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In just 20 years, mountain bikes have progressed from
clunkers to hardtails to huckers, and our most heralded places
to ride have changed from Marin to Moab to Whistler.
So what's next? By our guess, bike parks are the hot ticket.
Also known as bike skills parks, freeride parks or challenge
parks, these playgrounds are popping up all over, and riders
love them.

IMBA counts more than 30 purpose-built public bike skills
parks in the U.S. and Canada, and many more in the U.K.,
Australia and beyond. Most have been built within the past two
years. And this figure doesn't include the hundreds of ski areas
who've been offering mountain biking since the 80, or privately
owned bike parks such as the innovative Ray’s Indoor Park, in
Cleveland (OH).
So, what's a bike park? While there doesn't seem to be a set
recipe, the ingredients usually include a variety of natural
obstacles such as rocks and logs, imaginatively constructed
features like teeters and ladder bridges and dirt jumps - all
collected in a small setting. Picture a skateboard park or
snowboard park, but designed specifically for mountain bikes.
Sport-specific parks are nothing new. Ski resorts have
embraced skiing and snowboard parks for more than a decade
and many ski areas offer multiple parks scattered around the
mountain; mega-resort Vail offers five. Skateboarders rip on
more than 1,000 skate parks in the U.S. The newest kid on the
block is white-water parks for paddlers - 34 in the U.S. at last
count.

The emergence of bike parks is fueled by both riders and
public land managers. Riders seek more challenging terrain,
jumps, constructed obstacles, and a place to hone their skills.
Managers want to reign in unauthorized trail building, and
provide new recreation options in a central, easily managed
location.
While these parks come in different shapes and sizes, they
share the common thread of helping make technically
challenging mountain biking more readily available to the public
- especially kids. They usually accommodate a wide range of
abilities, with opportunities for skill building and progressively
difficult challenges. Riders return to these parks again and
again to session the obstacles and improve their riding.
Bike parks do much more than mimic terrain found in nature.
They also offer unique obstacles that stretch the imagination.
They're not a replacement for traditional trails. Rather, they
serve as an additional outlet for riders, one that's technically
oriented, convenient, controlled - and a whole lot of fun.
The Adirondack Bike Ranch will offer all of the above as well
as cross country riding for all levels from beginner to
advanced. We will not only have outside trail access and
terrain parks, we will also have an indoor park making
mountain biking a year round sport in the Adirondacks.