountain Bike Association for all the hard work they put into keeping these trails in top shape. They were running great!
Day 2
Bighorn Ridge
After a wonderful night at Gregg lake we woke up, had a quick bite and headed straight for Bighorn Ridge. This was our first time riding this trail network and I loved it!
The Climb
We took the climbing trail Stairway to Heaven and as far as climbing trails go this one is so much fun. The trail builders managed to incorporate some fun flowy sections into the climb which helped me and my son keep our spirits up.
The Flow
Our goal for the day was to ride the Blowdown Flowdown flow trail so once we were able to make it to the entrance to that we decided that was enough climbing for today. The climb to the entrance at a moderate old guy and pre-teen pace took us about an hour with a few small breaks. Blowdown Flowdown was a blast! So much speed and flow I would have loved to lap it a few times but my son was ready to head down and hit the bike park again. If you make it out this way I highly recommend packing a lunch and lapping this one to really learn the flow.
We rounded out day two with a trip back to the Hinton Bike Park. There was plenty of time for more rides down Flowmaster and Stinger. By the end of our trip we got about 24kms of trail riding in. Not bad for 24hrs! We finished the day off with a BBQ with Transcend Athletics who organized the ride out there. My son had been riding with them this spring and had a blast learning new skills and progressing his biking.
We will be back end of July to conquer more that Hinton has to offer. There is still the Happy Creek , Nordic Center and even the bike park in nearby Brule to explore. If you are looking for a great spot to take the family and get some really fun trail riding in as well Hinton is the place to be! No matter what you mountain bike skill level is you can get some progression here.
I’d love to hear about your favorite trails around Hinton please reach out on my Contact page or comment below!
