Physical Exertion: Intermediate – Advanced / Technical Ability: Intermediate
Sun Valley
Sun Valley, Idaho sits at the foot of the Sawtooth Mountains, one of most scenic mountain ranges in the United States. The landscape and views alone are worth a visit to Sun Valley, but we tend to focus on the abundance of singletrack in the area. With over 400 miles of trails, all interconnected and close to town, it’s yet another perfect Chasing Epic destination and ideal for putting together long, incredible Ride Limitless routes. The topography lends itself to some amazing high-country riding, with long drainages, huge mountain ridges, and plenty of forests and flowers to keep things tip-top. To the west of town is the true backcountry experience, where we’ll show you epic descents with not a soul in sight.
Airport Options: Sun Valley (20 minutes) – Boise (2 hrs) – SLC (4 hrs)
INTERACTIVE SUN VALLEY TRAIL MAP
DETAILS AND EXAMPLE ITINERARY
Each trip is custom designed and every one will be different – you’ll receive the exact routes and trails with your official trip itinerary, which will be emailed to you about a week before the trip. For our three full-day rides (long option), you can expect an average of 25 miles, 3000′ of climbing and around 5,000’+ of descending while the shorter rides will be closer to 15 miles, 1800′ of climbing and 3500′ of descent.
Day 1: Plan on arriving around 5:30 in Crested Butte, where we’ll have everyone check in, unpack and get our demo bikes set up. After that we’ll have a welcome dinner and drinks before getting a rundown of trip basics along with the first day’s ride options.
Day 2: After a home-cooked breakfast in the main house, this morning we’ll start with a 2000′ shuttle bump to the “Top of the World”, aka the top of the Oregon Gulch trail. From here, we start our first ride with an incredible 6-mile, 2000′ descent that starts off steep and loose and ends with incredible flow through open meadows and dark forests. After the initial descent, we have multiple options ahead of us for the ride, as we’ll link together Chocolate Gulch, Fox Creek and the Adams Gulch areas back towards town before hitting Lefty’s for a post-ride drink (shorter option will be closer to 18 miles, 1500′ of climbing and 3500′ of descent).
Day 3: Another day, another shuttle drop. This time we start with a drop-off at the Baker Creek TH high up in the mountains, before tackling the well-known Osberg Ridge trail. For the longer option, we’ll take this trail all the way down into town via Adams Gulch and Harper’s Trail, and for the shorter option we’ll connect to Alden Gulch for a killer flow trail ending. Mileage and distance are a bit off on the chart below, expect about 28 miles with 3200′ of climbing and 5000′ of descending. (shorter ride option is 17 miles with 2300′ of climbing and 3500′ of descent)
Day 4: This morning we’ll actually start in the same spot as the day before, but instead of Osberg Ridge, instead we’ll descend (7 miles!) down Castle Creek which is true Sun Valley backcountry riding. At the bottom of the trail we’ll cross Warm Springs Creek before continuing on towards Greenhorn Gulch, where we’ve got a stiff 3-mile climb followed by an epic 5-mile descent down Greenhorn proper. This ride has it all, but be sure to pack enough food and water today! (shorter ride option will be 15 miles with 2000′ of climbing and descending)
Day 5: The trip ends today, but that doesn’t mean we’re done riding! This morning we’ll head south of Ketchum to Greenhorn Gulch, one of my personal favorite areas for our final day’s ride. The longer option adds a shorter climb and descent to the ride, but for the most part both groups will be doing something similar. The Imperial descent (off the top of Greenhorn) is truly amazing with forever views and fast, flowy singletrack that is the perfect way to wrap up a trip. (shorter ride is 10 miles with 1800′ of climbing/descending)
