Mountain Bike Brewery Trails: The 5 Best Ride-to-Taproom Trips in the U.S.

One version of summer involves a color coded spreadsheet, a packing list with tabs, and your crazy uncle saying something like, "you really should have broken your shoes in before the trip." This is not that. In our version, you point your tires downhill, let gravity do the work, and roll straight into a well earned pint. The combination of mountain bike brewery trails  are basically the summer version of a ski day. Same arc, same payoff, considerably less numb fingers and toes. 

Your Bike to Brewery Summer Travel Toolkit

Getting to five different mountain towns for the best mountain bike brewery trails in the country takes a little infrastructure. Here's what's actually useful.

The Flight: Book through CheapoAir so you spend your vacation days on trails instead of layovers.

The Rental Car: Grab one through DiscoverCars. None of these towns are exactly next door to each other, and you don't want to be the person Googling shuttle schedules at a trailhead.

The Gear: Akova Gear covers you for the ride and looks like you meant to wear it at the brewery afterward too, which, let's be honest, you didn't plan that far ahead.

The Cooler: RovR rides in the trunk for the parking lot Après nobody talks about enough, the moment between loading bikes and actually walking into the brewery.

The Experience: Book a guide through Viator if you're new to any of these trail systems. Twin Buttes and Phil's Trail in particular are not the place to freestyle your first lap.

The Insurance: VisitorsCoverage because a bad crash on unfamiliar singletrack is a real way to end a trip early.

The Recovery: Liquid I.V. because altitude, elevation gain, and a full pint of Modus Hoperandi do not mix well without a hydration plan. Drink water like it's your job. Tomorrow there's more trail.

Park City Mountain Biking: Mid Mountain Trail to Park City Brewing

Park City did not become the first ever IMBA Gold Level Ride Center by accident. Take one look at a map of its trail network and you will understand immediately. Hop onto Mid Mountain Trail, drop into Legacy Loop and let Iron Bill pop you right out at Kimball Junction. A short ride later, you're locking up your bike right outside the patio at Park City Brewing. Order up a pour of their Powder Buoy Pilsner and pair it with their Legendary Wings without any guilt because you just descended half a mountain to get there. This is as efficient as it gets when riding through Park City. All downhill from trail to beer...until you have to ride back. 

Crested Butte Singletrack: Lower Loop to Irwin Brewing

Photo Credit:@publichousecb Instagram

There is nothing subtle about Crested Butte. That's something that carries right over into its bike to brewery pipeline. Roll down the Lower Loop trail system right into town. Elk Avenue is the ride ends and the party officially begins. Public House sits at the heart of the celebration. Pouring locally brewed Irwin Brewing Company beers from 3 to 9 pm, you can take that as a challenge or an opportunity to test your discipline depending on your mood. The mountain biking in Crested Butte has long had a reputation for being scrappy and untamed. The brewery stop at the end is where it gets civilized again. However, brief that may be. 

Bend, Oregon: Phil's Trail to Boneyard Beer

Photo Credit: @visitbend Instagram

Bend, Oregon was built for this. Their entire identity is based on the idea that you should be able to ride from your home to trailhead and back for a beer without ever putting your key in the ignition. Phil's Trail Complex is legendary. Hundreds of miles of singletrack that somehow all funnels down toward the river and Galveston Ave. At that point you are only a few minutes away from local favorite Boneyard Beer's original taproom on NW Lake Place. They've been brewing here out of an old auto repair shop since inception. The RPM IPA is a must. A local favorite that packs plenty of hoppy flavor without being overpowering. This is one of those unique bike to brewery combos where the ride there is as much of a story as the ride home. Bend doesn't half ass it...neither should you. 

Durango Mountain Biking: Twin Buttes to Ska & Carver Brewing

Photo Credit: @carverbrewing Instagram

Durango's Twin Buttes trail rolls right into Ska Brewing. That's as good of a reason as any to visit. However, if you want to really flex, head to Carver Brewing Co. downtown. This institution has been handing out a free pint of their Colorado Trail Nut Brown to anyone who finishes the 500+ mile Colorado Trail. Sounds like a lot. It is, but no one will be the wiser if you just did Twin Butte, and Carver won't asked questions because you earned it. Durango mountain biking rewards effort and a bit of exaggeration. Kind of like a good fishing story. 

Steamboat Springs: Emerald Mountain to the Yampa River Brew Trail

Photo Credit: @steamboatcolorado Instagram

There is a little bit of planning that goes into every town on this list...except for Steamboat Springs. Emerald Mountain is close enough to downtown that you can ride out of your hotel parking lot right to the Yampa River Core Trail, rip the singletrack, and then coast right back toward three quality options. Mountain Tap, Storm Peak, or Butcherknife Brewery anchor the town's brew trail. If ever there was a reward without too much extra suffering, Steamboat is the place. No judgement here. Sometimes the best summer après sessions are the ones where you cheat just a little. 

The Beer Never Tastes the Same When You Drove to It

Anyone can hop in their car, drive a few miles to a brewery parking lot and order a flight. That's not the story here. Our version is one where your quads are still burning, your shirt has a little dirt on it, and the first sip actually has meaning because you worked for it. The snow may have melted, but this pattern has not.